In this week's episode of the Get Lit Minute, your weekly poetry podcast, we spotlight the life and work of poet, Daphne Gottlieb, who stitches together the ivory tower and the gutter just using her tongue. She is the award-winning author of ten other books including the new collection of short stories, Pretty Much Dead. Previous works include Dear Dawn: Aileen Wuornos in her Own Words, a collection of letters from Death Row by the \u201cfirst female serial killer\u201d to her childhood best friend. She is also the author of five books of poetry, editor of two anthologies, and, with artist Diane DiMassa, the co-creator of the graphic novel Jokes and the Unconscious. She has relentlessly toured coast to coast, headlining solo tours as well as appearing with Hal Sirowitz, Lydia Lunch, and Maggie Estep. She has appeared at SXSW, Bumbershoot, and LadyFest Bay Area, and her poetry, fiction and essays have appeared in more than 50 anthologies. Source
This episode includes a reading of her poem, \u201cSexy Balaclava\u201d. Check out more poems like this in our Get Lit Anthology.
"Sexy Balaclava"
I tried to rent the movie
about the protest,
but the store didn\u2019t have it.
In the film, the underdog wins.
That\u2019s how you know
it\u2019s a movie.
They are passing a law here
to keep people from sitting
on the sidewalk.\xa0
Poverty is still a crime in America
And\xa0 I am looking more and more
criminal, by which I mean
broke, by which\xa0
I mean beautiful.
Holy. Revolution
is not pretty,
but it can be
beautiful, I\u2019m told.
The protest was dull.
There was no tear gas
and there were no riot cops.
Nothing got broken
and nothing got gassed
and nothing got smashed.
There was no blood
and the world was not saved
so we went to the movies.
In the film,\xa0
people kissed
at the end.
The underdog won.
That\u2019s how we knew it was a movie,
a pretty lie.
Revolution
is not pretty
but I don\u2019t care
about looks.
Set the dumpster
on fire. Break
the windows.
Don\u2019t kiss me
like they do\xa0
in the movies.
Kiss me
like they do
on the emergency
broadcast news.