Willie Perdomo | Bad Habits
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In this week's episode of the Get Lit Minute, your weekly poetry podcast, we spotlight Puerto Rican writer, Wille Perdomo. He is the author of The Essential Hits of Shorty Bon Bon (Penguin Poets, 2014), a National Book Critics Circle Awards finalist, Where a Nickel Costs a Dime (W. W. Norton & Company, a Poetry Society of America Norma Farber First Book Award finalist, 1996),[1] Postcards of El Barrio (Isla Negra Press, 2002), and Smoking Lovely (Rattapallax Press, 2003),[2] which received a PEN Beyond Margins Award.[3] His children's book, Visiting Langston, received the Coretta Scott King Honor. Perdomo was also the recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts Poetry Fellowship in 2001 and 2009.
\\u201cBad Habits\\u201d
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Petey liked to twist the right end of his mustache when he was
\\xa0 \\xa0listening for updates. (Y\\u2019all remember Petey. He was always
\\xa0 \\xa0on that chuck chill-out tip, but most days he didn\\u2019t get
\\xa0 \\xa0to choose.)
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When he ignited a squabble, Chuna would slap his right thigh to
\\xa0 \\xa0get every syllable out with a violent scansion.
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Tommy Lee threw rocks at unsuspecting pigeons.
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Dwight kept his right hand tucked into the crotch of his Lees,
\\xa0 \\xa0steady stunting on some bollo.
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Angel bit his tongue when he wanted to ask a question.
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Max counted his money and his money counted him.
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Brother Lo liked to whistle \\u201cAll the Things You Are\\u201d when it
\\xa0 \\xa0rained that Puerto Rico rain.
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Chee-wa\\u2019s nose used to break out into an anxious table of
\\xa0 \\xa0contents when he was skied up.
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Papu would dance if he wanted to make a point. So, imagine
\\xa0 \\xa0him saying, Nah, nah, nah, fuck that shit, and poppin\\u2019 &
\\xa0 \\xa0lockin\\u2019 on every word.
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Nestor hated the words Stop, I was only playing.
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Loco Tommy blinked three times, convulsively, and then tapped
\\xa0 \\xa0the right side of his face against his right shoulder blade.
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Jujo spit and spit and spit and spit.
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Popeye had a villainous laugh.
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Dre loved to crash revivals.
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Chino Chan did back handsprings from sewer to sewer
\\xa0 \\xa0whenever he received good news.
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Georgie could scratch his ankle straight through a
\\xa0 \\xa0graveyard shift.
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The first thing out of Skinicky\\u2019s mouth was always a feeling.
Learn more about Perdomo and read the full poem "Bad Habits" via our Get Lit Anthology.\\xa0