an old song for wrong women

by Pablo D'Stair

“an old song for wrong women” is a poem by Pablo D’Stair, author of "The Choice of Dogs and other poems"

Genres: Poetry

12 pages, newsprint stapled folio

About the author

Pablo D'Stair is a novelist, filmmaker, essayist, interviewer, comic book artist, and independent publisher. His work has appeared in various mediums for the past 15 years, often pseudonymously.

Reviews

[Valerity (Val) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ended up enjoying "an old song for wrong women". Got it as a First Read from goodreads.com, my very first. I started off thinking this man must be a misogynist, but by the end, I came around to feeling perhaps he understands women and how they feel more than that. Maybe a great deal more. The look of the book was interesting also, the small newsprint folio edition was something new to me. I look forward to reading it again.

[Riegs · Rating 1 out of 5]

**ARC/GIVEAWAY**

Honest review: I felt frustrated by this poem. I couldn't help but feel that there was a bitter thread of misogyny running through the words. Women do have complicated emotions, but no more complicated than men - it's irritating to read the same old crap about how "us women" sit on their problems forever instead of solving them. A bad experience is a bad experience. It's not okay to judge 50% of the world based on those experiences.

Thanks for the giveaway, but the subject material was a big turnoff.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why all the hate, haters? 'An old song for wrong women' deserves a bit more love. Maybe a slap in the face and a burn-hole from a cigarette, but love nonetheless. But hey, I've always loved poetry, the crazier the better.

This is a collection of short, numbered poems written honestly and lyrically, with some anger, some disgust, some vengeance, some apathy, some irony and I think some, I think I'll call it "If hindsight was 20/20 I'd probably still do the same damn thing just so I can write about it later."

My personal favourite is 2. "Why bother telling her when she'll just take what shape she feels and not even bother to know what shape that's named" is the ending of 2 and thank you Pablo D'Stair for reminding me of me at my worst moments. Or, in 8, "rape the libraries and gut the violins." Makes me want to read a bunch of books and then listen to some really out-there classical music.

This collection is short, personal, and creative. It made me feel guilty, but it also made me laugh heartily. This Pablo guy is not someone you want on your bad side, ladies, because he will probably write a really weird poem about your twisted relationship at some point.

Well worth the read! It was free, my first giveaways First Read, and I'm very happy with it. I even signed up to subscribe to the folio series so I can receive more madness in the future. Good times!

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Received this through Goodreads First Reads Giveaways.

First impression-Some of the individual lines in some of the poems really resonated with me. Will point out which ones later. However, the pointless repetition of seemingly random words really interrupted the flow and didn't add anything to the meaning of the poem, as it simply created incomprehensible half-sentences.

And then there's the issue of the sexism. So, honestly, I'm really not sure what D'Stair thinks about women. His description of them in poem I is definitely very insulting, but perhaps that just applies to the titular "wrong women?" At the end, he returns to the descriptions of ladies, which are still vaguely insulting, but not as obviously. I would say that perhaps D'Stair was not aiming for sexism, but simply some other point about certain kinds of women or our perceptions of women or something like that. However, as much as I'd like to give benefit of the doubt, I did not get any of those other ideas. I simply got the sense that Pablo D'Stair has an issue with women, and beyond my personal feminist tendencies, I think that a lot of readers will have issues with the way he addresses that.

[Erma Steppe · Rating 4 out of 5]

an old song for wrong women... I have just finished reading this book for the third time. A friend of mine,Susie Spizzirro loaned this book to me to read at my leisure. I have read it three times i have arrived @ three separate conclusions. #1.I believed you disliked women. #2 I believe you have a unique understanding of the pain,suffering & the hurt that many women have suffered through.It appears that your insight into the everyday life of a woman is gifted w/a deep understanding of how we feel. #3 I will @ some point read your poetry for the fourth time. I like your work it makes me think. Thank you so much for this opportunity. In the future I shall look for your work @ bookstores & share w/others. Thank you. Erma Steppe- ejsteppe@gmail.com

[Robert Zimmermann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this poem late last week and finally found the time to get around to reading it today. I felt like doing a review on my first impression of the poem before a secondary, and I'm sure tertiary reading. From the beginning I was turned away by the use of repetition. It's a turn off for me with poetry; I'm learning to be able to work past it. As this was my first read I stumbled a bit. Upon reading "II" I felt a little better. Pablo's lack of punctuation throughout the entire poem can be a bit tricky, but it works well in this section. The flow from one line straight into the next, while not fully taking in what was being said, hooked me. There is beautiful imagery scattered throughout the poem as well. In any case, for now I can't give this poem more than 3 stars, solely because it will take me, personally, a few reads to fully comprehend the piece. Overall, as it is obvious, I didn't want to stop reading or throw this book away. That is a good sign. While I am a poet, I still have trouble reading some poetry. Some of the style is out of my comfort zone, but I feel that more enjoyment will come from this piece soon enough. I look forward to reading more from Pablo's BlankVerseDead folio series.


This book was received through a Good Reads giveaway.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poetry is a genre that is sometimes hard to describe. Pablo De'Stair's language creates a strong image. It took me a few reads to find the clarity to explain this piece. It is the struggle of women through the good and the bad. They face each day looking at a myriad of tasks, things no one ever notices even though they happen day after day. This piece makes the reader notice the mundane in each day, to find the joy, and to find the pain. It is worth getting lost in the language.

[Booneyhead · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy poems and read through them pretty quick. They were not my favorites but very deep and thoughtful. There is not much to say about this since there were only a couple of pages to read. I liked the quiet well and I have passed the booklet on to another friend who also enjoys reading any kind of poem. Thank you for the chance of reviewing this!

[Olga · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series of poems was very intriguing. An old song for wrong women, is not meant to be understood, instead the words themselves just stick in your mind like butter on bread. Pablo D'Stair has a very interesting take on women and his poetry has a very unique feel to it.

[Marzi Margo · Rating 4 out of 5]

"an old song for wrong women" by Pablo D'Stair is an enjoyable poem overall--there are numerous lines and stanzas that stand out with a nice blend of cummings-esque wordplay and Whitman-esque romanticism--but some sections are stronger than others. All in all, a quick and worthwhile read.

[Kim Castiglia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Received this from a goodreads giveaway. This is not a book, but 3 pieces of paper folded in half and stapled together like my 6 year old makes. It does state this is a folio edition in the giveaway, just pointing this out. The most I can say about the poetry itself is that it is odd.

[Melissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really don't know what to think of this collection of poetry. I want to like it, but something just rubs me wrong about pieces in it. I think I just need to read it a few more times and think more about it.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the poetry is quite dark. I feel like the poet was trying to convey that women who have been wronged never forget their experiences and store them up inside of themselves creating a shell that is impenetrable to society.

[Nora · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway, and find myself agreeing on all points with this review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... -- not sure where the writer was coming from on some angles, but enjoyed some of the language. An intriguing poem.

[Alysia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't think this is for me cause I just didn't get it. It's a 12 page newsprint book with poems that repeat and repeat. I didn't feel the theme and the meaning. Maybe I should read it again. But I just don't get it!

[Carol K. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I won this booklet on Goodreads...thanks for the opportunity to read these verses, but I couldn't figure out their meaning...they just don't speak to me

[Anna Doll]

This assortment of poems was very interesting to read. I enjoyed reading the poems by Pablo D'Stair and hope to read more of his work in the future.

[Susie Spizzirro · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am sure this is a failing on my part but I did not understand this book. I do thank you for the book & will pass it on to others that may uderstand . Thank you.

[Noran Miss Pumkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Received this through Goodreads First Reads Giveaways.

[Veronica · Rating 2 out of 5]

These poems really didn't interest me much. Pablo's poetry just didn't suit me. If I understood right,I think his poems are about his bad experiences with women...

[May · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really didn`t get the poem at all and trying to read the first few pages nearly put me to sleep.

[Melissa]

I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

[Shay Leszinske · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dark poetry about women. I enjoyed number v.

[Brooke-lynn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow. I don't even know what to say...
4-10