Dig Safe

by Stuart Dischell

Stuart Dischell's poetry is passionate, darkly comic, heartbreaking, and always unpredictable. Dig Safe reaffirms why he commands high regard among poets and critics and popularity among his readers. Taking as their metaphor the markings that construction workers use to warn of utilities below street level--these new poems pierce the body politic as they evoke interconnection and misalliance, movement and inhabitation.

Genres: Poetry

80 pages, Paperback

First published March 25, 2003

Reviews

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, all the way through. Stuart Dischell is at his very best in this collection of fun, sad, sexy, talky poems. Here's one I particularly liked:


"Days of Me"

When people say they miss me,
I think how much I miss me too,
Me, the old me, the great me,
Lover of three women in one day,
Modest me, the best me, friend
To waiters and bartenders, hearty
Laugher and name rememberer,
Proud me, handsome and hirsute
In soccer shoes and shorts
On the ball fields behind MIT,
Strong me in a weightbelt at the gym,
Mutual sweat dripper in and out
Of the sauna, furtive observer
Of the coeducated and scantily clad,
Speedy me, cyclist of rivers,
Goose and peregrine falcon
Counter, all season venturer,
Chatterer-up of corner cops,
Groundskeepers, mothers with strollers,
Outwitter of panhandlers and bill
Collectors, avoider of levies, excises,
Me in a taxi in the rain,
Pressing my luck all the way home.
That's me at the dice table, baby,
Betting come, little Joe, and yo,
Blowing the coals, laying thunder,
My foot on top a fifty dollar chip
Some drunk spilled on the floor,
Dishonest me, evener of scores,
Eager accepter of the extra change,
Hotel towel pilferer, coffee spoon
Lifter, fervent retailer of others'
Humor, blackhearted gossiper,
Poisoner at the well, dweller
In unsavory detail, delighted sayer
Of the vulgar, off course belier
Of the true me, empiric builder
Newly haircutted, stickerer-up
For pals, jam unpriser, medic
To the self-inflicted, attorney
To the self-indicted, petty accountant
And keeper of the double books,
Great divider of the universe
And all its forms of existence
Into its relationship to me,
Fellow trembler to the future,
Thin air gawker, apprehender
Of the frameless door.

by Stuart Dischell

[Gerry LaFemina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dischell's voice maintains a distance with his subject matter, or, perhaps, more accurately, a kind of detachment that I associate with writers of his generation, while simultaneously turning an intense lyricism to the poems. After reading this book, I set about writing a new poem--something I always think as a good sign to the quality of what I read.

[june · Rating 3 out of 5]

"And all its forms of existence
Into its relationship to me,
Fellow trembler to the future,
Thin air gawker, apprehender
Of the frameless door."

"Could perform activities
Related to the earth
Close not to inherit
What was planned for him"

"The face would be erasable"

"Reason is the wind has not found them out"

[Jeff Laughlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

His best, in my humble opinion.

[Matt Morris]

Read my review of this & other books at http://miscmss.blogspot.com/2013/12/l...