OTHER FUGITIVES AND OTHER STRANGERS

by Rigoberto González

"While the tension that never leaves these poems is, on the surface, erotic, what lies beneath the sensual energy is an awareness that sex, as the articulation of love, is tainted by our notions of how pure love should be. It's Gonzalez's lyricism that joins the physical and the ideal, and demonstrates that the impulse to speak is a form of the impulse to touch. Gonzalez's honesty is itself a kind of there is an exacting focus here that speaks of hope without using the word. If we can look, we can change. These are poems of transformation." -- Bob Hicok "Follow Rigoberto Gonzalez into these poems and you'll come to a place where a kiss is a fig or a rock, where a fist is a rose, or a finger is a barb on a hook. Inside this dazzling kaleidoscope of words, Gonzalez whirls us through the delights and terrors of erotic love, and into the forbidden, hidden, dangerous body of desire. He was brave enough to write these unflinching, brilliant poems. Are you brave enough to read them?"-- Minnie Bruce Pratt

Genres: Poetry, LGBT, Queer

78 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2005

Reviews

[Tiffany Mathews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some impressive twists of language but it largely felt like the poems were written to garner the most possible shock value.

[Angee Cookston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful prose, super super vivid and clear imagery. Visceral descriptions of both death and sex. An intimate look into the relationship between sexuality and race. The content was a little limited and felt repetitive by the end of the collection. Also certain things felt like maybe they were just written for shock value. Overall a lovely and sexy poetry collection.

[hh · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5-4

[Matt Mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are few writers as capable and dangerous as Gonzalez. His images, no matter how shocking, come out so enviably true that it's difficult to put this poetry book down. And were poetry as visible as, say, movies, this book would be constantly in the news with this group protesting the brutal scenes, that group praising the artistry, this group condemning some sin or other, and that group reveling in the use of imagery so necessary and natural that whole sections of the book should be required reading for anyone sending poems to magazines or reading them aloud at open mics.

Lines from his poem "In Praise of the Mouth" somewhat exemplifies that thought: "Even the alligator's dangerous parade of teeth/looks beautiful because it celebrates the mouth." And these poems DO celebrate things we might deem dangerous, but they never lose track of the humanity of the people involved. Though some sexual poems cross into physical hurt, they don't do so gratuitously and they don't lose track of the beating hearts in all the characters.

In the poem "The Untimely Return of My Dead," a dead lover returns to knock on the door, causing some panic and worry and some self-reflection: "...And lately/even my mouth has begun to overcome its shyness,/welcoming words like a strong flock of swallows//and not like the panic of bats." And ends: "...The knocking stops. I'm relieved/and saddened. That even in his death he cannot piece/himself together. And even in the streets his wardrobe runs/away from him, divided among different men."

This is writing that seems effortless in how smoothly it works. Well worth reading no matter who you are.

[L Plante · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t usually read poetry but I enjoyed this book. Some poems were better than others but I appreciated it.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd like to blend the blurbs from the back cover of this book to really explain it, "While the tension that never leaves these poems is, on the surface, erotic, what lies beneath the sensual energy is an awareness that sex, as the articulation of love, is tainted by our notions of how pure love should be...Follow Gonzalez into these poems and you'll come to a place where...a fist is a rose...he whirls us through the delights and terrors of erotic love, and into forbidden, hidden, dangerous body of desire. He was brave enough to write these...poems. Are you brave enough to read them?" (Bob Hicok & Minnie Bruce Pratt)

It's almost like reading Queer as Folk!

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the macabre themese and imagery struck me more since I read this in around the same time as So Much for That and Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. Reading these books so closely together enhanced my experience reading each individually.

Some of the imagery in these poems sat with me long after I'd put the book down. I really, really liked this book.

[Donnelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

crisp images - raw - this poet does not flinch.

[Jackee · Rating 4 out of 5]

1141831 I really loved this collection, I think I've developed a fascination with Contemporary Queer poets.

[Jess Dutschmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super intense

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic!