Purpose and Devil Piss

by Robert Siek

Purpose and Devil Piss, Robert Siek's full-length poetry debut, is a collection that spans a decade of the poet's life, relating experiences good and bad and exploring human interactions through scenes of domesticity, sexual debauchery, early mornings coming off drugs, family happenings, avoiding strangers on the street, dating, locker rooms and treadmills at the gym, neighbors' comings and goings, and more. Dennis Cooper says, "Robert Siek's poems have this rich, layered dailiness about them that seems to both gobble up and perfectly attenuate everything he touches on, and he knows just how and where and what and who to touch. I've been his work's dedicated reader and fan for ages, and, even so, the beauty, feeling, and tech on display in Purpose and Devil Piss has knocked me for a loop."

Genres: Poetry

84 pages, Paperback

First published October 8, 2013

About the author

ROBERT SIEK is a poet who lives in Brooklyn and works as a production editor at a large publishing house in Manhattan. He is the author of Purpose and Devil Piss (2013) and We Go Seasonal (2018), both published by Sibling Rivalry Press. His poems have appeared in journals such as The Columbia Poetry Review, Lodestar Quarterly, Court Green, Painted Bride Quarterly, Yes Poetry, visceral brooklyn, Nancy, The Gay and Lesbian Review Worldwide, The Good Men Project, Mary, Assaracus, and Chelsea Station.

Reviews

[willowdog · Rating 3 out of 5]

If poetry is meant to illuminate everyday events, Sirk does an excellent job. Although NYC specific, a rotten title, and a few poems a bit too erotic, I enjoyed this collection.