What do you think?
Rate this book
Sky Lounge
Mark Bibbins finds damaged glamour at the fringes of respectability in this exceptional debut collection I was born
with capable eyes, a moveable heart
and time to spare. ―from "Euphorium" In his restless and unpredictable debut, Mark Bibbins offers a virtuosic poetry. Lovers struggle to connect; groupies, hustlers, and corporate drones covet better―or at least different―lives; locations fluctuate, without forewarning, from bars to beaches to city streets. With beguiling tonal and formal variety, these poems question the ordinary and unwitting acceptance of the status quo as they hover where "error arranges itself." As indebted to Stereolab and Siouxsie Sioux as to any poetic lineage, Sky Lounge introduces an imagination committed to making irreverence, sensuality, and elegy into a provocative new music.
with capable eyes, a moveable heart
and time to spare. ―from "Euphorium" In his restless and unpredictable debut, Mark Bibbins offers a virtuosic poetry. Lovers struggle to connect; groupies, hustlers, and corporate drones covet better―or at least different―lives; locations fluctuate, without forewarning, from bars to beaches to city streets. With beguiling tonal and formal variety, these poems question the ordinary and unwitting acceptance of the status quo as they hover where "error arranges itself." As indebted to Stereolab and Siouxsie Sioux as to any poetic lineage, Sky Lounge introduces an imagination committed to making irreverence, sensuality, and elegy into a provocative new music.
- GenresPoetry
78 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
2 people are currently reading
67 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 7, 2009
I read this book before Goodreads existed, but recently reread it, and fell in love with it all over again! WOW, look at this one:
IF NOT TO SPEAK AGAINST
All paintings are of trees or should
be. From the Urdu word for dust
comes the color of the uniform.
All songs are about love.
We position so others cannot see
then lie and call it contact.
We measure the length of the shore
and say don't look at the water.
An army moves across a desert
in olive drab, through clouds of dust.
What's topical becomes generic,
for instance bombs
that look like food fall from the sky
and land near people living on dust.
Anyone in the painting, hiding behind
a tree, is presumed to be a lover.
Attire is protection, idiom, antagonism.
All photographs depict the black fins
of whales as they go under.
No one can be counted on
to water the office trees.
Submitting to systems is autonomy
as long as systems vary, as long
as what's generic is topical.
--------------------
THIS, and many other amazing poems included!
CAConrad
http://CAConrad.blogspot.com
IF NOT TO SPEAK AGAINST
All paintings are of trees or should
be. From the Urdu word for dust
comes the color of the uniform.
All songs are about love.
We position so others cannot see
then lie and call it contact.
We measure the length of the shore
and say don't look at the water.
An army moves across a desert
in olive drab, through clouds of dust.
What's topical becomes generic,
for instance bombs
that look like food fall from the sky
and land near people living on dust.
Anyone in the painting, hiding behind
a tree, is presumed to be a lover.
Attire is protection, idiom, antagonism.
All photographs depict the black fins
of whales as they go under.
No one can be counted on
to water the office trees.
Submitting to systems is autonomy
as long as systems vary, as long
as what's generic is topical.
--------------------
THIS, and many other amazing poems included!
CAConrad
http://CAConrad.blogspot.com
September 16, 2017
(..) My wanting, my wreck
and desire - may I
never regret having asked,
may I.
and desire - may I
never regret having asked,
may I.
February 6, 2025
struggling b/w 3.5 and 4! poetry towards the end spoke to me so much more than in the front half — which is odd! really nice stuff but doesn’t beat 13th balloon 😌
August 3, 2016
I usually like to read a poet from the early work forward--but I read Bibbins’ other books before coming to Sky Lounge. It was fun--I can see the progression certainly (there are a couple of “young” poems here) but I especially like that there is a consistency of play and humor.
Some of my favorite moments:
“Remorse held us together until we died young
and most of us never realized we were mammals.”
“bombs
that look like food fall from the sky
and land next to people living on dust.”
“precocious is as precocious does.”
“this week the country is cross
with certain perverts and why not.”
“the crappy verse adorning my leg cast.”
“We wanted the dead for ourselves
and here they are.”
“not conventionally pretty. not conventionally shaved.”
“Why does he read over my shoulder when
he’s got his copy open to the same page?”
“You love
the noise stars make when they fall.”
“no one could describe the Fifth Amendment with sufficient confidence.”
“If all cities were made of light, then what?”
“The cat licks it up
with little licking sounds.”
“the drunker we got
the drunker we got.”
Some of my favorite moments:
“Remorse held us together until we died young
and most of us never realized we were mammals.”
“bombs
that look like food fall from the sky
and land next to people living on dust.”
“precocious is as precocious does.”
“this week the country is cross
with certain perverts and why not.”
“the crappy verse adorning my leg cast.”
“We wanted the dead for ourselves
and here they are.”
“not conventionally pretty. not conventionally shaved.”
“Why does he read over my shoulder when
he’s got his copy open to the same page?”
“You love
the noise stars make when they fall.”
“no one could describe the Fifth Amendment with sufficient confidence.”
“If all cities were made of light, then what?”
“The cat licks it up
with little licking sounds.”
“the drunker we got
the drunker we got.”
January 23, 2016
Bibbins' poetry does this damned thing where it makes you wish and believe you could write a poem as clever as his, but then you try and you can't and you are angry.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews