Poems for the Utopian Nihilist

by Milo Martin

It's no accident that poet Milo Martin's abstract paintings and drawings take on a calligraphic form. The physical acts of writing and drawing are remarkably similar whether ink on paper or pigment on canvas. In what must surely be an echo of Martin's literary notes, in his images patterned seas of intenselymade, quick-stepping marks gather themselves into ranks like the cresting waves of an incoming tide. Here and there the phantom of an image emerges from the swirling mists of gestural eddies and clouds. And of course the question of rhythm is no less vital to the balance of the images as to the stanzas -- rhyming without repeating, immediate but carefully measured, passionate and metronomed. The paintings are perhaps evocative where the poetry is descriptive, but they are every bit as grounded in the sensual, literal world as the poems; enjoying every bit as specific a relationship to the time and place of their making as do the poet's words. Being in a certain sense the visual, or object-based counterparts to the poems, they bear the same aesthetic, emotional, philosophical, narrative and spiritual weight. They too are by turns ethereal, luxurious, patient, elegant, seductive - and this is especially true of the work in this volume - also profound, melancholy, political, violent, spiked and sharp, like licking honey off a thorn. That's what's meant by Utopian Nihilism, perhaps; the hot-headed, meditative impulse that inspires Milo Martin to keep making luminous words and pictures even amid the darkness at the end of the world. -Shana Nys Dambrot, Managing Editor, Flavorpill Los Angeles 2007 MILO MARTIN, a native Californian originally from the Monterey Peninsula, the East Bay and San Francisco, found his way to Los Angeles, coming up in the East Hollywood ONYX poetry scene in the mid-late 90s. He co-founded the original Hollywood/Los Feliz Poetry Slam Team in 1997, later winners of the National Slam in 2004 and 2005. He has toured Europe extensively in the last five years with the international poetry troupe, POESIE UNITED, performing his metaphysical melancholy spoken word at international poetry festivals, rock venues, libraries and universities. His work has been translated into four languages (German, Italian, Croatian and Estonian). He is considered to be one of the main progenitors of the Utopian Nihilist poetry

133 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Ben Loory · Rating 4 out of 5]

i'm not sure if i love this book so much because i've heard milo read from it and love the way he reads (and the way he pauses), or if i love it for reasons inherent in the words. probably, hopefully, it's both.

in the stories that i write, there always comes a moment at the end when the two conflicting desires meet together in conflagration, and that is (hopefully) followed by the loud peace of the new-found present. everything is still and clear, both terrifying and beautiful. everything is possible, but existence itself is... what???

that's kind of the place where milo's poems exist.

i suppose it's a kind of beat thing, a buddhist thing, a zen thing... there are stories, good stories, but never drama. everything is funny and true and unpretentious and CLEAR-- so many sparkling images and words, it's like an animated movie about spirit.

this is from "portrait of a young man as an old fly," my favorite... it's about a fly that becomes addicted to traveling in moving cars:

in San Gabriel after his first four days on the planet
Eddie took a bright sassy wife and generated
350 children bursting forth from pupal cases
in that wet clump of cut grass
in the backyard of the big plaster dwelling

all he loved, all he called his own
a tight little orchestrated tribe
family and solo expeditions
through the domestic dwelling satiated to a point
with the abundant fruit deposits and open containers
but it never seemed to be quite warm enough for him

until he discovered the vessels of metal and glass


the whole thing is just so fucking fun to read, is all.

and the poem "tender ogre" just rules.

[Yvonne de la Vega · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of my favorite poetry books ever.