Porno for Prometheus: A Review of Mike Meraz’ Watching It Burn By: Frankie Metro

Yellow Daffodils

we have grown tired of flowers.
we have grown tired of the word
“poet.”

I take great comfort in any poetry book that starts out with such declarations. However, if you’re looking for page numbers to reference back and forth to throughout Mike Meraz’ Watching It Burn, keep looking. Perhaps it is invisible ink used to tell you where you are at in this book, but for me, I found it much easier to keep in mind the book is short, and the real points of reference are the interlocking themes.

To Be Tough During The Lean Years

Is one of the few times I’ve seen renege not only spelled correctly in a poem, but also properly illustrated i.e. the aesthetic allegiance he compels the reader/writer to follow:

to be tough
during the lean years
is a mighty thing,
indeed.
to stand the forces of failure
and wait it out,
to keep a steady stance
and believe in what you said,
and not renege in hopes of
cutting a deal with the gods.

Mike’s

Girl With The Golden Eyes

reads more like a satirical commentary about how everyone is an:

alcoholic,
duped up,
senselessly
reeking of innocence
and shame

Everything (America) is everyone (Girl). I found it very interesting and quite refreshing actually, that he relates this “world” he makes comparison to, with a woman instead of himself. Some “poets” have a tendency to simply internalize their surroundings and in situations where a “poet” has to write this perspective from that of the opposite gender, they can easily lose sight of their own ideals and perceptions within the caricature. This was not an issue with Mike, who chose rather to incorporate the Girl’s physical presence as a sign of his own jaded and bleak view of what lives and what breathes around him.

she comes in and buys
“Evan Williams”
from you, looks at you
and smiles and says,
“I’ll see you later.”

Meraz’

Home

is synonymous with acceptance and details:

I ask, where did I go wrong?
on this solemn night,
where did I make the wrong turn?

I look back at the details of my life
and realize
I am exactly where I should be

as the cats eat,

I am exactly
where I should be.

Truthfully, I am not one to usually buy into “poets” discussing their pets, because, well, I am not an animal lover, I guess. But it seems to be a commonly used tool in “poetry” relaying comfort and simplicity, which I think are the reinforcement for acceptance and detail in this home.

Living Block

is encouraging for the paltry “poet”…or those generally disinterested in proper hygiene or general home maintenance:

there are bed sores
all over my body,
the roaches have
infested the place,
there are shit stains in my underwear,
my teeth are dirty,
but man,
I am sure turning out the pages!

I am almost compelled to burn the sheets after reading this one. It brings back ugly memories.

Mike Meraz’

Rock Hard and Beautiful

sheds light on the most memorable women of OUR lives, and how they were rock hard, alluring, and something far more perplexing than sentimental value.

sea shells
colored stones
heart shaped
pebbles

tiny trinkets
to show me
they have cared

I hold them in my hand

waiting for them
to bring me some sort
of peace

a lasting forgiveness

I get nothing

but it is
nice to see them
on my dresser

Judy
Heather
Lindsey

all of them rock hard
and beautiful.

AS I LONG TO AVOID THAT HUGE WRECKING
CREW CALLED LOVE

has one underlying message, not altogether obvious upon first read:

Avoid the wrecking crew, by becoming the wreckless and unsalvageable.

AVOID ALL EXERCISING, DRINK
LOTS OF BEER, ROAM AROUND
HALF-DRUNK WHILE WHISTLING
“DON’T STOP BELIEVIN”

Finally, in order

To Catch Fire

there is too much moisture
in grass.
it needs to die
and become brittle
to catch fire.

as the title poem suggests at the end, embrace your bitter, brittle nature, wait for the grassy knoll inside to dry, wither, and die…ignite, then:

Be Kind. Rewind

go back
and seek those
you love.

……………………………

Frankie Metro is the Non-Fiction Editor at Red Fez Publications.

A.g. Synclair, Editor of The Montucky Review, reviews "Watching It Burn"

Writing poetry, it would seem, is one of those things that every living, breathing, American thinks they can do, and do well. In reality, most cannot. While that statement is not intended to sound pompous or pretentious, it likely will be taken that way by some, and I am fully prepared to accept that. As the editor and publisher of a popular and successful literary review, I am privileged to read some very good work written by those who actually can and do capture the nuances of life in those small paragraphs or stanzas that we call poetry. One such individual is Los Angeles poet Mike Meraz. In his new book, Watching It Burn (Dog On A Chain Press) Mr. Meraz takes the reader on a journey through life’s hits and misses, navigating effortlessly through forty-one short, punchy, poems that should resonate deeply with even the most hardened reader among us.

In The Great Poets, Mr. Meraz channels Bukowski through a metaphor-free ode to hard working writers and the often demeaning submission process. On Viewing a Painting by Jackson Pollock accomplishes the rare feat of being both sympathetic to its subject matter, and free of the sort of trite, fluffy, language that is too often used to illustrate admiration. In fact, Meraz goes one step further here in describing Pollock’s art as effortless, while he himself effortlessly documents a poetic thank you to an artist and his work. This kind of successful juxtaposition is often missing in the work of less accomplished poets. Raw at 63 veers into some familiar territory, and any fan of the beats will surely appreciate straight ahead urban poetry, tempered with a tip of the hat to Ray Heinrich. Street-wise, haggard and damaged folk inhabit Meraz’s world yet, these broken souls become sympathetic creatures, rather than objects of scorn and revulsion, thanks to the author and his deft pen. One of the strongest pieces in this collection, The Life of a Writer, is quite atmospheric in both tone and temperament, weaving in and out of almost allegorical colorations to end as a simple, yet powerful metaphor.

Watching It Burn is a fine collection of contemporary writing that can stand proudly alongside anything produced by the small presses in our modern age. Anyone who appreciates the often overlooked and under-appreciated art form called poetry should check out Mike Meraz’s work for a gracious sampling of what modern day poetry can offer.


A.g. Synclair
Editor/Publisher
The Montucky Review
6 March, 2012

new book published by Dog On A Chain Press