NEW POEMS PUBLISHED: I have three new poems in The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature. You can click here to go directly to the poems. This issue also features work by Sherry Chandler, Felicia Mitchell, Doug Ramspeck, Jeffery Beam and many more.

These poems all had unique histories. "Secret Origins of the Super-Villains" is a poem from 2001 that was discarded from Wake after one of the many re-sequencings because it seemed to cover some of the same ground as other poems in the collection. I'm glad it found a home here. Anyone remember Lion Country Safari or the old Grant's department stores?

"Reconstruction" was written for the My South competition conducted by the now defunct Turner South cable channel. I rarely write about growing up in the south (that's coming eventually), so this is a bit of a departure.

"Katrina: Origins" was written in response to Hurricane Katrina and after an evening of listening to Billie Holliday, thus the reference to "Strange Fruit" in the last stanza. I was also experimenting with writing short lines and making quatrain stanzas. Of course, this doesn't have any kind of rhyme scheme, but I don't do rhyme.

Thanks again to Helen for asking to see these and deciding to publish them.

Comments

Anonymous said…
These are great. Love the Katrina poem the most. Thats really different for you.

GAV
Justin Evans said…
Congratulations! Really great news for you.

The verification sounds like a Welsh woman's name:

Ladiy
Justin Evans said…
It didn't copy out the whole word. It was

Ladiywn

Justin
Peter said…
Fun poems, Collin!
I love the tile of this journal: what a hoot.
And the blue trailer on your poem page is perfect.

I'm sure you have heard the joke (please don't be offended):
Q: What's the difference between a hurricane and a Southern divorce?
A: Nothing: in both of them you lose the trailer.
DeadMule said…
Hi Collin, We've had so many problems posting this issue of the Mule that we subtitled it the "Bad Karma Issue" last night. It's still not all posted. Glad you discovered your poems are up and that others are enjoying them. At the Mule, we think life is fun and that writing (or publishing)is serious business.
Helen Losse
Collin Kelley said…
Thanks, everyone! Peter...that's a tame southern joke. Most of the ones I know include tires, peanuts and people with no teeth. :)

Sorry to hear the issue has been such a pain, Helen. It looks good.
Enjoyed your work in Dead Mule, Collin. Especially "Reconstruction".
Anonymous said…
Way cool.

If you're into Super Villains (or Heroes for that matter) you might like Jeanine Hall Gailey's work.
Unknown said…
Mule rocks. So do you, Collin. Congrats!
Anonymous said…
I think I liked the comic book one the best (they are all rockin though).
Kate Evans said…
I'm so glad you found a home for the Supervillans poems!

What a great triptych of poetry--shows your versatility.
Yes, they're all three terrific. The last line of Katrina sends the proverbial shiver up the spine! But the first one is sweetest to me tonight - perhaps because a friend has just found me a Phantom ring on ebay. I wasn't allowed comic books as a kid, but used to sneak them anyway. And I certainly wasn't allowed to get a Phantom ring! have wanted one ever since, and finally... So can particularly relate to the feelings you express in that poem!

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