i have mixed feelings, mostly that a lot of what is said in this poem is a message that has existed forever and is still a message unaware in the mass consciousness. and so now a dude says it and i hope it will be taken more seriously by reaching an audience that may not typically veer toward this thinking--as this book was also helped put out by mtv, which is also a strange concept to me, but whatever works to get something out to get the folk thinking is a good move.
the poem is pro goddess-earth-love and anti male god-phallic war. i like his play with words. one of my favorites was how mater means mother and that it is a material world and how can one be patriotic (pater) when it just leads to so much destruction.

This is vital. And while I am too young to truly remember what it was like in the immediate aftermath of September 11, and the years that followed (in which this poem came about), but I feel like it has only have grown more so over time.

, said the shotgun to the head. is a panacea for, and an antithetical statement against, the various perceptions of otherness and difference that increasingly divide us; as well as the egotist doomsday-ers whose various worlds are constantly in peril from these others.

This is perfect-bound love. Not 2a.m. sweet nothing love, not grandma's love of gratitude, but more like the stern, angry, disbelieving love of your mother when you roll in drunk and high and covered in hickeys at 2 in the morning on a school night at 16. Both depthless, and depthlessly livid.

Seek it out and put it in your brain already.

Shout-out to Blackalicious for having the balls to include a 5-minute beat poem on a 2002 hip-hop album and indirectly leading me to find this work.

3.5 stars

A good chunk of this book (especially, most of the first half).. confused me? I, frankly, had a hard time understanding what was being discussed, who was being referred to and in relation to what/whom. (Yes, I'm open to being called dumb in matters concerning poetry). The latter half was much more forgiving.

The constant change of font-size for a single sentence and (unnecessary?) use of italics and bold, also annoyed me a fair amount ngl.

But the rest of what I managed to drill into my skull, was enough to dismiss all what seemed petty or incoherent. Exceptional way with words, given that he used less of em. If this is a style of insta poetry I'm unaware of, consider me well invested. Will be picking up 'She' from him the next, soon enough.

I'm sad I didn't love it

cool spoken word futurism -- particular sections are revelatory, but it seems uneven as a whole. of course, i haven't seen it performed aloud, so this is an incomplete review.

Williams is a master wordsmith. His imagery is amazing and I find his poetry extremely poignant. You can feel the emotional grunt work he put into crafting this book. This is one of my favorite books of poetry.

Find my book review here: https://theroyalpolarbearreads.wordpr...

Intrinsic, Weird, Unique. Said the shotgun to the head implies a new style of writing a poetry that talks about the alternative mirror of reality. With every line, with every word – there is hidden message from the author. Saul Williams offered us a poem that few people would understand and regardless of the profound idiosyncrasies that I both found and felt by reading the book, Williams did a good job on his word play with the astonishing and uniquely written poetry with diverting styles of approach.

Personally, I would love to rate this 5 stars. However, I couldn’t. If the poetries were stable and has an impact throughout the end, I would. But it stings like going up and down. Like, life you never thought what was ahead of you.
RATINGS: 3 STARS.

Holy shit. I'm crying just typing this review even though I finished the book like 10 minutes ago. This is the book that reignited my love for poetry. Although only half this book made sense to me, and typically that would infuriate me, this was just absolutely GORGEOUS. Williams had me from page one, and in this book he criticized the patriarchy, war, religion, and this was generally just a roller coaster ride that brought me to tears. It was so raw and it was centered on a love story, but grew so much in these 182 pages. Highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend and i'm going to go read his other two poetry books that I own right now.

Re-reading Saul Williams works has proven enriching. There are things I didn't pick up on when I read his poetry as a young man. , said the shotgun to the head in particular seems to be an attack on the ills of capitalism and the violence of a patriarchal system. The poem is full of double entendres and ambiguous imagery that seem to beg for multiple readings. As always, Williams references pop culture and his heritage, but this time around I understood many more of the references. I definitely recommend reading , said the shotgun to the head aloud. It is a much more pleasurable experience, that way. It doesn't hurt to look up Saul Williams reading his work to get an idea of the flow and emphasis of the poem. It's almost percussive in places.

It's set out interestingly, a quick read with creative text

saul seems like such a cool guy. his mind makes mine feel like glass that is being shattered.

“i cannot make your past disappear” was such a heavy line.

and “i have seen the moon in a sun dress” was another favorite,
superb, truly.

This is an incredible collection of work and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves to read and who is capable of seeing beauty in words. It is powerful and interesting and angry and emotional and has some gorgeous imagery in it as well. Seriously, just read it. You won't be disappointed.