Favorite piece so far:
"I cannot make your past disappear. Only rabbits my love, only rabbits"

Beyond my understanding-- some parts extremely poignant and powerful.

, said the shotgun to the head. is a very strange (people who are nicer than me would probably say: unique) and complex poem. I wanted to write this review for a couple of days now and I really struggled... I struggled because A) I feel like I haven't properly understood what Saul was trying to say, and B) I understood enough to be overwhelmed with what I want to discuss. Upon skimming some reviews here on Goodreads I am reassured, because I don't seem to be the only one with that problem.

oil slicked feathers, putrid stenched water-bed
"mother nature's a whore," said the shotgun to the head.
and it smelled like teen spirit
angst driven insecure
a country in puterty
a country at war

The first thing we should get out of the way is the confusing format of the poem, and yes my stress is on the singular (because I feel like a lot of people didn't get that) – this is not a poetry collection, this is one big ass poem narrated in 182 pages... this is stated on the cover btw, thank you very much (I swear I'm not always that salty). // One of my favorite lines: "nonetheless, SHE had allowed him to mispronounce her name, which had eventually let to her misinterpreting her own dreams."

So the format is very unique (*coughs* strange), because the design is not normal but a mixture of different fonts, font sizes, bold fonts, italics, random gaps on the pages etc. – a whole fucking lot is going on here, and honestly for the most part (especially in the first quarter of this poem) it seemed completely random. Towards the end I could sense some sort of logic, but I couldn't necessarily pinpoint the shift and why it then worked better for me. The other peculiarity about the format is the count down from 10 to 0 which structures the poem in 11 parts. This created a sort of suspense – that, unfortunately, collapsed without a big boom in the end. The last part was very anti-climatic to me. I was waiting for a big reveal and nothing happened – that was underwhelming!

n  I cannot
make your past disappear

only rabbits, my love,
only rabbitsn

Next off, let's tackle the language. I don't have much to add here. I said it before and I will say it again: Saul Williams has a way with words. He is a very talented artist and so this poem had a lot of quotable moments, phrases that will stay with me for a long time (I mean how could I forget: YOUR WEAPONS ARE PHALLIC / ALL OF THEM). Even though I preferred his earlier poetry collection She, I have to say that language-wise Saul improved in this poem. I marked a lot more quotes than before, and I really appreciated how straight-forward he was – at least at times – in regards to religious beliefs, racism, consumerism and the patriarchy.

Now we have to tackle the themes and messages of this collection. Uff. I'm not sure if I can do it, but I'll try my best. Towards the beginning of the poem Saul writes my path is now crystal clear. / i AM COME TO TELL YOU / SHE IS HERE. This entity, this SHE is present throughout the entire poem. I am not sure if SHE is supposed to be a religious entity – she is definitely a spiritual being/thing/whatever which people believe in or not, but I kinda felt that Saul was trying to communicate a bigger theme here (some of you might ask: what's bigger than God, huh? - *coughs* my penis).

Towards the end of this poem Saul accuses the Western world of worshipping a male god, and using religion as an excuse to do evil things – to participate in wars, to shoot your neighbor, to be a racist scumbag. This poem was written in 2003 – a time where politics and the general attitude where drastically changing in the United States due to 9/11 and its aftermath. Saul even references this horrifying act of terror, saying that they now "live in an old testament where there is a faith that does not burn, that turns kings into believers." Not gonna lie, I'm not really sure what that's supposed to mean, but I thought I mention it nonetheless. ;)

Social commentary and social criticism is also prevalent throughout the poem. Saul is brutually honest and calls out the bloody history of the United States and that certain circles still don't own up to the past (and present). He remains clear in his anti-war, anti-racism and anti-religion (at least in the context of worshipping this male God) stance. He says he hears voices of generals calling for ammunition, voices of presidents calling for arms (I'm looking at you, Bush), voices of women calling for help, but he doesn't hear the voice of God.

or is that his mighty voice?
your angry god
craving the sacrifice
of a virgin generation's
son degenerate

your holy books:
written in red ink
on burning sands
(...branded into necks, whipped into backs, forced inside of vaginas and anuses, crammed into mouts, rubbed into open sores...)

I especially appreciated that he called out the slaughter of indigenous people by referreing to America as n  the holy ground we walk on, purified by native bloodn. I fucking love that, man!

I also liked that he talked about the generational conflict when it comes to protest and changing the present. His outcry "for in many households wisdom no longer comes with age" really reminded me of the struggle that John fucking Lewis (<3) recounted in March, and that back in the 1950s and 60s the young Civil Rights leaders struggled to get their parents on board with their cause, because the older generation was afraid to get into trouble. Just like John Lewis, Saul wants us to get into good trouble. He says, we have to demand our families back, our rituals back, our cultures back, our language back – round of fucking applause!

Some people have criticized Saul for his anti-religious stance. Personally, I don't have a problem with that at all, because I'm not the biggest supporter of organized religion, but I would actually argue for Saul here and say that he is not necessarily against religion per se, just religion of the kind that is used to excuse wars, racism and evil propaganda. Nontheless, I really loved tidbits such as "I prayed, and then I threw up" - hate me all you want. ;) Or even better:

God has hair on her pussy
and waits with burning desire for you

this is no blasphemy you have erected
ancient penises in your capitols
and prayed in the name
of a father, a male child and a ghost

My favorite part of this poem was the conversation between the journalist and the maned character. The MC says that through his art he wants to attack the subconscious of the person who is consuming his art. He states that America is acting out the parts of age old scripts. And that maybe people have to act out these parts because they are written, but we can still find space to riff on what isn't written. Oh my, how I love that. So this is MC's (and thus Saul's) appeal "to the unwritten histories of the future." Hells bells!

Here's a little BEST OF of all the wonderful things Saul reflects in this poem: He stresses the important of words: "only through new words might new worlds be called into order". He says that we are taught to fear and hate, thus making it hard for us to love and embrace love. He says that n  those who do not know their history are bound to repeat it.n The prize of freedom must be payed with the courage to stand alone.

I am honestly dazzled by the vast amount of truth that Saul knocks out as if it were nothing. And lastly:

what happens to a society when mystery is labeled as evil?

it yields an ever-connected chain of false labels and misinterpretations

the indigenous are labeled as savage terrorist and plotted against
the open-hearted are manipulated into slavery
the vulnerable are penetrated by force of law
[…]
why do you pledge with a covered heart when it needs be opened?

Oh man, through writing this review I fell in love with this piece of art and Saul as a person all over again. This man is such a gift to the world. I will treasure him and his words for a long, long time. His words are highly re-readable, so I'm definitely looking forward to that... but I'm also excited to check out his newer stuff such as US. My love and respect goes out to this man. <3 //

A truly epic poem both in content and in quality. Saul Williams really delivers the goods in this nigh novel length poem that centers around a world changing kiss. This poem is a mind melding and explosive look at the world we live in, and a call to change the world for the better. Ultimately it delivers on all counts that a great poem should, vivid imagery, captivating juxtapositions, amazing metrics, and an amazing rhythm- it truly does not miss a beat! Once you pick it up ",said the Shotgun to the Head." you will not want to put it down, and it will stay with you long after you finally put it down.

Every time I thought this was getting a bit too weird, it got so beautiful I had to pause for a second to take it in.

I don't pretend to have understood everything Saul Williams was saying in this poem, but god is it the best poem I've read in a long time. A poem about kisses and God and America and a love song. This poem, published in 2003, is the result of a kiss. As Saul said in the introduction: "He is the babbling man you cross the street to avoid. He is the unavoidable end before the new beginning. He is a lover in search of greater love. SHE is One and many: Kali, the Hindu goddess of destruction and creation; Oya, the Yoruba orisha of death and rebirth; the Holy Ghost, which is to say, the woman restored to her rightful place in the Holy Trinity. No longer ghost, no longer virgin, SHE is mother of us all."

5/5 everyone should read this.

Im not usually a poetry reader, I havent read poetry in a long time and never really gave it much of a thought.
This poem tho, this is a very stange poem, written in a very unique kinda way, which makes it easy to read and easier to get lost in, the whole time i felt like i was falling only to feel weirdly satisfying and disgusted and then feel understanding and confusion in the span of seconds.
I do feel like there were part where i didnt grasp what Saul Williams was trying to convey but other times i felt so deeply and truly understood that i couldn't take a breath.
Really just a rollercoaster that i will be getting on again and again in the future

Damn this was good. Like real good. Like one of the most interesting things I've ever read good.

"A kiss that confirms that the universe is aligned, that the world’s greatest resource is love, and maybe even that God is a woman."

*Raises an eyebrow*

Need to give this a couple reads to really understand it but this is a very interesting poem. Almost comes off as a call to revolution in a way and the downfalls of our society.

I enjoyed this. I love Saul Williams' fast-paced writing. I get so swept up in the fluid sound and the rhythm and the wordplay (even when it's cheap). It's as though the pages turn themselves. The intensity of the madman's ravings is palpable. 

Four stars: I can't say the subject matter deeply touched my heart, but it was a damn good time reading it.

(Yikes - I feel even more fraudulent reviewing poetry than I do reviewing novels)

Kovan sykkeen runokirja, kiihkeä rytmi ja fiilis kuin kuuntelisi lausujaa/laulajaa jossain ison kaupungin taustahälinässä. Tykkäsin levottomuudesta!