9 Apr

Tiff and I

Category: Language

Tiff and I sit
in Tompkins Square Park
reading poetry
under a sky
full of clapping pigeons.
He calls them flying rats
but I think
the pink and green circles
around their necks
like greasy oil puddles are
beautiful.
Tiff says
all my poems sound better
backwards.

Backwards
all my poems sound better
Tiff says.
Beautiful
like greasy oil puddles are
around their necks
the pink and green circles
but I think
he calls them flying rats.
Full of clapping pigeons
under a sky
reading poetry
in Tompkins Square Park
Tiff and I sit.

-Leslea Newman

Posted Friday, April 9th, 2004 at 4:10 pm
Filed Under Category: Language
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Responses to “Tiff and I”

bridget
April 10th, 2004 at 1:06 am

i like it. very interesting. who is she?

digenis
April 16th, 2004 at 1:28 pm

Bridget ? Leslea Newman is a writer and gay rights activist. She wrote a book a few years back called Heather Has Two Mommies and it got a good deal of attention. As you may have guessed, I?m not a huge fan of her other stuff.

This particular poem is from the book Sweet Dark Places. I really like how she plays around with syntax. It?s cool how her imagery and rhythm are transformed when she flips the poem backwards.

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