What the hell did I just read? Sam Sax, as mentioned before, can write. And can write well. However, he is not easy to read. Please forgive me when I say I am not sure of one fact: Does Sax hate himself because he is gay, or does he just want to shock you? After all, you cannot slut shame, even a male, right?
And yes, he likes sex. A lot. He likes to write poems about Butt Holes and Butt Plugs. And about how he has “killed the future children” of a lover by “taking him into his mouth.” And he also seems to just consider himself a monster (as seen in A Guide to Undressing Your Monsters, one of his first works). The contradiction is not lost in the wordings.
However, he was a good brother and bailed his brother out. But does he resent that? Again, images blend together creating some intensely interesting works.
Impermanence has some of my favorite lines and images. This ideal of Buddhism plays a part as well as other thoughts of religion and family through the poems. There are always soundbites that you can highlight but taken out of context I am not sure what that means.
I will admit, I liked what I read. I am not sure what I read. There is a lot going on that you cannot get in one sitting. Or even multiple sittings. Maybe I am not the audience he meant his words to be seen by and that would explain that. But he covers everything from life to death. He is an artist you need to see to believe.
