Edited by: Michael Grover
Misti Rainwater-Lites is in my opinion one of the best poets out there. Hopefully the poetry that follows will justify that statement. If not it is just my opinion right? She is currently pregnant, and living without air conditioning in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I know the interview says she is moving, but that has changed. So that is good for Albuquerque. She has a few books out that were self- published. Hopefully later this month she will release an anthology for the West Memphis Three edited by her. You can find her stuff here http://stores.lulu.com/ebulliencepress. So here is your outsider of the month for June, Misti Rainwater-Lites!
Edited by: Michael Grover
Misti Rainwater-Lites is in my opinion one of the best poets out there. Hopefully the poetry that follows will justify that statement. If not it is just my opinion right? She is currently pregnant, and living without air conditioning in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I know the interview says she is moving, but that has changed. So that is good for Albuquerque. She has a few books out that were self- published. Hopefully later this month she will release an anthology for the West Memphis Three edited by her. You can find her stuff here http://stores.lulu.com/ebulliencepress.
MDG: You’re moving away from New Mexico. Do you feel that is a mystical place?
MRL: I don't feel that there is anything especially mystical about New Mexico. For lack of a better term I know that a lot of New Age types are drawn to New Mexico because they believe it's a mystical place. New Mexico is a beautiful place but it is not for me. I was born in Texas and spent most of my life there. I moved to Albuquerque in 2002. I've seen some gorgeous places I will never forget...Chaco Canyon, Canyon de Chelly, Bandelier National Monument, Acoma Sky City. I've eaten the best food I've ever had in my life...green chile stew and enchiladas with red sauce. I fell in love with and married my second husband in Albuquerque. But I believe that you either vibe with a place or don't. I don't vibe with Albuquerque. The most mystical place I've ever lived is Tahlequah, Oklahoma, home of Cherokee Nation. That is where I first experienced ebullience. I was irrationally happy, so happy I felt like I bursting out of my skin.
MDG: What made you decide to do a benefit anthology for The West Memphis Three?
MRL: I learned about the West Memphis Three when I saw the HBO documentary "Paradise Lost" in 2003. I was struck hard right away by the blatant injustice of the case. I wrote letters to the three men (Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, Jr.) who were sent to prison for a triple homicide they did not commit. Damien Echols is currently in solitary confinement, awaiting death by lethal injection. Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, Jr. are in prison for life. These three innocent men have been in prison for over thirteen years. I'm not one to blindly jump on bandwagons and get involved in things I know next to nothing about. After I watched the documentary I researched the case online. I also read Devil's Knot, Mara Leveritt's book about the case. Any rational person who watches the documentary, researches the case online and reads the book will come to the same conclusion. The West Memphis Three are in prison because of a modern day witch hunt. Jessie Misskelley, Jr., who is mentally handicapped and was not even a friend of Jason's and Damien's, was bullied by the West Memphis police into giving a false confession in which he implicated not only himself but Jason and Damien. Jessie later retracted the false confession, which had all kinds of holes in it, anyway, but it was too late. After a fruitless, inept, drawn-out investigation by the West Memphis police, the citizens of West Memphis were ready to pin the crime on somebody, anybody. They were hungry for vengeance. Jason and Damien were easy targets because they came from poor families and they did not conform to the Bible thumping country western music loving community of West Memphis. They listened to "Satanic" heavy metal music and Damien wore black clothes. Damien especially stuck out because he read a lot of books and mostly kept to himself. I believe that none of that would have held water if the three men, who were teenagers at the time of the trial, had been able to afford decent legal representation. To me this is a class issue more than anything else. That is why I decided to put together an anthology and send the proceeds to the defense fund. Justice is not blind. Justice in America does not favor the poor and disenfranchised. That scares me and pisses me off because I am poor and disenfranchised myself.
MDG: You have really united the literary underground for this anthology. I know you said you were shooting for fifty. How many different writers do you have?
MRL: I'm still waiting to hear back from a couple of poets, including Damien Echols, but I know that I have less than fifty. I have thirty-something.
MDG: How long have you been doing Instant Pussy?
MRL: I published Instant Pussy #1 in January 2006. I'll publish Instant Pussy #13 today at Kinko's. I always dreamed of putting together a zine but didn't know how to go about it. Then this guy I met online suggested we put a poetry zine together so I went for it. My husband has a lot of print shop experience, not that you need that to put out a zine, but he taught me all the basic stuff that I was too dumb to know and he is the one who actually prints out the pages at Kinko's. I don't like that part of the process. I like editing and planning the sequence of the pages and pasting the different pictures on the pages.
MDG: What have you learned from the process of doing it?
MRL: I've learned that if you don't have love for it, don't waste your time and money. I still have love for Instant Pussy but my love for Instant Pussy in no way matches Christopher Robin's love for Zen Baby. I don't know how many years Christopher has put out Zen Baby...at least five. He's my hero. He sends his zine to prisoners and people all over the world. He is the king of correspondence and snail mail surprises. He has been my greatest champion. I'm hanging up my zinester hat because I'm pregnant and moving to Texas. It just isn't a priority anymore. I might pick it up again someday, but if I do, I will probably put Instant Pussy online. Going to the post office and buying stamps is a real bitch. I hate the post office.
MDG: At what point did you decide you are a serious writer?
MRL: When I wrote this poem titled Programmed But in a Pretty Way in my crappy apartment in Bridgeport, Texas in 2000. I had just gotten my first computer and I had a horrible dial-up connection. I wrote the poem in a fever. The words just spilled out, which is extremely rare for me. Then the computer shut off and I had a nervous breakdown. God fucking damn it! I was pulling my hair and screaming. It was one of the worst moments of my life. I was so in love with the poem that I got back online and wrote what I remembered. I wrote it in a submission form for a pseudo poetry site that I no longer grace with my presence. I wasn't smart enough to put it in a Microsoft Word document. Everything is trial and error with me. For a long time I thought that was my best poem and said it was the poem I wanted to be remembered by. That is no longer the case. I can't think of any outstanding poems I want to be remembered by. I want to be remembered by my self-published collections.
MDG: What do you feel defines an outsider writer?
MRL: I feel that an outsider writer has to be disenfranchised or discounted in some way. There has to be some sort of a struggle. You can't have the American dream by the balls. Or maybe you can but you can't be married to the system. Larry Flynt has the American dream by the balls but he defies the system. I like that about Larry. If I knew how to contact him I'd send him the latest Instant Pussy and my resume. I'd love to work for Hustler. I would put some poetry in there, slip it under the radar and see what happens. Poetry should make people want to jack off. I'm not talking about overtly erotic poetry...the theme is irrelevant. Poetry should excite the fuck of all fuck out of you, make you feel alive. Poetry should vibrate. Outsider writers know how to make their words vibrate. Reviewed by: Pat King
Misti Rainwater-Lites is a super-talented and super-prolific underground writer. I just got her newest chapbook, Mnemosyne's Pool in the mail today and couldn't put the thing down until I reached the end.
Mnemosyn's Pool is a long poem that mixes mythology with the personal. Misti wails for the gods and wails for her humanity.
There's an angry music to her poetry, in short, tight lines. Sometimes one can hear the trumpets, sometimes a soft flute, sometimes a guitar, played slightly out of tune. Her anger is sad and beautiful. Wail, wail, Misti!
And play us some more sweet songs of loss.
Four Poems By Misti
Mamas Don’t Let Your Daughters Grow Up To Be Dolls
listen, cherub
your bouncy black curls
and bluebonnet eyes
will only take you so far
down the highway
put away your thumb
drive your own truck
you will have to survive
many a weary mile
stay awake by singing
to the deaf angels
bowling drunk in some
god awful heaven
do not lisp
speak clearly
shout so there
is no mistake
you will break many times over
you will be responsible
for the glue
no man or government or god
will save your sweet delicate ass
learn to walk in boots
learn to stomp
some people will tell you
it’s all about compromise
and sugar
and tits
and playing dumb
believe them
at your own risk
play that role and you will become
stuck like that
a bargain whore
all dressed up
with nothing
to show
The American Dream is Candy Apple Red
creaming over all the possibilities
as my husband applies for a sears card
purple vacuum cleaner
silver refrigerator
candy apple red washer and dryer
i could be a happy june cleaver
my beaver dripping luv dew
as i dusted and mopped
in a perfectly pressed dress and apron
and fuck me harder, honey high heels
alas, like so much else is in my lackluster life
my dreams are quickly dashed to shit
when the efficient chick at the counter
chirps at my husband that he was turned down
there will be a letter in the mail
explaining why
no vacuum cleaner fridge washer dryer plasma tv spiderman dvd for us
on the way out of the store i push the handicap button
feeling lazy
it doesn’t work
no doors
are opening
for me
America Keeps Making Me Nauseous
celebrities as role models
books as decorations
politicians as dolls that say the same
five things over and over again
global warming as conspiracy theory
gross material consumption as birthright
animals as means to an end
what have you achieved lately, slacker?
who have you humiliated/raped/left for dead?
the craftiest rats
get all the cheese
where’s your good old-fashioned american ambition?
toss that conscience in the garbage, ya big pussy
you won’t need it where you’re going
good americans have all the answers
and none of the questions
makes
a
thinking
gut
puke
A Neurotic Knocked Up Chick’s Strawberry Puke
no changes in the walls and windows
head stuffed with horror
black spidery mold in the shower
my brother’s fate
medicated zombie
or incoherent vagabond
one baby coming up
a list of needs a mile long
shit credit
can’t get an apartment
or a second car
the husband snores
takes up more
than his half
of the bed
can’t get up
until the sun does
different visitors have seen
ghosts in the kitchen
ghosts seem less dangerous
in the daytime
my gut protests
when i finally
haul my ass out of bed
and head for the haunted kitchen
nothing appeals
but the strawberries are ripe
and high in vitamin c
the fetus in my uterus
needs more fruits and vegetables
less candy bars and french fries
so i wash and eat the strawberries
get online
read the blog
of a bitchy self-proclaimed rock legend’s widow
she’s a legend
in her own mind
after reading for about ten minutes
i puke into the kitchen garbage
the strawberries tasted much better
going down
Last update : 03-06-2007 20:12
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By: David Blaine (Registered) on 01-06-2007 05:29