This is my first-full length collection of poetry. I am grateful to have been so enthusiastically accepted by my publisher Sibling Rivalry Press. Please check out more of the titles they publish, if you find the time, at http://siblingrivalrypress.com/. And I am equally grateful to Dennis for taking the time to post all of this stuff I pulled together for a blog post about my book. I got my MFA from the New School back in 1999 and then I took years to get my shit together, getting published in journals here and there during that time. As time went by, I started to think that I would never get a full-length collection of my work published, but here I am. The poems in the book were written anywhere in the past twelve or thirteen years of my life. I took a few poems from each year and put them together in this collection. That's it. The poems are me and my obsessions, what I have seen in everyday life and how I interpreted the world around me. My purpose is to affect my readers anyway possible, whether I blow the top of their heads off, make them uncomfortable, or cause some sort of emotional reaction to take place. And if you're wondering what "devil piss" is, you'll have to read the title poem in the book. Enjoy.
Bio:
ROBERT SIEK is a poet who lives in Brooklyn and works as a production editor at a large publishing house in Manhattan. His poems have appeared in journals such as The Columbia Poetry Review, Lodestar Quarterly, Court Green, Mary, Assaracus, and Chelsea Station. The New School published his chapbook Clubbed Kid, and his short story “Sixteen” appeared in Userlands: New Fiction Writers from the Blogging Underground. Purpose and Devil Piss is his first full-length collection of poetry, released by Sibling Rivalry Press on October 8, 2013.
Praise for Purpose and Devil Piss
“Robert Siek’s poems have this rich, layered dailiness about them that seems to both gobble up and perfectly attenuate everything he touches on, and he knows just how and where and what and who to touch. I’ve been his work’s dedicated reader and fan for ages, and, even so, the beauty, feeling, and tech on display in Purpose and Devil Piss has knocked me for a loop.”
—Dennis Cooper
“I applaud Robert Siek’s candor, his eschewal of embellishment, his hardscrabble rhythms, his documentary fidelity to everyday life’s seamy texture. Whether oriented toward erotic bliss or toward bummed-out isolation, he writes for survival’s sake. He makes poetry seem important again; unacknowledged legislator, he reinvents verse’s divine mandate. I feel at home in Siek’s universe, especially when his lines put out the welcome mat for sordid customers.”
—Wayne Koestenbaum
“If you enjoy poems that are fresh, fun, and fuckin’ fabulous, urine luck! Robert Siek’s Purpose and Devil Piss will leave you feeling just a little bit dirty and totally purified with his fearless word flow.”
—Emanuel Xavier
Here is a sneak peek of the book in ten images:
Some poems from the book:
Good Morning America
I overhear the U.S. secretary of defense
discuss weapons in Iraq with a TV news journalist,
mumbling comments about soldiers stationed in Baghdad,
sounding like a heavy breather hiding in my wardrobe,
pinching his nipples and licking the doorknob
of the chain-locked door outside of my bathroom,
leading to the house connected to my apartment,
where televised voices mix with laughter,
soundtrack to a short film shot by a student,
montage of a beaten woman sitting in a hallway.
It’s the landlord’s wife on the other side,
chatting loud and knotting telephone wires.
Scenes haunt me in front of the vanity,
while I trim my pubes over a trash can.
I think about running late for work and wonder
if she’s on the phone or drunk at nine in the morning,
like five months previous, when she drove up the highway,
drinking a bottle of Southern Comfort.
She hit a curb in Allendale and told me all about it
while eating a peach and smoking a cigarette,
sharing that she’s a recently relapsed alcoholic.
I told her I had been clean for three years. It seemed
necessary, like flushing the toilet after moving your bowels.
I place my scissors on the sink and listen to footsteps
banging up the next-door staircase. My landlord’s voice
masks Good Morning America. The last news I catch
concerns Mr. Rogers, the longtime host of a children’s program.
And I imagine the landlord’s wife hanging up the telephone
because her husband is yelling like she’s an untrained dog
peeing on the sofa. She gags on her words
like choking on water, when people say
that they drank wrong or it went down the wrong pipe.
It reminds me of tape recordings played backward.
I walk into my living room and turn on the television.
A news report flashes a Middle Eastern woman screaming;
a tank rolls by in the background. I question if war is needed,
sit on my couch naked, and notice the volume is high enough
to fill my head with weather reports, who won some basketball game.
I forget the peach-eating drunk defending the right to drive bombed.
The anchorman announces that it’s a sad day in the neighborhood
because Mr. Rogers has died, and I picture his puppets
in the Land of Make Believe, watching his program as a child
on channel 13. He always smiled while changing his shoes.
All the Life Forms
Locker doors missing, some hanging by one hinge,
roid rage perhaps, zits on a back, too strong for his own good,
a monster at the gym pulled hard like a Frankenstein hug,
schoolchildren squeezed until spines crack and blood vessels
turn connect the dots on faces; it’s this underground scene,
more mainstream but in the dark for gym-joining first-timers.
And oh the pants dropped, somewhat whipped down
with the thrust of a stripper, the sit back, here it comes,
the quick removal of Velcro-held-on pants, like flapping
a sheet out of its folded tidy, Chinese yo-yos crisscrossing
in swarms. A stranger’s hairy ass exposed; maybe gone
commando, or underwear were taken in his power swipe,
the fastest clothes changer on the East Coast. My eyes
find the tissue box by the mirror and built-in blow dryer.
I’m avoiding long stares at the bare bodies sprinkled in corners,
decorations dressing up the benches and fine-wood lockers,
occasional white towels worn wrap-around on big-thighed boys,
wooly mammoth trunks, these muscles shaped, built from earth,
colors vary, like ground levels at a dig—we found another artifact,
a pair of prehistoric mammal femurs, I’d like to pound the dirt
with them: all fours and shit, just look at the differences
in hair patterns, genetics. It’s easy to dwell on bare feet
traveling this carpet, over wet spots where others dripped
exiting the shower stalls, another big bang is useless—
multiple life forms breed right here, in their flesh
or under the scene, some secret world
more of them should discuss, boneheaded gods,
all naked or half-dressed taking too long.
They’re alive all right, like the good doctor said.
I’m an amateur at this, holding my tweezers,
my sifting pan. Who tore the door off this locker?
I plan on using the one next to it to hang my coat
and sweater. I’m already dressed for the gym,
the quicker to get out of here. I avoid folding.
It’s troubling to decide if I’m disgusted or horny.
I blow my nose before leaving—all human
and timeworn—Chinese yo-yos shake in my head.
You can buy Purpose and Devil Piss on the Sibling Rivalry Press website or on Amazon.
Visit Robert's blog at http://hideandsiek.blogspot.com/.
*
p.s. Hey. Today the blog gets restarted in its usual form with this celebration and post-shaped announcement of poet supreme and longtime d.l. Robert Siek's new book of poetry. It's a doozy, and please spend your day acquainting yourself with its illustrated basics then talk to Mr. Siek re: your initial impressions and click the 'buy' link if you can and will. Thanks! And thanks, Robert, for letting us participate in the heralding. In general, Halloween is over, and the blog and I are officially back into our routine of daily newness and correspondence. Good to see you. The US trip was truly spectacular in every respect, and I'll be sharing details as the occasion suits and as your stated interest warrants. And, with that, I'll catch up. ** October 25 ** Tosh Berman, Hi, Tosh. The world would be a far more brilliant and funny, etc. place if Mr. Skelley spilled more of his genius's beans, that's for sure. ** David Ehrenstein, Morning, sir. Thanks for the VK link. His place looks nothing like I would have imagined if I had imagined it. ** Etc etc etc, Hey. Welcome to here, and thank you a lot for the kind words. Please consider this place and its commenting arena one of your homes away from home, if you like. Yeah, the heady days of Grove Press when it was its full, original self were massively impactful, and being able to do books there was huge for the likes of writers like me. There's still some pretty edgy new fiction being supported and published, and maybe more as of the last couple of years than for a long time, but it's scattered over a number of indie publishing ventures that are open and adventurous but not as concentrated on that particular kind of danger as, say, Grove was in its time, and they're harder to hear about and find initially because of that. I can recommend some books if you want. I hope to get LHotB back up and running again soon. I just need to find the time to support it adequately. Is there anywhere I could read your work? That would be great. Take care and, like I said, please come back anytime. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben! Cool re: the photos of YnY's DLF presence. I'll go peruse a bit later. Everyone, Yuck n Yum made its presence known at the Dundee Literary Festival while I was away, and guaranteed fun behind-the-scenes evidence is here. ** S., Hi, buddy. What little of LA that I got to see was sweet. And the haunted houses had moments of genius, especially 'Big Worm's Sherwood Scare', which I propped back in the LA spooky house round-up post, and ditto on 'Backwoods Maze'. Your art is happening. That's not news, man, or is it? How was Halloween itself? ** Bill, Hey! Because my brain seems to have some weird, selective kind focus/ memory thing going on. Enjoy being home for a bit. How/what was your Halloween like? ** Les mots dans le nom, Hi! I guess it was longish traveling. It felt short to us just like successful, jam-packed traveling always does, I guess. We did do some great Halloween stuff, but ended up being being more focused on nature and semi-rugged scenic-ness, I suppose. ** Torn porter, Hi, man. Nice to see you. So, was Halloween week the 7 most exciting days in a row that you expected? What's the link to your Kickstarter thing? That's cool, as is the 6 month England residency. Things are quite good with you, yes? ** October 26 ** Misanthrope, Hi, G! So, as of the most recent comment of yours, it sounds like things with your mom are a relative huge relief, no? I am of course very, very relieved to hear that, and I hope the trouble in her side is due to minor stuff. Little Show is stuck down south after all? Sucks. Well, it doesn't seen like anything to do with his mom can be considered permanent or ever semi-permanent. ** David Ehrenstein, Thanks, D! Lou Reed, Jesus, that was a real blow. What a major, major artist. And so sad about Doug Ireland. I didn't realize he was ill. Another big loss. ** Delilah Hannu, Hey! Oh, you're Dovey! Hi, Dovey! I know, I know. Halloween always seemed to offer an occasion when Antonio's incredible genius would erupt in the most amazing ways. I hope you're doing really well. It's so nice to see you! Lots of love from me and from here to you! ** S., Hi. 'To the Boy I Love' seems to be gone. I missed it. Damn. ** Heliotrope, Mark! I know, RIP: Lou Reed, ugh. He was huge, is huge. I didn't know that story about you and 'Sister Ray', wow. How are you? I was in and out of LA so quickly that I didn't end up getting to see anybody, just things I needed to see for reasons of ongoing projects and re: scratching my Halloween itch. Sucks. Tons of love to you, my man. ** _Black_Acrylic, Great, great to hear about the progress on your Yourtube channel project! What's the latest? Are you fully into the planning and getting-it-done phase now? ** October 28 ** David Ehrenstein, I saw one of those in a haunted house I visited on my trip, weirdly enough. Beautiful remembrance of Doug Ireland. Everyone, Mr. Ehrenstein remembers the noble and much missed Doug Ireland on his Fablog, and I recommend you go read it. Here. ** Steevee, Hi, Steve! Very cool initial report about your new doctor. ** Misanthrope, I jumped the gun and responded to this comment early and back just a few lines. Very, very good news, man. ** October 29 ** David Ehrenstein, Yes. ** Rewritedept, Hi, Chris! No doubt re: Fucked Up's greatness. Are you sure that was me getting a shout out? There's some mayor or sheriff or something with my name in Florida that people sometimes think is me or something. Cool about the edits, but, if you have them, send them asap, okay? Great to see you! ** Sypha, Hi, James. All is very well, thanks. And with you? ** MANCY, Hi! I am and was and still am good albeit with a jet lag overlay of as-yet unknown strength. The Mexican food was a boon, and most of the Halloween-ness filled and even upended the bill. How was your big H? ** Steevee, How was that Jackass thing? I'm very suspicious of it for some reason, although I do like the Jackass films and imprint pretty well. ** S., Another stack (?) that I seem to have missed out on. Jeez. ** October 30 ** Thomas Moronic, Hi, T. Aw, how lovely: your slave paeans. Nailed and nailed. Thank you so much! ** David Ehrenstein, Indeed, right? Interesting looking piece re: '12 Years ... '. I'll have a read in a bit. Everyone, Mr. Ehrenstein has written what looks to be a very, very interesting think-piece on and around and behind Steve McQueen's much ballyhooed new film '12 Years A Slave' on Fandor, and you should give it your attention, I think. ** Bill, They were kind of enigmatic last month, yeah. Weirdly, or maybe not so weirdly, I also watched 'Now You See Me' on my international flight. Yeah, it passed the time, and the magic trick thing is always something I'm easy with. Next time you're flying, I recommend that you do not choose the movie selection entitled 'Jack the Giant Slayer' however. Stinker. ** DOVEY, Hi, Dovey! Oh, that's so amazing! Thank you so, so much! Incredible! Everyone, DOVEY has incredibly generously unearthed and shared some unseen art by her son -- the very, very, very great and incredibly missed genius artist and d.l. Antonio. I so highly recommend that you go take this amazing opportunity and have a long look. Here's DOVEY to introduce and explain: 'In honor of Antonio Urdiales for Halloween and day of the dead a few pieces of his unseen art work I have stored away. btw great blog about the slave boys for some reason I know Antonio would have given a loving comment about the blog :) Love Dovey' Love to you, Dovey! ** Jon Reiss, Wow, hi, Jon! It's so good to see you! Thanks a lot about the post(s), man. How are you? What's going on? How's your work going and everything else? ** Steevee, Yes, I would be too, ha ha. Thanks for the link. I'll go have a look. Everyone, here's Steevee with a tip/gift: 'Russian-themed pro-LGBT artwork.' ** Robert-nyc, Hey, Robert! Thank you again and directly so much for giving us the chance to help birth your book! I'll go look for your FB photos. Uh, the package probably arrived while I was gone, and I was too brain dead upon arrival yesterday to see what had shown up in my absence. I'll check today. I want to see 'EfT', yeah, and I'll look for a Paris engagement. Take care! ** S., Hi. Uh, hard to tell about the jet lag so far. I'm not murdered this morning, but it always takes a day/night or two to discern its true strength. Costume shop near the Grevin ... ? Mm, maybe I don't know about that. I know of the one near Republique, but, mm, no. Is it cool? ** _Black_Acrylic, My Halloween was no Halloween, of course. I was flying across the world and then I was sleepy. I hope you have fun with your folks. Thanks for clueing me/us in on the spooky acid house track. I'll go use it to help raise my consciousness level shortly. Everyone, vis-a-vis Halloween, d.l. _Black_Acrylic recommends 'a rather spooky acid house track: Robert Armani - Ghost'. ** October 31 ** Thomas Moronic, Happy belated Halloween to you! 'Lovely new man': congrats, my pal. I hope the movie felt spooky and that everything on your side of the screen wasn't spooky other than in the greatest way. ** David Ehrenstein, I can't think of any representation of Satan that isn't corny, even when it's 'effective'. I think Tim Curry's get-up in 'Legend' is still my favorite of Satan's surfaces brought to light. ** Keaton, Hi. Oh, it's you, S. New name, cool. Keaton. Like Buster or Michael or Diane or ... ? I don't do Twitter, but ... Everyone, d.l. Keaton, formerly known around here as S., has a new Twitter, if you like. It's @Keaton08269892. Just as important if not far more so even maybe, he has launched some great Halloween-related writing of a prose- and poetry- and imagistic nature, and that's a must. You can start your discovery here and then click back through the archive. And I recommend you do that now or asap 'cos Keaton/S. is a diehard deleter. Looks exciting, man! Wow, ha ha, and not ha ha too, those King Diamond album descriptions are awesome! Thanks a ton, pal. ** Rewritedept, Hey. It was Halloween, yes, not that I would have known it. Vacation was amazing. It was both a vacation and work-related. We did investigations of a personal and 'professional' nature, often simultaneously. You saw a lot of shows. cool. Wow, Suicidal Tendencies are still at it? That's trippy. No, I didn't hear about that Chris Richards review. I'll go find it. I haven't heard the new Arcade Fire. I guess I will, just to see what it is. I liked their first album, but I've been pretty whatever about them ever since. I did read 'Home', and it's fucking incredible! Peter's text is just amazing, and of course Kiddiepunk's visuals are a knock out. Amazing book, yes, for totally sure. ** Gary gray, Hi, Gary! Happy yesterday right back at you! Whoa, did you get photos taken of you dressed up as Stephen? Please say yes and then alert me to them 'cos I'm sure Stephen would be mind blown to see that. Oh, I think your costume and sound idea are kind of genius, of course. Accept my love and positive energy in return, man. ** Creative Massacre, Hi, Misty! I'm very good, thank you for asking. Well, my Halloween was even more low-key than yours, if that helps. Just a nightmarishly long, cramped jet flight to speak of. Oh, that's okay about the Day. Don't sweat it at all. You just concentrate on taking care of yourself, my friend, and only do the post when it feels like part of that process. You take care too, and much love to you! ** Bill, Hi! I did enjoy that, thank you. I know it's just the quality of those old photographs that makes Halloween seem like it was lot more fucked up and scary back then, but still. The flight was ... I guess ok is the right way to put it. ** Steevee, Not a single horror movie amongst my in-flight entertainment options unless 'Lone Ranger' counts, and I begged off that one. ** Wow, we're caught up. Now we can get back to the usual business again. Please start by giving your attention to Robert Siek's brand new book. Thanks a lot. See you tomorrow.