About the Poems - KK
About the Poems
by Kristin Kelly These poems come from a corral of similarly structured (and populated) poems. As for the actors: Sally prefers to guard or lord over the poems, appearing in the titles, but rarely below. Only in the first poem does Sally cameo. The Betties, on the other hand(s) are all over the place. And Dan, the (un)supporting actor, shows up uninvited sometimes and has in the past, caused some damage. So, a love story/saga of sorts, a sordid assortment of attempts—all the kings’ horses and all the kings’ men—to put things back together. Or not. I’m interested in the space—vast and yet intimate—between title and poem. It’s like the shared wall of a duplex—a physical divide/physical link between two living rooms. On one side is Sally, who frets, reflects, disapproves of, listens to, defends and offers explanations. And on the other side, Betties, who flirt, cause scenes and accidents, throw parties, scatter and multiply. It’s the friction—the conversation—created by these (seemingly) opposing impulses and lives/selves that interests me. In poems, in life, in us.