About the Poems - MS
About the Poems
by Mathias Svalina I don’t really want to talk about the aesthetics or poetics of these poems, so I’m just going to discuss some things I think when I read them. “Wedding Bells for Me” This poem is about Diane Arbus. I asked her to marry me two years ago, but she never responded. I still have hope. “Advice for Young Lovers and/or Drivers” I wish someone had given me all of this advice. I hope someone will give me some of this advice. I would like someone to invent a new kind of advice that is physical, like coins. Then you’d know you have it as it jingles in your pocket. “Seeing You Anaesthetized after Surgery” I’ve always responded to the way that organs & diseases have such beautiful names, how words of alarm & fear are often times the most musical. When they were figuring out what to call things there was a big debate as to whether Shostakovich would be a brilliant composer or a disease of the lower intestine. I guess I agree with their ultimate decision. “The Moose” I don’t think I ever made a mix tape called “Mellow Tunes” but I did once put “Love Hurts” on a mix tape for my friend Forrest without any sense of irony—I think I was twelve. I thought that song was truly saying something. I really did. I'm not sure I could ever love someove who made a mix tape called "Mellow Tunes." Those are truly ugly words when spoken together. “Blackberries” I am quite fond of this poem.