Issue #18: Short Film Starring My Beloved's Red Bronco
A brief discussion on a breathtaking book of poetry! Additional resource: Quick Tips for Enjoying Poetry now available.
Book Review
Short Film Starring My Beloved's Red Bronco by K. Iver
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Once, you and I spoke our own
gospel like mad messiahs.
The neighbors kept whispering
you were not a prince. We said
that's the way of all heroes.
-Excerpt from "Gospel for Missy During Our Three-Day Birthday Season"
Book information and ratings
Short Film Starring My Beloved's Red Bronco | by K. Iver, 2023 | |
Genre: | Poetry |
|
Subject: | Grief, Queer/Trans experience | |
Rating: | Worth the investment! | |
Read as: | Print copy | |
Readability: | Accessible | |
Subject Weight: | Heavy | |
*Are you new to poetry? Or is poetry not quite your thing? I have a special resource I put together just for you!
Audio Version:
How I found this book:
I met K. at a writing retreat. I was surprised by the relief that rushed over me when another nonfiction writer showed up. (Well, maybe poetry isn't necessarily nonfiction, but it is NOT fiction-so that counts!) It was fun to get to know them: our overlaps and our opposites.
K. didn’t bring enough copies of their book for everyone at the retreat to buy (everyone wanted one!), so I went home and immediately ordered my copy.
About this book:
Because this is poetry, I intended to read one poem with my coffee every morning so I could savor each one–like rich chocolate, you know?
NOPE.
I ended up gobbling 4 or 5 at a time! It was the "just one more chapter" effect. One morning, I completely got lost in the words–like how you get lost in a really good novel (how can that even happen with poetry?!)-and I was almost late for work.
K. told me they wrote accessible poetry–accessibility and ease (as opposed to obscurity and difficulty) was really important to them–but I just wasn't expecting this level of engagement.
(Bonus: Unlike chocolate, I don’t have to carry any guilt for my binging! I can go back and enjoy the richness again and again, no sugar involved.)
****
K. is intentional with giving you context for their story along the way–bits and pieces fit together from every poem until you have the whole picture. I had the benefit of knowing some background before reading. So, here’s a brief rundown:
The story is set in Mississippi: two high school students, meeting, really seeing each other (beyond gender and convention), and falling in love. The lens moves in and out of the connection they share, the oppression they experience, the grief of losing a lover to suicide, and the healing journey. (Well, healing as much as one can with part of one’s heart missing.)
K. does the brave thing–the bravest thing–and looks at these difficult experiences straight on: honestly, nakedly, unflinchingly–and without blame.
****
Excerpt from “Tupelo, MS”:
[...] My lover went missing today. My lover went missing fifteen years ago. When neighbors spoke to him, they spoke to someone else. I found his old letters missing from their hat box. Each penciled word called from my mother’s chimney. The brick said nothing.
I finished this poem and read it again immediately. I was so shocked, and the details tell it all, unmistakably. I was instantly mournful of such a loss on top of such a loss…
and I cried.
Silent tears for silent bricks.
****
Excerpt from “A Medium Performs Your Visit”:
You are, according to her,
whispering "candy" through her mouth
and suddenly I remember why so many
have a sweet tooth for belief.
[...]
THIS–just this piece!
In one title and four lines, I am in a sweetly mystic experience, stretched taut between hopeful yearning and the weight of grieving reality…
****
This is part 5 of “Who Is This Grief For?”
My acupuncturist says
"you enjoy this, don’t you."
She’s talking about my grief.
I say "who else will." I tried
returning to Mississippi
where everyone remembers
only what they want.
There, I said your name as if
to no one. Visited your buried
bones alone. They would not
be blessed by this. I should not
want to hold one the way
we hold relics. There are
so many gods wanting
my soreness. I can bruise
my forehead bowing
before so many statues.
I don’t drink
anymore. Don’t binge
on fresh-baked softness
if it’s out of sight.
Still my grief habit says
"what’s wrong with a little
pain? Who else does it pain?"
I think again of your face
that’s no longer
a face. I don’t argue back.
****
I can be, at times, extremely naive and over-enthusiastic (which is super endearing, right? Right??).
After reading K.’s book, I couldn’t put my finger on what it was that sucked me in (I was a little rusty) and told K. that it was like a much, much better Beowulf–you know, like the old poetry that told a story, but new and better?
K.’s comment back was that they were glad it wasn’t like Beowulf because Beowulf is stuffy, and there is other contemporary narrative poetry I might enjoy.
Ah! Narrative poetry!!! That’s it!
Beowulf!? What was I thinking!?
*Palm-smack to forehead!*
Ahh!
So embarrassing.
Thank god for K.’s gracious response and reframing! (I told you they were lovely!)
****
In their book, K. did the thing–the thing that Clarissa Pinkola Estés talks about in Women Who Run with the Wolves:
As we pour our yearning and our heartbreaks over the bones of what used to be [...] As we pour soul, we are revivified. We are no longer a thin solution, a dissolving frail thing. No, we are in the “becoming” stage of transformation. (37)
When I first read this quotation, I thought: I know what Estés is saying! AND I have no clue what she is talking about! But, as soon as I read K.’s book, it seemed that IT was THIS.
Gathering bones and pouring soul over it probably looks different for each of us. And I’m glad to have this example here.
****
The rumor in the writing world is that poetry is the hardest to publish. I can’t tell you how happy I am for K. to have such success-that their words are available to the world with: a book, a prize, a tour, an agent, and multiple fellowships!
Because, not only does this book shine with content, but the poetic structure is varied and exquisite (which would require a different discussion…maybe for another time).
****
At the retreat, as I sat with K. on the couch, a snowy lake gleaming outside the window, I asked them a dozen questions (while admitting that I was trying not to “fan girl” too much). They explained that one year ago publishing a book of poetry was not anywhere on the horizon of possibility–that they would not be here if not for their friends’ persistent encouragement to submit their poems…to just TRY…to just SEE.
And, K. offered the same encouragement to me.
Multiply that encouragement by many times over by many loyal friends, and here I am: just trying, just seeing.
****
On my wish list: a month of Sunday coffee dates with K.! I would love to hear all the stories and details left between the lines, where they are now, and where they are headed next.
About the author:
K. IVER (they/them) is a nonbinary trans poet born in Mississippi. Their book Short Film Starring My Beloved’s Red Bronco won the 2022 Ballard Spahr Prize for Poetry from Milkweed Editions. Their poems have appeared in Boston Review, Kenyon Review, TriQuarterly, and elsewhere. Iver has received fellowships from The Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, Ragdale Foundation, and the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation. They have a Ph.D. in Poetry from Florida State University. Kleeiver.com
Sources:
Estés, Clarissa Pinkola. Women Who Run with the Wolves. Ballantine Books, 1992, New York.
Iver, K. Short Film Starring My Beloved’s Red Bronco. Milkweed Editions, 2023, Canada.
*This was issue #18 of The Book Moth
Visit katewebbwrites.com for more information and free resources. Thank you for your readership!