{"id":1048,"date":"2014-05-30T02:32:33","date_gmt":"2014-05-30T02:32:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/?p=1048"},"modified":"2014-05-30T02:57:53","modified_gmt":"2014-05-30T02:57:53","slug":"five-poems-by-latasha-n-nevada-diggs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/five-poems-by-latasha-n-nevada-diggs","title":{"rendered":"Five Poems by LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs"},"content":{"rendered":"

By: LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs<\/span><\/p>\n

PUBLISHED ON MAY 28, 2014<\/p>\n

This week in the PEN Poetry Series, guest editor Cathy Park Hong features five new poems by LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs. About Diggs’s work, Hong writes: “LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs\u2019s poetry is a tense coil of enraptured, disco-cursive, code-switching lines. New York City has been poetry\u2019s mythologized epicenter from Whitman to O\u2019Hara but where is the verse that celebrates the city\u2019s broke, scrappy, underground past of hip hop\u2019s genesis, club culture, and graffiti? Answer: Diggs. This ear-popping series of prose poems recovers the daily 90\u2019s revels of New York City\u2019s underground nightlife, from Rahzel, the Godfather of Noise\u2019s \u201cwhole hip hop crew rolled into one man performance\u201d virtuoso beatboxing to Matt Doo\u2019s infamous album cover graffiti. Diggs too is a whole crew rolled into a one-woman performance; these poems are a scintillating collision of imploding allusions and vital, percussive wordplay. Her music is awesomely infectious and will rattle in your head for hours on end.”<\/p>\n

Frankie Knuckles, Baby Wants to Ride<\/p>\n

Tunnel. a long musty boycott. a suspicious terminal. comp before 10. the security\u2019s
\na Vin & the dyke who could have. but u ain\u2019t fly. u don\u2019t attract notice. sewn plastic roses
\nto cheap men\u2019s shoes off Columbus. dannon yogurt cups. girl scout patches to Lexington
\nbras. football safety guards & elastic. u gonna toil to get that comp. where club kids suck air
\nfor a mile is a night on the disco truck. inside u work to contract that free drink before 12.
\nrhythm: sica. World\u2019s upper dance floor is where bodies\u2019 choreography is in the blood. they
\nraqs sharqi. they sabar & mambo. do u join them or head to red ropes for the Banshees &
\nNew Order? a lonesome twinge to alternate between right & left feet. how many costumes
\ncan u hide in? u really want to be next door. in It u can hide the insecurity of black.<\/p>\n

Rahzel
\n\u201chow do you say triceratops\u201d Fred Moten<\/p>\n

props flex snare simulate lip dear ventriloquist, guttural. how
\nyou craft scratch between teeth. you padrino, the konnkol[1] do
\ndrone. crash synth. optimus. rated M for mature. lung distortion. you
\nbass in gut. name the gallon of spring you. the invisible MPC. say
\nyours is precious. the heavy breath & reverb stomp of a triceratops.<\/p>\n

Love Committee, Just as long as I\u2019ve got you<\/p>\n

what the spine say. why the spine talk. & how does Ejoe maintain his loop? is it from
\nthe tap dance? Public Enemy blasting over his mother\u2019s cross holler when he materializes
\nthe next day? high strings ride the cords of his every partner. echo & shiver. does he get it all
\nout fucking on the bathroom floor in Schomburg Plaza? or when he rests on carpeted
\nstaircase beside the audiophile\u2019s system. eso. he his great nana\u2019s child. types at shelter do
\nyuba. he the one that can outdo your signature gay or straight. your alpha is gospel. is the
\nquiver. is low bass. instigate upon every rhodes. winning every trumpet. yes he can dip. he
\nwas only 6 when the song came out. in sections he happy manipulator. there the DNA
\nhemorrhage from his broken down sneakers. there, carnage every time his momma raises
\nthe belt. architect of spins comes from defensive maneuvers.<\/p>\n

Matt Doo
\n\u201cnew graffiti sewn up in clothes for secret on storefronts.\u201d Fred Moten<\/p>\n

blunt radioactive fists of Pharoahe. yr eye can see molecules as cosmic. draw me a new
\ndepiction of kinfolk. surreal is life bro. u swap head bops w\/ paint brushes. graffiti
\nour block extraterrestrial. how u\u2019ve always seen it. brownstones drunk on larva sewn
\nin collision w\/ yr blues. can I call u cape crusader of oil & pencil & ink? raise up
\npreschoolers. they don\u2019t know. u made Prince Poetry Thor. bear the brunt teeth in
\nhuman form. electrical shunt might have but the personal gets too much. yr clothes,
\nyr crayons. unleash the baby in the trunk. free the man. end. fold to the stress. for
\na bullet is painless. ill comics before books got graphic or afro-futuristic. blind secret
\nmisery. u don\u2019t deserve the exorcism. wish u stayed. contort the blues bro. on
\nearth imagine love. dream yr collages masterly on exhibit beyond storefronts.<\/p>\n

Nightcrawlers, Push The Feeling On (The Dub of Doom)<\/p>\n

here we are again. shift change. a die above the Jerseyites. yr disco birdcage. u really can\u2019t
\nstand them. yr besty got a tickle for Italians. Alvaro crowns her little Naomi. eso. where u
\nstudy to close yr eyes. this is how u oscillate yr locks. this is called freakin\u2019 the two-step. the
\nred gold & green braided belt is a hula hoop. this is where yr neck & head communicate &
\nprepare for head banging. not all hardcore muthafuckas are equal. not all punks can be
\nshared with what u have here. a dutty before a dutty. Princess flicks his weave. a holandes
\nbefore u bomba. \u2018faggots\u2019 are the original head bangers. they made u the woman u are.<\/p>\n

Once a week, the PEN Poetry Series publishes work by emerging and established writers from coast to coast. Subscribe to the PEN Poetry Series mailing list and have poems delivered to your e-mail as soon as they are published (no spam, no news, just poems).
\n____________________________________________________________
\n[1] The art of performing percussion syllables, often used by various communities of South Asian musicians.
\n– See more at: http:\/\/www.pen.org\/poetry\/five-poems-latasha-n-nevada-diggs#sthash.h0RnCjIj.dpuf<\/p>\n

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