Since the 1960s (thank you Wikipedia), the phrase “the personal is political” has been oft-quoted in national discourse. Poets have certainly, and before the 1960s, incorporated that ethos into their work. Few poets today intertwine the two as economically, skillfully, and powerfully as Norm Mattox in his debut full-length collection, Four Crescents, from Collapse Press. Collapse Press, according to their website, “is a small literary publisher specializing in poetry and prose…whose work addresses the current social atmosphere of a society in turmoil and on the verge of transformation.”
It can be argued that the dawning of the current era, admittedly from an American perspective, began with 9/11. In Mattox’s taut poem “A Personal Dilemma,” he writes of a sadly all-too-common experience of being “one of most/‘randomly selected’ passengers/in the whole airport” for extra screening since according to a “sista from another mista” he “looked like an angry Black man/of dubious cultural background.” He tries desperately to comply with the new security state expectations:
i made a conscious effort
to avoid provocative
cultural artifacts,
like necklaces, pendants
hanging earrings,
kufi hats, no berets.
In this listing of effectively banned accessories, Mattox employs metonymy to a staggering and heartbreaking effect.
The poem continues exploring how extra airport security is just a continuation of racism in American society:
xenophobia continues to be
a tightly wound pitch
that americans
fear any nonwhite member
of the community
not being ‘true’ American
determined by some
double blind,
double biased,
double standard
survey.
The short lines in this poem help to convey the anger and the tension of continuously being a suspect while going about your daily life. They exemplify the struggle to
Resist
burning a bridge
at both ends
while the bridge
is my back.
Mattox shows his strength as a poet and human being for suggesting ways of combatting the pernicious evil of racism in “A War on Racism”. In this poem, he deploys a provocative series of questions that sound as a clarion call:
would a leader dare
to declare a war on racism?
where are the volunteers?|
will there need to be a draft?
He enlists the Constitution into his argument as well.
who will be the patriots
in the war against racism?
are we the ones
they’ve been hoarding
their ‘right to bear’ arms for?
Continuing the journey into the post-911 landscape, he utilizes politically charged words including “insurgents,” “refugees,” “rebels,” and “terrorists.” He concludes not with a question, but rather an elegant statement:
it will come down
to a war on racism
not between,|
Black or white,
but between
the human race and
an inhuman race.
As a gay writer, I know how easy it is to point out the cruelties and the injustices of America and modern life. It is more difficult to suggest a way to resist or exist in such a time and place. Fortunately for the reader, Maddox also comes up with answers to probing questions in “Ancestral Diatribe.” He acknowledges
no one said it was simple
to put your hand on the doorknob
scroll through the masks you wear
so you can return home alive
His astute observation continues in what is my favorite stanza of the collection:
revolution is not a spin through
your life cycle a stationary bike
going the speed of breathing
last breaths
The answer to surviving, resisting, building a true and permanent revolution is, perhaps simple, but nevertheless true and the only answer, love.
love is a journey we take to find
our authentic selves
a reflection an echo
of a love that resounds
at humanity’s core
As I write this review on Martin Luther King Day, Norm Mattox’s Four Crescents has done for me what all great art does—causes me to reflect, to transform in some way. Love to others, kindness to others, standing up to those in power who seek to destroy are ways we can build a better America. This book will break your heart, but then repair it. Mattox’s words and wisdom are a must to keep on your bookshelves. In other words, I won’t be loaning this book out, so please get your own copy. Supporting poets is a worthwhile act, and in 2024, it is more important than ever to support words that are honest and profound. I can think of no better poetry collection to purchase this year than Four Crescents.
Sean Hanrahan is a Philadelphian poet originally hailing from Dale City, Virginia. He is the author of the full-length collection Safer Behind Popcorn (2019 Cajun Mutt Press) and the chapbooks Hardened Eyes on the Scan (2018 Moonstone Press) and Gay Cake (2020 Toho). His work has also been included in several anthologies, including Moonstone Featured Poets, Queer Around the World, and Stonewall’s Legacy, and several journals, including Impossible Archetype, Mobius, Peculiar, Poetica Review, and Voicemail Poems. He has taught classes titled A Chapbook in 49 Days and Ekphrastic Poetry and hosted poetry events throughout Philadelphia.