Smokey of the Migraines
by Michael
McInnis
Nixes Mate Books
Allston, MA
ISBN 978-0-9993971-2-1
Softbound, 42
pages, $9.95
Review by Zvi A. Sesling
Noir poetry,
think Whitey Bulger on the loose, or Mickey Spillane turning to verse and you
have just the beginning of Michael McInnis’ page turning poetic endeavor Smokey of the Migraines.
There are a few
things you need to know about McInnis’ 43 page-long book. First, it is a single
poem. Second, it is written as if
incorporated into the movie Black Mass based on the book of the same name by Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill-- a pair of Boston reporters
who followed in the footsteps of two other legendary Boston newspaper men,
Harold Banks and Ed Corsetti. Later,they
would write true crime stories for various national magazines. Third, McInnis’
style in this book is fast-paced, almost as if someone added a bump stock to
his keyboard. Fourth, there is a cliché that goes “It was so good I couldn’t put it down.” Well it certainly applies to Smokey of the Migraines.
This poem-story
minces no words, be it McInnis’ extensive vocabulary, or the profanity which is
liberally spread through the book. But
the best part of the book is the rat-a-tat-tat staccato of the writing:
The migraine
takes
Smokey outside
his body
where he exists
far from
the reach
of life,
of love,
beyond the
polished
black metal of
the
Glock 9 he shoves
in Sully’s mouth,
chipping a tooth
The rest gets
more interesting as Smokey’s thoughts are expanded upon and the migraines
become as important and crucial as Smokey himself.
Now throw in some
time traveling science fiction:
Smokey don’t
notice
he’s lost in the
migraine,
time traveling,
to Dealey Plaza
where the sun never
sets
for the kind,
returned,
for the king
sacrificed,
for the king
kissing
his boots,
the Book
Depository
a new capitol,
and the hundred
years
between two
kings and the
letters
of their names,
the mountain
ranges,
latitudes and
assassins,
Sic semper tyrannis!
There are visits
to Marat’s bath, Trotsky’s home, to Constantinople, Ojinaga, Shiloh and encounters with Pancho
Villa, Mary Shelley, Leif Erickson and many more. This isreminiscent of Evan Connell’s Notes From A Bottle Found on the Beach at Carmel in which history and location become intertwined.
Then again like Dashiell Hammett
The migraine
is a 9 mm
under Smokey’s
pillow.
The migraine
is the guts
of a burner
phone on the floor.
The migraine
is a whiskey bottle
on the nightstand.
The migraine
is a dream,
a nightmare
become
blackness
This book, this poem, unlike a good Thanksgiving dinner
that is slow to savor, proves to be a fast meal, one you want to take in
quickly and enjoy all the way down.
If you enjoy the noir, the criminal element, street
language and a great story, this is the book for you. You won’t even realize
you are reading poetry.
___________________________________________________________
Author, The Lynching of Leo Frank, Editor, Muddy River Poetry Review
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