A Review of Bud Smith's Everything Neon
Paperback: 167 pages
Publisher: Marginalia Publishing, 2014
Available for purchase at: marginaliapublishing.com
Review by April Michelle Bratten
Now this is exciting, a full length collection of poetry from Bud Smith. Up until a few months ago, I had never read a poem from Bud Smith. Up the Staircase Quarterly has published two of his short stories, "Panda and the Meth Lab," (2013) and "More Cherries" (2012), two of my personal favorite stories from UTSQ's fiction archive. (Please check those two out. They are honestly really great.) However, until I received Everything Neon, I had only read maybe three or four of Smith's poems.
I knew that Bud's short stories often reflect on the ugly truths of the world, misfits of society, degenerates and bottom feeders of the social ladder, so I was particularly curious to see what he would get up to in the poetry genre. I could say that I was surprised to find that the poems were warm, intimate, three-dimensional, and rather soul clutching, but I wasn't. Bud Smith has hit it out of the park again, and this time with an affectionate twist. The Softer Side of Bud? Yes and no. These poems are still bold, tequila-flavored, shaped with the dirt of city streets and greasy Chinese restaurants, but they are also romantic, whimsical. That is where Spout comes in.
Everything Neon, dedicated to Bud's wife, Spout, shows that sometimes all you need in this life is a partner in crime, a great love to share a city with, to get you through all of the crap life throws at you. The Spout poems are some of the best in this collection, particularly the poem "It Snows":
"ignore the world, thursday nights
are for you and me"
'I know that," she said
pushing her long hair out of her eyes
as "Ruby Tuesday" came on
we noticed
that age old thing
all our teeth purple
paint all over the records
my fingers hurting from bad typing
no noise down in the street for once
and so we climbed out
onto the shaky fire escape
watched the snow falling
on 173rd street.
I am a big fan of winter poems. Some might even say I have an unhealthy addiction to them, but Bud Smith writes a damn good winter poem. In fact, Everything Neon does a nice job of representing the city in all of its seasons, all of its different personalities. These poems are not only a love note to Spout, but to NYC as well, the uniqueness of the people, the good, the ugly.
Perfect for some much needed intellectual stimulation on a lazy or hungover Sunday, Everything Neon is an easy but involved and enveloping read. Just like in his short stories, Bud Smith knows how to capture his poetry reading audience and transfer them directly into his world. I honestly enjoyed the entire book from cover to cover, season to season, but some of the greatest highlights were "Not Leaving," "May 4th," "Take Out," "Spring," and "Sidewalk." Don't be an idiot. Pick your copy up today!
Publisher: Marginalia Publishing, 2014
Available for purchase at: marginaliapublishing.com
Review by April Michelle Bratten
Now this is exciting, a full length collection of poetry from Bud Smith. Up until a few months ago, I had never read a poem from Bud Smith. Up the Staircase Quarterly has published two of his short stories, "Panda and the Meth Lab," (2013) and "More Cherries" (2012), two of my personal favorite stories from UTSQ's fiction archive. (Please check those two out. They are honestly really great.) However, until I received Everything Neon, I had only read maybe three or four of Smith's poems.
I knew that Bud's short stories often reflect on the ugly truths of the world, misfits of society, degenerates and bottom feeders of the social ladder, so I was particularly curious to see what he would get up to in the poetry genre. I could say that I was surprised to find that the poems were warm, intimate, three-dimensional, and rather soul clutching, but I wasn't. Bud Smith has hit it out of the park again, and this time with an affectionate twist. The Softer Side of Bud? Yes and no. These poems are still bold, tequila-flavored, shaped with the dirt of city streets and greasy Chinese restaurants, but they are also romantic, whimsical. That is where Spout comes in.
Everything Neon, dedicated to Bud's wife, Spout, shows that sometimes all you need in this life is a partner in crime, a great love to share a city with, to get you through all of the crap life throws at you. The Spout poems are some of the best in this collection, particularly the poem "It Snows":
"ignore the world, thursday nights
are for you and me"
'I know that," she said
pushing her long hair out of her eyes
as "Ruby Tuesday" came on
we noticed
that age old thing
all our teeth purple
paint all over the records
my fingers hurting from bad typing
no noise down in the street for once
and so we climbed out
onto the shaky fire escape
watched the snow falling
on 173rd street.
I am a big fan of winter poems. Some might even say I have an unhealthy addiction to them, but Bud Smith writes a damn good winter poem. In fact, Everything Neon does a nice job of representing the city in all of its seasons, all of its different personalities. These poems are not only a love note to Spout, but to NYC as well, the uniqueness of the people, the good, the ugly.
Perfect for some much needed intellectual stimulation on a lazy or hungover Sunday, Everything Neon is an easy but involved and enveloping read. Just like in his short stories, Bud Smith knows how to capture his poetry reading audience and transfer them directly into his world. I honestly enjoyed the entire book from cover to cover, season to season, but some of the greatest highlights were "Not Leaving," "May 4th," "Take Out," "Spring," and "Sidewalk." Don't be an idiot. Pick your copy up today!
Bud Smith grew up in New Jersey, and currently lives in Washington Heights, NYC with a metric ton of vinyl records that he bought at Englishtown flea market for a dollar. He is the author of the short story collection Or Something Like That (2012), and Tollbooth (Piscataway House 2013); he hosts the interview program The Unknown Show; edits at Jmww and Uno Kudo; works heavy construction in power plants and refineries.
