It was great to collaborate with artist Tamara Gonzales on this chapbook. We were amazed at how well the poems, inspired by some of my favorite horror stories and movies, and Tamara's goth images, fit together. But rather than hype you on this book myself, here's from Jeffrey Wright's review in the Brooklyn Rail:
"Prom Night is a slick date: a poetry/collage collaboration by Jerome Sala and Tamara Gonzales. With echoes of Poe and H.P. Lovecraft, the camp and sultry verses are paired with eye-dazzling images of equally camp and sultry sirens in full color. Sala, like one of Gonzales's blackbirds, is listening to the 'ruler of an underworld' in 'Lost Planet.' Pluto's demotion and its attendant emotion are dissected in Sala's tight style.
"The Goth undertones are reflected in Gonzales's punk-glam shades of Frida Kahlo and Kiki Smith. A stiletto combo in a pop package: 'a psychic feedback loop that celebrates our universal damnation.'"
Michael Lally, at Lally's Alley adds, "Underneath the campy subject matter is a profound subtext articulated with lyrical panache." (Read Lally's review in full here.)
Here's the title poem, with just one of the images that interweave with it in the book. (Btw: the book has extensive notes at the end that provide a key to its pop references...)
Prom Night
The Gingiss Tux kingdom has fallen
Prom Season is haunted by a Slasher
Every salacious kiss calls forth a hatchet from the void
And Anger's accusatory finger points forth with menace
The Graduates call in sick
Their carnations rot, unwanted in their un-watered garbage cans
The football team remains unlettered
A blank sweater goes better with this illiterate State of Fear
Ruled by the Prom's forsaken crown
Empty kingdom!
Forced entries inspired by roofies forgotten
Fast exits demanded by fright in their place!
The back seats of drunken cars abandoned --
No vomit touches the fuzzy upholstery
No hand squeezes the absent thighs
Meanwhile, the Slasher proposes negotiations
With the United Federation of Potential Victims
Without a contract signed in the blood of sacrifice
The film cannot go on
Retribution for awkward adolescent indiscretion
Cannot rain down its severed limbs and sex organs
On dark rows of hissing cynics
On the other side of the dream's silver walls
Milk Duds will go unsold,
Waiting in vain under their hot glass counters
Chemical popcorn will stop twirling in its iron cradle
The Slasher speaks but no one listens
He whispers into the celluloid night
But on the other side of his screed and his screen
Only his absence applauds in the empty seats
Order Here:
You can order Prom Night from the link below. It's just $13.00. Enjoy!
http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/prom-night/13000569
