Junk

Pico's Teebs trilogy of book-length poems concludes with Junk, a paean to a break-up and to all that one loves that may not be entirely good for you. Pico's style here has changed: he uses longer lines than in his other two b00k-length poems made up of highly enjambed couplets. Pico maintains the stream-of-consciousness writing mixing textspeak, slang, and his general manic lyricism, but the change in the form actually does affect the reading. Junk's couplet's read like status updates instead of texts and blog ruminations that worked through his other two poems. He also concludes his panoply of pop cultural references, jokes, in-jokes, musing on identity, and ruminations of grief. Pico's gift from moving from the flippant to the utterly sincere shines here, and the theme of loss allows a slightly more mature sensibility to emerge from the prior two books. Many will feel like this invokes the Beats, particularly Ginsberg, and, for good and ill, it does, but ultimately, Pico's trilogy is a triumph that manages to be immediately contemporary and yet I can see myself reading in two decades.

In unique, broad, bold language Pico throws addiction, his life as bisexual, and Kumeyaay Native American status--all concerning people he calls "garbage of the state"--into a book-length single piece of stream-of-consciousness. Washing down in this flood, with contemporary cultural references and abbreviations that mimic online postings, pop out short, coherent declarations, including political commentary and artistic statements--but also touching philosophy.Junk can be mental blockage, sex organs (and acts that are described pretty graphically), junk food (described as graphically as the sex), drugs (occasionally), probably the whole detritus of consumer society, even junk mail. If Pico could charge food conglomerates for brand name product placement, he'd be rich. Food also intersects with Thanksgiving, a repeated theme in this book (which I happened to read just before Thanksgiving).When evaluating literature and poetry, I give extra points to authors who take absurd risks and pull them off through enormous talent--and Pico wins my endorsement in this book. Don't miss out on the humor, too.

Really wonderful collection of poems.

He is a brilliant poet to witness live. This book hints at the power of the spoken performance.