BillyBlog's Favorite Poems, #16 ("Buddhist Barbie" by Denise Duhamel)

Denise Duhamel’s poem “Buddhist Barbie” is just a fingernail sliver of one of my favorite poems. It represents pretty much all of her poetry in the sense that I enjoy it. I like most everything I’ve read by Denise, and I chose this one because it was short (after Kenneth Koch and Garret Hongo, you deserve a shorter one). Denise’s book Kinky was her "breakout" work, a plethora of hilarious “Barbie” poems. Just the concept touched a nostalgic nerve in my body, because I grew attached one Labor Day weekend to a McDonald’s Happy Meal Barbie, dubbed “Crazy Horse Barbie,” because I obtained her on the Vegas strip. But I digress. So much for the high road.

“Buddhist Barbie”

In the 5th century B.C.

an Indian philosopher

Gautama teaches "All is emptiness" 

and "There is no self." 

In the 20th century A.D.

Barbie agrees, but wonders how a man 

with such a belly could pose, 

smiling, and without a shirt.

More awesome Denise Duhamel poems here and the complete volume of The Woman With Two Vaginas: Poetry based on Eskimo Mythology here and the very fun “Sex with a Famous Poet”.

Full disclosure: I met Denise at the Dodge Poetry Festival in 1998 and we have corresponded sporadically over the years, although it’s been a while since I’ve talked to her. I sent her an e-mail shortly after the 9/11 attacks and she used, with my permission, a snippet from my e-mail, among the bits from many others, in her long poem "Love Which Took Its Symmetry for Granted" from her wonderful book Two and Two.

I am a fan of her work through and through and she sits on the ridge of the top 15 and the bottom 15 of my thirty favorite. Here’s a teaser, the top 15 are truly beloved by me. I hope you’ll be back to see how the list plays out….

Previous Favorite Poems for National Poetry Month:

#17 - "One Train May Hide Another" by Kenneth Koch
#18 - "Poem (Lana Turner Has Collapsed!) by Frank O'Hara (with Audio)
#19 - "Crumbs" by Hal Sirowitz (Audio Added)
#20 - "This Is Just to Say" by William Carlos Williams
#21 - "They Feed They Lion" by Philip Levine
#22 - "Looking at Kilauea" by Garret Hongo
#23 - "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" by Randall Jarrell (Audio Added)
#24 - A Handful of Richard Brautigan
#25 - "A Buddha in the Woodpile" by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
#26 - "Separation" by W.S. Merwin
#27 - "The Flea" by John Donne
#28 - Poem Twenty from Pablo Neruda's Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair
#29 - "Magpie's Song" by Gary Snyder
#30 - "Eunoia" by Christian Bok

Poetry Wednesday: a Spot of Denise Duhamel

This is a visual poem by the poet Denise Duhamel. Denise is married to the poet Nick Carbo (whose cool poetry blog is here).

I met Denise at the Dodge Poetry Festival in 1998 and we developed a correspondence and what I would like to say is a distant friendship, although some may classify it more as an acquaintanceship.

A line from an e-mail I sent Denise after 9/11 appeared in her long poem "Love Which took Its Symmetry for Granted," in her last book Two and Two. She talks about the poem and her work in this interview here. I even get a shout-out in the acknowledgments(!).

I strongly recommend Denise's work to people looking for interesting poets. The above piece came in an e-mail to which I subscribe, and I have noticed from her husband Nick's blog that they both have been doing a lot of visual poetry recently. I still have in my office I poem I wrote in Sun Valley, California.
Entitled "August Ramblings on a Grease-stained Plate," it is, as the title would suggest, a poem written on a paper plate, composed clockwise, beginning on the outer edge and moving toward the center. Coincidentally, it was written fifteen years ago yesterday (August 14, 1992). Perhaps I will throw it up here in the weeks to come.

So, back to Denise, here is one of her poems, followed by links to where you can find others.

WHY BARBIE AND KEN DON'T DRESS IN UNDERWEAR

It is a complicated issue,
Barbie's signature trait of forgoing bra or panties,
whether she's out raking leaves or hostessing a formal party.
She rejects the tee shirt as an alternative
so this time it can't be solely political.
Ken wears his tux, unapologetically, without boxer shorts
underneath. Some speculate it has to do with titillation,
other's say it's because of their inadequate factory upbringing.
Without crotch moistness to ruin clothes, maybe the dolls
figure: Underwear? What's the point? Modest children
make do with Barbie's bikini and Ken's swimming trunks.
Modest adults prefer not to bring the matter up.

Denise's page on Poets.org here.

An unoffical Denise Duhamel page.

Her book Smile! in full here.

A 2005 interview in Rock Salt Plum Review here (includes some poems).

Just Added: Ploughshares Blog (pshares)

I just added to my sidebar the blog for the literary journal Ploughshares. Came across it by accident as the most recent post features a "quickie interview" with the poet Denise Duhamel.

Do check it out and perhaps I will share some of Denise's work in the future. I have corresponded with Denise perioically ever since meeting her at the Geraldine Dodge Poetry Festival in 1998.

A line from one of my e-mails to her after 9/11 appeared in one of her poems from her book Two and Two (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2005).

Ploughshares is a great poetry journal that boasts a different guest editor for each issue. Their website is here.