This is the first collection of poetry by
upstate New York writer Matt Galletta. The book consists of 32 poems, 13 of
which have previously appeared in small press publications, such as, Headlock
Press, Red Fez, Rusty Truck and Pigeon Bike. The writing is typically first
person, free verse & minimalistic in style. The subject matter focuses on
the childhood traumas of growing up, the joys of pregnancy & birth and the ongoing
tightrope walk between hope & darkness.
Julie Michelle Sparenberg’s striking cover
represents three small sailing vessels caught in raging night storm. The title
poem ‘The Ship is Sinking’ follows a conversation in a pub between the speaker,
presumably Galletta, and an unnamed friend. In a graphic extended metaphor, the
speaker describes his marriage as a “sinking ship.” In the interview which
follows this review, Galletta explains the book’s conception and title, “When I
put together the book and considered both the subject matter and the sort of
water theme I saw running throughout, it seemed like an obvious choice for the
title. I’m so glad I landed on that one, too, because Julie really killed it
with the cover. My response when I first saw it was something like, ’Holy shit,
don’t change a thing.’ ”
The writing in the collection is clear and
minimalistic and usually centred on ordinary experiences. Galletta says in the
interview, “A lot of the work in the collection is rooted in some lived experience.
That said, I don’t feel any particular obligation to stick strictly to ‘what
really happened’ when writing. This is poetry, not memoir. There are things in
the collection that are exaggerated, that are glossed over, that are fabricated
entirely. But I’d like to think they’re ‘true’ in some wider sense of the
word.” Two poems in particular, spring to mind, Inflated’ which drifts into the
territory of magical realism and ‘Take It Back’ which personifies the ugly, vicious
side of the speaker.
One of Galletta’s strengths is to weave some of
his best poems around a central metaphor to make a wry, often understated
comments about his life. ‘Twelve fluid ounces’, ‘A Dull Ache’, ‘This Mess’,
‘Clown’, ‘Take it Back’, ‘The Ship is Sinking’ and ‘At best’ all effectively
use this form. In ‘Clown, for example, a “skinny blond” is described as a
“banana peel” and his friends were so sick of his “juggling act”:
they were just
dying
to watch me
take a fall.
Galletta says in the interview, “Writing the
extended metaphors can be fun, like in the one with the windbag neighbour who
turns into an actual hot air balloon and floats away (‘Inflated’). But in
general, I think it can be a pretty effective way of approaching a subject.
Writing explicitly about ‘big’ concepts, like love or death or the continued
defeats and failures in life, can make for dull and unengaging poetry. On the
other hand, the image of a child losing over and over at an arcade game (‘At
best’) can have more immediate impact on the reader.”
A number of poems in the collection are
reminiscences of significant childhood events. Notable amongst these are ‘Eight
Years Old’, ‘My Struggle’, ‘The Tide’, ‘In the Garage’ and ‘Mixed Tape’. The
best of these is ‘My Father’s Severed Head’ which combines a macabre sense of humour
with a darker, more gut wrenching truth:
While my mother
was picking me up
from the kindergarten,
my father
took out
the center leaf
from our
dining room table
and cut a hole
in the tablecloth.
Then
he crawled
under the table
and poked his head
through the hole
he’d cut.
When we got home,
it was the first thing
we saw:
My father’s
severed head
lying
on the table,
tongue
lolling out,
eyes
rolled back
into the skull.
My mother and I
both screamed,
and he burst out
laughing,
never able
to contain himself
very well.
After,
I’m sure
they fought,
my mother’s
ruined tablecloth
just another entry
in her list
of grievances.
But now,
all these years later,
knowing more
about their marriage,
about marriage in general,
I have to wonder:
In that moment
when we first
stepped inside,
when she first
saw his head
lying there,
how much
of my mother’s scream
was really just
some strange,
primal
sigh
of relief?
(reprinted with the poet’s permission)
In the collection the reader will also discover
many domestic poems, particularly centred on Galletta’s partner’s pregnancy and
subsequent birth. ‘Placenta’, ‘The Hunted’, ‘Hibernation’, ‘Ultrasound’, ‘Morse
Code’, ‘Cut the Cord’, ‘These are the miracles’ and ‘Sunday morning’ are all
delightful, highly observational poems which exude the joys of sharing a life
together and which counterbalance the bleakness of poems such as, ‘Take It
Back’ and ‘The Ship is Sinking.’
At the heart of this collection lies the
ambiguity, succinctly expressed at the conclusion of ‘Rinsing Empties’:
When it’s all
going down the drain,
the least we can do
is try
to enjoy it.
We might be like the man in ‘Better Today’
struggling to keep his head up in the raging ocean before the next wave strikes,
but as Galletta expresses in one of the last poems, ‘I only just saw it
myself’:
There’s no time
for a practice run,
and there will be
no dress rehearsal.
This is
the only take
we get.
Go.
The
Ship is Sinking is a highly
readable first collection which scoots the thin rim between joy and a looming
darkness. Images of a baby laughing in ‘These are the miracles’ are contrasted
with the defiled beetle in ‘this will be there’ to create an impressive
complexity of tone and mood. These poems will take you by surprise and you will
want to mouth Galletta’s lines in his opening poem, ‘Twelve fluid ounces’:
damn,
is there
any more
of this?
For more information about Galletta’s
previously published short stories & poems”: http://www.mattgalletta.com/writing.html
AN INTERVIEW WITH MATT GALLETTA ON 29 JANUARY 2016
How did you find the process of your book being published?
What I remember most about the process was how difficult it was for the printing company to get the spine label right. They had trouble lining the text up on the spine. I lost count of how many proof copies we went through. But Wolf doesn’t settle for less than the best, so he kept at them until they got it right.
Can you tell us the story behind the choice of title and Julie Michelle Sparenberg’s front cover?
The poem “The Ship Is Sinking” came first. It had a different title initially, but later the Tom Waits song “God’s Away on Business” came to mind. Waits repeats the line “the ship is sinking” in it, and it felt like a good fit for the poem. Actually, a handful of other pieces in the book also got their titles from songs (“In the Garage,” “Stephanie Says,” etc.).
When I put together the book and considered both the subject matter and the sort of water theme I saw running throughout, it seemed like an obvious choice for title. I’m so glad I landed on that one, too, because Julie really killed it with the cover. My response when I first saw it was something like, “Holy shit, don’t change a thing!” I’m very grateful for her work. I think it’s one of the best-looking small press book covers around.
It appears that most of the poetry in the collection is triggered by real people, places & events. To what extent is this statement accurate?
I’m not sure what a poem not triggered in some way by something real would look like, but I have a feeling it wouldn’t be worth reading.
So yes, a lot of the work in the collection is rooted in some lived experience. That said, I don’t feel any particular obligation to stick strictly to “what really happened” when writing. This is poetry, not memoir. There are things in the collection that are exaggerated, that are glossed over, that are fabricated entirely. But I’d like to think they’re “true” in some wider sense of the word.
How would you describe your use of style and who has influenced its development? You are particularly keen on extended metaphors, for example.
Writing the extended metaphors can be fun, like in the one with the windbag neighbor who turns into an actual hot air balloon and floats away.
But in general, I think it can be a pretty effective way of approaching a subject. Writing explicitly about “big” concepts, like love or death or the continual defeats and failures in life, can make for dull and unengaging poetry. On the other hand, the image of a child losing over and over at an arcade game can have more immediate impact on the reader. And it still conveys something about that same concept.
Where do you go from here? What projects do you have lined up?
Since right around the release of the poetry book I’ve been wrestling with a novel. It was winning for a while, but I think I have it pinned down now.
Find out more about Matt Galletta’s writings here:http://www.mattgalletta.com/
