Book Review/ Interview: Karina Bush MAIDEN (48th Street Press, Philadelphia, 2016) 44 pages

This is the first collection of poetry by the young Irish writer Karina Bush. The book features 39 love poems which sometimes have a provocative and raw physical edge to them. The language is openly sexual and thrusts towards wordless spaces, where heightened emotions and energies are given voice. Peter Jelen of BareBack Magazine, who has published some of Bush’s earlier work, has hyperbolically described her writing (in an interesting article about his blog the review review) as raunchy enough “to make Bukowski blush”: http://www.thereviewreview.net/interviews/stories-would-make-charles-bukowski-blush-peter-j

MAIDEN is published by 48^th Street Press who has previously set to ink significant small press poets, such as, Douglas Blazek, Paul Harrison and the late F.A. Nettelbeck. Bush says of her involvement in the project in a recent interview which follows this review, “48^th Street Press contacted me in late 2012 after reading some of my work online. We developed a very productive working relationship. I was mentored and the input from the press was constructive in the formation of the book. I have the deepest respect for Chris as an editor and publisher.”

In the interview, Karina Bush also makes it clear that she is not a confessional poet and the lover represented in the collection is not a composite. She says of the book’s construction, “It’s art. It isn’t literal. The Maiden is a character, an archetype, a tool for me to explore the complex emotions involved in desire and falling in love. The book is a love story, every poem inspired by the same man.”

The cover for MAIDEN was designed and created by Bush and features a prominent heart-shaped leaf together with titles and phrases from the poems in bold pink. Asked about her choice of the heart-shaped image of the book’s cover, Bush says, “I find nature best represents life’s love story. Nature shares the same purity as love- it’s purity as love- it’s ability to grow and give life.”

MAIDEN is dedicated to her man ‘c’. The epigram from Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights further hints that this book is a love story between a Princess and her Prince, “Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.”

Most of the poems in the collection are short, first person narratives which explore the relationship between the persona and her male lover. What makes this book especially unique is the physical realm of impulse and desire which Bush explores in her persona’s sensual thoughts and lovemaking.

The first poem in the collection, which was originally published in Ben John Smith’s online magazine, HorrorSleazeTrash, characteristically sets the tone for Bush’s explicitly sexual writing. The language is clear and unambiguous and works towards a controversial ending.

Red Blood

I want to fill a man up with me

Fill him right up

With red blood

To bursting point

To breaking point

His dick

His brain

His life

I want to stop his ability to think

Turn him into a primitive

Powered only by instinct

Give him back my obsession

Turn him into my rapist

(published with the permission of the writer)

In the poem, Bush uses the simple metaphor of a balloon to convey her notion of how she will control her lover to the ‘bursting point’. How she will ‘fill him right up/ with blood’ and turn him into an instinctual being, living only for the moment.

The relationship between the couple is explored throughout the collection and each poem lays a different spin on how the persona perceives the developing romance of the flesh & mind. As a general motif, the persona revolves between wanting to be controlled and dominated to being strong and on top.

In ‘Take my Hair’, for example, the persona asks her partner to drag her into the woods to be molested against a tree. In ‘A Flower’ she is has been 'plucked' by him and is now ‘Slumped in your palm/ Ready for the bin.’ In the bawdy poem ‘Unchristian’ she wants “punishment,” 'to feel dirtier' than ever before. In ‘Baby Pink Heart’ she wears his shirt and in his ‘forcefield’, he appears 'sacred', 'a God' to her. In ‘War’ she states that ‘If you are with a real man/ You are at war’ but after he licks her throat and shoulders she realises she is a ‘kitten/ Not a soldier.’

The poem ‘My Horse’ is another poem which speaks of vulnerability and surrender in a metaphorical way:

My Horse

I’m riding a big horse tonight

He’s strong

Gorgeous- I’m in love

I don’t care where he takes me

Fast I trust it

Muscles between my legs

And hair

That big thing taking me away

And I’m so small

And female

Strong enough to climb him though

Bent over

Wide-eyed

I have surrendered to nature’s order

Alternatively, there are many poems which reveal the persona’s inner strength, her desire to be in charge. In ‘Just Me’ the speaker of the poem begins, ‘It’s just me/ That’s all I need/ Just me and the void…I submit to myself/ There is nothing else.’ Similarly, in ‘looking Down’ she metaphorically tells her dog with him in mind: ‘Sometimes I have no need for you/ I’m hard/ I’d rather starve/ Crush you from my chair.' In the powerful poem ‘Tense’ the speaker shows her vulnerability but expresses the desire to endure. In ‘Negligible’ she calls him ‘a weakling’ for not being able to push her further and in ‘Wank Me’, in a moment of defiance, she tells him ‘you can’t control me’, 'Wank me out of your head.' In the highly memorable poem ‘A Girl’s Eyes’ she plays the virgin/ whore. When they are about to have sex, she writes she will pretend it is the first time and ‘Then I’ll drive/ Climb high/ Show my vice/ Show my bite.’

In the end, 'the war' is an even one in which both partners triumph. In the poem '3 4 5 am' there is a moment of reprieve in the night as they lie bonded together against the world, 'With our fire/ Keeping the world burning/ So the bores can wake and do their thing.'

On first reading, the language and content in MAIDEN appears excessively crude, as if Bush is deliberately pushing the boundaries of decency. Some people, for instance, might find the poems ‘Daddy’, ‘His Blood’, ‘Unchristian’, and to a lesser extent, ‘The Pit’ objectionable. The tone in 'The Pit', for example, can be viewed by some as pitiful and cowering:

The Pit

Back in the pit           

A man’s belt around my neck

Me and nothing

And him

It’s all I want

And semen

To fill every crack

In my being

(published with the permission of the writer)

Playing the devil’s advocate, I gently put it to Karina Bush a week or so ago, "you make references to the soul and of love but aren’t these simply fuck poems?" She is frank and handles the question beautifully, “There is very little fucking in the book. In the book, feelings are expressed in the language of love.” 

Later in the interview, Bush adds an amusing anecdote about how some guys take her writing literally and think she is a sex worker, “Some dude recently wrote to me via my website desperately wanting to pay me for sex. He was in Amsterdam on holiday, walking around the Red Light area. He just had to knock a window and instead he was writing a poet. Bizarre. I’m curious if male poets face such a literal reading of their artistry."

The last five poems in the collection, are less sexually charged and point to a more mature direction in Karina Bush’s writing. ‘Tender Night’ continues to straddle the notion of the quest for love but does it with a brimming confidence and subtlety.

Tender Night

My lover’s

Breathing body

Comes behind me

Twice my size

Arm cross my breast

He is my maker

Skin cradled

Dressed in blankets

Made of rib

Gentle cells

In collapse

Locked and woven close

A design greater than us

He whispers

A wordless language

From an eyeless place

(published with the permission of the writer)

This is poetry from the edge. Karina Bush jiggles up a subterranean voice which speaks of love, of desire and of raw human passions. This is a unique collection of love poems which is highly accessible and carefully crafted and sequenced. Would it make Bukowski blush? Probably not- but I would recommend he read MAIDEN.

For more information about Karina Bush’s writing: http://www.karinabush.com/

Follow her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karinabushxx/

INTERVIEW WITH KARINA BUSH 30 JUNE 2016

Karina, when did you first start writing poetry and who were some of your early influences?

Hi George. I wrote and illustrated short stories and poetry as a kid, and won an award when I was 10 for my nature poetry. I was a precocious child. I didn't write for about 10 years after that. My early influences were Roald Dahl and as a teenager Irvine Welsh. Stuff that shocked me. I read extensively, mostly classics, I loved the use of the english language in old novels, the density and beauty of the form.

Is your poetry essentially confessional or do you write from different points of view? Can we assume, for instance, that you are the narrator of your poems? Similarly, the lover you strongly feature in the book, is he one bloke or a composite?

It's art. It isn't literal. The Maiden is a character, an archetype, a tool for me to explore the complex emotions involved in desire and falling in love. The book is a love story, every poem inspired by the same man.

Congratulations on getting your first book published by 48th Street Press. I note you have previously been published in the 48th Street Press Broadside Series, but what were the specific circumstances which lead up to the offer, acceptance and publication of MAIDEN?

48th Street Press contacted me in late 2012 after reading some of my work online. We developed a very productive working relationship. I was mentored and the input from the press was constructive in the formation of the book. I have the deepest respect for Chris as an editor and publisher.

You designed the cover for MAIDEN. It features a list of poems & phrases from the collection in pink upper case. In the centre of the illustration there appears to be a heart shaped leaf from a pot plant. Why did you choose this image?

Because Maiden is a love story. I find nature best represented that. Nature shares the same purity as love - its ability to grow and give life, it's ability to destruct and devastate. The word MAIDEN has various connotations, including “an unmarried young woman” and “being involved in the first attempt or act of its kind.” Is your title a reference to both of these meanings? Yes. And the innocence and vulnerability of giving yourself to another.

How did you arrive at your erotic, minimalistic style?

I don't think my style is erotic or minimalist. I think the natural landscape for the subject matter of desire and attraction is sexual. That doesn't make me an erotic writer.

You make references to the soul and of love but aren’t these simply fuck poems?

There is very little fucking in the book. In the book, feelings are expressed in the language of love.

The collection appears to feature poems which explicitly discuss fantasy rape (‘Red Blood’, “Take my hair’), incest/ paedophilia (‘Daddy’), notions of bestiality (‘Bitch Is Thirsty’), a filthy, unchristian romp (‘Unchristian’) and sadomasochism (‘The Pit’, ‘America’). What has been the response to your book so far? Who is your intended audience?

If you read poetry literally, I guess you could say that. If you ignore metaphor, symbolism etc. - some of the foundations of poetry. I certainly don't read art literally and I don't write for people who do. Red Blood” is a desperate poem of longing. The use of the word rapist doesn't make it a rape fantasy. “Daddy” is a poem about dependence and protection. About absorption. I think every person

who experiences love wants to be looked after by the other sometimes. The main character in ‘Dirty Dancing’ is called Baby, it isn't a movie about paedophilia. “Bitch is Thirsty” is mocking a man who is unsuccessfully running away from his feelings, not fucking a dog, nor wanting to fuck a dog. I don’t find animals sexy, not even ones with big dicks, and I promise no animals were harmed in the making of this book. “America” is an admiration of masculinity, a swoon. People will read what they want into art. That's one of the functions of art. To give the recipient a platform to explore themselves.

My intended readership is those who are emotional, intuitive and appreciate craft. The response so far has been very positive and encouraging. There is plenty of vanilla art out there, I couldn't bore myself by becoming another one those artists. My favourite art is stuff that explores the extremes of emotion and experience, and does it well.

In your poems, you often reveal a fascination for the beast, for

wordless unconscious behaviour. Why the interest?

To run wild in your imagination and with your lover to places primal and natural is a true freedom. I think the interest in the wordless is because primarily I'm exploring wordless things - emotions, heightened states, energies. And giving them a voice.

The last poems in the collection are called I., II. & III. The style and content are different from the rest of the collection. What is happening here?

I think the book becomes increasingly soft as it progresses. The final three poems are a reflection on the journey. A consolidation.

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Getting back to basics- how often do you write? Do you have a daily routine? Where do your poems come from? Is your writing carefully crafted or spontaneous? Do you do much editing of your work?

The creative process is mysterious. It is both easy and painstaking. There is no formula for me. I make my own rules as I go along and I love that.

What writers which you have read more recently have impressed you?

I don’t read much. I listen to a lot of music, I'm particularly interested in folk music right now, the power and simplicity of the storytelling. I recently discovered ‘Kunt and the Gang’ who I find endlessly entertaining. I read a lot of what 48th Street Press publishes every year though. I am impressed by Ally Malinenko, her poems about her experience with cancer are excellent. I think she has a book coming out soon. I also like Ben John Smith's work, particularly his tender poems.

What are you working on at the moment?

I'm working on a book of short stories. Prostitute fiction set in Amsterdam's Red Light District. I've had a couple of stories published already in Bareback Magazine and Horror Sleaze Trash. I suspect, when published, some readers will believe I am or was a sex worker. I've already had that. Many times. Some dude recently wrote to me via my website desperately wanting to pay me for sex. He was in Amsterdam on holiday, walking around the Red Light area. He just had to knock a window and instead he was writing a poet. Bizarre. I'm curious if male poets face such a literal reading of their artistry.

Thanks Karina, for taking the time to answer my questions.