The Undisputed Greatest Writer of All Time

By Beau Sia

"This is the greatest fucking book of poetry ever!" is how Beau would have described this book ten years ago. In truth, this collection of poems from 1997-2005 simply reflects a time when he was wrestling with the power he'd given his ego, struggling to break from the idealizing of love, and beating himself up for his shame and insecurities. He allows us into places most poets would edit out, exposing his limitations in his choices and in what's absent from each selection. Unafraid to live in fear, willing to share the empty of glory, and pushing to include the minutia as integral parts of one's process, these poems bring a mirror to his past, sans heroic declarations and beautiful decorations. Beau Sia's new collection of old work seeks to give a fuller picture for the reader who is looking for glimpses of the dark places growth begins, and who wants to feel like they are beautiful, without having to lie in the extremes of tragedy or enlightenment.

Beau Sia swings gravity like a bat (aluminum, whiffle ball, and fruit). I hope to experience everything in this life, but if I leave this world before I get to hang glide the high points, it won't matter... I read Beau Sia. -Buddy Wakefield, "Live for a Living"

Beau Sia mixes serious commentary, outrageous theatrics, and downright outrage into a potent, entertaining, and memorable cocktail. He is both the spoonful of sugar and the medicine, and he goes down in the most delightful way. - Taylor Mali, "Last Time As We Areâ€

Beau Sia has forged a poetic voice unlike any other-- a 7th level hybrid of deep-sea-mind-diving and hip-hop-spelunking and time-travel-reporting that is once riveting, humbling and inspiring; a firey worship of the life you have to live. - Mindy Nettifee, "Rise of the Trust Fallâ€

• Language: English
• Publisher: Write Bloody Publishing
• Release date: Aug 13, 2010
• ISBN: 9781935904212

Book preview

POOP IT OUT NOW

LETT ER TO A YOUNG POET

re-imagine your definition of results.

live a full life.

keep working on this concept forever.

let a full life be informed by all,

defined only by you.

get to the answer by asking the questions

those around you

may never believe exist.

titles only have the power you give them.

proving yourself to the external will exhaust you.

you will lose yourself in fixed identity.

you have as much writing in you

as you do. listen

for what your words are showing you.

reject the parts of praise

that will bind you.

reject the criticism intended to hold you down.

the plan is greater than any one of us.

learn to respond to the harm

in others’ perceptions

with more honest mirrors.

your craft has depths

you will not reach the limits of.

it will live in you

after hands have stopped sequencing.

how you distill evolves.

give yourself patience to savor.

the silences offer more than quiet.

touch what all this work is for.

UNLOAD

BANG.

is the sound of neglect

matured into rage.

BANG.

deafens the ears of those

unwilling to listen.

BANG.

begs to ring the alarm

that can’t be snoozed.

BANG.

it begins before the aftermath

of smoke.

BANG.

a boy who has only seen touch,

but never felt it.

BANG.

the daughter who’s been hugged

too long by abuse.

BANG.

babies burning in silence,

until innocence drowns in the ash,

then BANG,

just like the movies.

busy parents working too hard

to explain special effects.

BANG, you get it already. BANG.

‘cuz there’s been another shooting,

and BANG, the poet wants the metaphor, BANG,

to get your attention,

because BANG,

there’s no re-start on this video game.

BANG.

you already saw it coming,

but you didn’t do shit,

just sat there, while BANG.

the ones we call freaks

ease our accountability.

all media gets placed in a vacuum

of blame.

our animal grows strong

when fed on what distracts our humanity.

BANG.

this is not gun politics.

war is a convenient way to ignore the work.

it takes a village to raise a monster.

BANG.

a billion uncharted moments

before the darkness

filled with stars.

a billion unreported experiences

before the child

throws the fit

that becomes the clip

we stay fixed on,

like children gazing at fireworks.

explosions made both message

and meaning.

BANG.

listen for more

than the loudest sound in a room.

BANG.

weapons will evolve

while we deny their origin.

weapons will melt

once we’ve reverse engineered our hate.

weapons will become archaic

with choices more fitting to our unique design.

BANG.

make time for others’ hurt

before it turns poison.

BANG.

remember the child within

before you react

from the child within.

BANG.

let your pain be a guide

and not a source.

BANG.

teach yourself how fruitless

the zero sum game.

BANG.

teach your daughters

their will is not a prison.

BANG.

teach your sons

their want demands context.

BANG.

compassion is greater

than all that may destroy us.

in every breath

an opportunity towards

demise

or thrive.

it’s not in the words,

it lives in what’s between.

(      )

HAIKUS TO THE MOON

moon, you could give a

fuck about our wars, yet your

distance moves our blood.

moon, I’ve fucked beneath

your glow and haven’t gotten

nearer to your touch.

moon, you’ve witnessed our

history and ignore its

truths just like we do.

moon, I share you, we

watch your graceful eye, giving

meaning to your rock.

moon, you’re the heaven

I can see, tonight I send

messages for

Reviews for The Undisputed Greatest Writer of All Time

[heart77 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Beau Sia's back with another great poetry collection. His first book, A Night Without Armor II: The Revenge, was funny and perverted. This book is not quite the same. There are no dick jokes in this book. Okay, maybe one dick joke. But not very many. He still writes about sex, but in a way that suggests he's done some reading on feminist rhetoric. There are a lot of political poems about race, about the family unit, about looking back at your past self. Sia has clearly matured as a writer, and it shows in his work. His style is less sparse than before; he uses repetition and does a few neat artistic things with line breaks. I enjoyed this book. My attention did start to wane after a while, and I got bored by the last few pages which is why I gave it four stars instead of fine. Still, this is a good book, and I recommend everyone to go out and buy a copy because this guy knows how to write.