ISBN  978-0-9852877-0-2

Willow Books

$14.95

To order: http://aquariuspress.myshopify.com/collections/poetry/products/drift

Praise for DRIFT:

“Alan King reminds us of the beauty of efficiency. His poems do not waste moments or words. These are wonderful journeys into the lives of everyone (something of you is here, I guarantee it), effortless, peaceful but powerful walks that focus upon the compassionate things: friendship, love, family, justice, tradition. Alan King has started his own tradition in Drift, one born of his own generation but timeless and strong; a voice we should all hope will be showcased for years.”

—Brian Gilmore, poet, public interest lawyer and columnist for The Progressive Media Project

“In this collection, Alan King’s words sparkle like the season’s first snow. Here, we marvel at the  crystals of language that have accumulated into stanzas that wall the city of his imagination. Like the brick and mortar metropolis in which his work is set, this city is oriented to the Cardinal points. Here, Love brightens the night sky and a young man learns to navigate by its gleam. Here, the neon glow of the Diner, the flicker of the street light, the white finger of the headlight is Polaris. Let us be thankful we have this star to follow.”

—Joel Dias Porter (DJ Renegade), author of 4000 Shades of Blue and Libation Song (CD)

“Alan King’s work sings and surprises. It deftly unmasks and unpretentiously describes the world. The poems contained within Drift are also chock full of rhythmic verve. His verses and individual lines are often redolent of great drummers like the late Max Roach . . . They excite, make you think. Or rethink. They break your heart. To quote vocalist Archie Bell—”they not only sing, they dance just as good as they want.”

–Reuben Jackson, author of Fingering The Keys

EXCERPT:

BlackBerry Speaks/Txts
so u got it bad, huh?
think u know hard times
w/ ur recession—
u w/o a job & time
2 smell da fresh air,
time 2 pick up a hobby
da way idle hands
pick me up & start
stabbing me w/ thumbs.
talk abt violated.
don’t know how i feel
abt having my ball
fiddled w/. wat u
take me for, that iFreak?
da next hot thing
w/ an iBody so “touch-
friendly” u can pinch her
lush apps like–well, u get
da pic. dis life ain’t e-z.
a crack on da screen
or anything else
& u get discriminated
against, u get labeled
harsh things. know where
gadgets like me end up
after da hoopla, wen
da next hot item appears
like a pop-up on ur screen?
well, it aint da afterlife.
no bon voyage of tears,
no luv-bots beaming
& txting abt what a device
it was, or how its features
were a one of a kind.
it’ll just be pieces of wat
i once was in a pile
of other pieces of wat once
had a helluva run in its heyday.
still think
u got it bad?

BIO:

Alan King is a poet and journalist living in the DC metropolitan area. He is a blogger on art and domestic issues. In addition to teaching creative writing throughout the DC/Baltimore region, he’s a part-time poetry instructor at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and the senior program director at the DC Creative Writing Workshop at Charles Hart Middle School in DC’s Congress Heights neighborhood. A past Pushcart Prize nominee, Alan is also a Cave Canem fellow and VONA alum.