They Used to Dance on Saturday Nights, is Aforementioned Productions latest from Gillian Devereux and it is a punch in the gut. This small collection of poetry carries a spark of imagination in its throat, and reading the language is reminiscent of grit and fire igniting the page. The content of the collection focuses on the sideshow carnival acts, and the fantastical tone carries me to a Tom Waits style of readability, that grabs your hair and makes you watch the story unfold. Nobody but him has made the carnival so sexy, raw, or appealing until now. There is a little bit of everything; dancing bears, an assistant who can’t escape the clutches of a knife thrower, and the integrity to explain why though mostly it’s a hoax, the magic of desperation is real along the cheap thrills and lost souls of the side show act.
In my humble opinion this is excellent; the imagery is strong like the cannonball man. Devereux takes you to the freak show and hopefully you have your tap shoes on. They Used to Dance on Saturday Nights, is a loaded gun and below is an excerpt, from a poem titled Lester Dowdy’s Carnival:
The carnies stack bottles & cans in primitive patterns,
Call out to the crowds,
Line up cheap prizes & promises. She pauses, tempted.
Some amusements cost very little;
Some can be bought with a handful of paper tickets.
The rest of the show, you will have to see when you get your copy in the mail.
Go to here for your copy:
http://aforementionedproductions.com/store/
Zach Fishel is an Associate Editor with Girls With Insurance. He also is a graduate student at Toledo University where he is studying Literature and Creative Writing. He believes that the Beat Generation will return, and has had work appear in numerous publications including fourpaperletters, Amphibi, The Driftwood Review, Yes, Poetry, The Hemlock, The Legendary, and Mad Swirl among others.
