Larry O. Dean has been a Chicago Poetry Center teaching artist since 2003, currently at Skinner West Elementary in the West Loop and initially at James Shield Elementary in Brighton Park. Dean’s numerous books include Frequently Asked Questions (2020), Activities of Daily Living (2017), Brief Nudity (2013), Basic Cable Couplets (2012), abbrev (2011), About the Author (2011), and I Am Spam (2004). He is also an acclaimed singer-songwriter whose latest solo album is Good Grief (2015); Product Placement, the sophomore album from his band, The Injured Parties, was released last year.
Actor’s Portrayal
By Larry O. Dean
I am not a heartburn sufferer. I do not stay at
La Quinta®. My name is not Flo. I am not a
talking lizard, concerned doctor, alcoholic
attorney, proud parent, or umpire with low
testosterone. I haven’t fallen, and I can get
up. I am not having a torrid affair with DA
Jessica’s daughter while helping her cover up
the cliffhanger murder-for-hire of her former
husband, a cruel astronaut. Do not assume I
can rappel down skyscrapers, outrun fireballs,
parkour eel-like through open windows,
squeeze off round after round of assault
weapon fire while sliding on my knees across
rain-slicked pavement. I am not now nor have
I ever been the kooky sidekick. If you punch
me, I will cry. Underneath all this CGI, I have
two-pack abs. I never once saved the city
from any colorful villains. I am not the
roguish bachelor with a tastefully decorated
Toronto penthouse (standing in for
Manhattan) and you are not the unbelievably
unattached twentysomething reporter I will
meet cute at the DMV; hilarious hijinks ensue
because we both coincidentally share the
same name! Bumping heads! At the counter!
A wisecracking Paul Giamatti as Clark the
clerk stifles a dour smirk, sipping
product-placement Starbucks® while we don’t
playfully banter for the thirty-fifth consecutive take.
From Frequently Asked Questions (Salmon Poetry, April 2020) and originally published in Sediments Literary Arts Journal #6 (February 2016).
Larry O. Dean’s Poet Spotlight: Natalie Shapero
Dean: “I love Natalie Shapero’s work. Both of her books are stupendous, but especially Hard Child, from which I chose “Not Horses.” Shapero’s poetry has a conversational style, but it swerves and meanders to places that are delightfully, unapologetically unexpected. I find it immersive as well as deeply thoughtful, and funny! Humor’s a tough thing to master, especially in poetry, and she makes it seem so effortless, with her balance of self-deprecation and acerbic bite.”
Not Horses
By Natalie Shapero
What I adore is not horses, with their modern
domestic life span of 25 years. What I adore
is a bug that lives only one day, especially if
it’s a terrible day, a day of train derailment or
chemical lake or cop admits to cover-up, a day
when no one thinks of anything else, least of all
that bug. I know how it feels, born as I’ve been
into these rotting times, as into sin. Everybody’s
busy, so distraught they forget to kill me,
and even that won’t keep me alive. I share
my home not with horses, but with a little dog
who sees poorly at dusk and menaces stumps,
makes her muscle known to every statue.
I wish she could have a single day of language,
so that I might reassure her don’t be afraid —
our whole world is dead and so can do you no harm.
This week we’re highlighting our Executive Director, Elizabeth Metzger Sampson. Learn more about Sampson and read one of their poems below:
Elizabeth Metzger Sampson
Elizabeth Metzger Sampson is a poet, essayist, and frequent collaborator with visual artists. Publications include interviews, essays, and poems, in Adroit Journal, Temporary Art Review, Hypertext Magazine, and at poetryfoundation.org. Their collaborative visual and written work has been shown at venues in and around Chicago, and in Neuss, Germany, and Cairo, Egypt. They are currently the executive director of the Chicago Poetry Center, and have been twice named one of Newcity’s “Lit 50: Who Really Books in Chicago.”
Sampson has been teaching students of all ages for over 10 years, training teachers and teaching artists, guiding artists through their practice, and writing poems with 2nd graders. While leading the Chicago Poetry Center, Sampson has developed poetry curriculum for Chicago and beyond, built a scholarship program for equitable access to programming across Chicago, and reshaped the Chicago Poetry Center reading series.
“Writing poetry makes me feel like I can see myself, like I can see my reflection, but not in a mirror, in the world. I write and I know I can be reflected.” -Oscar S.
“Writing poetry makes me feel free.” -Buenda D.
“Writing poetry is like your best friend.” -Jessica M.
Elizabeth Metzger Sampson
Elizabeth Metzger Sampson
