Damaged by Dames & Drinking (one line poems and pinups)

About

Damaged by Dames and Drinking is a lavishly illustrated collection of haiku, one line poems and streetwise observations on bartenders, the drinking life and New York City. A collection of poems that begin with a jolt: “Alcohol's magic is murder by degrees/ slow enough to be irresistible.” The short poems explore dark dive bars and in brief thumbnail sketches, the women who work in them. Many of whom agreed to be photographed for this book. Yet it is the poems that speak the loudest. RpVerlaine's arresting images show an eye for lyrical detail: “closing time/ the bar empty as Casanova/ going up the stairs alone.”

Yet, this 46 pg. 62 poem collection also deals with relationships and a love for New York City the poet does not glamorize: “The young fisherman/bringing home what they've caught/ from street hookers." Which is not to say there isn't a lot of humor in this poetry. Excessive drinking can often lead to tragic/ comic events: “Debating wisdom/ of gifting her Christmas knives/ after vomiting in her dresser/I mistook for toilet.”

These vignettes like the poems of the bartenders are illustrated with color photographs of models that together form a loose narrative where the author tries to quit drinking, joins/ quits A.A. and drifts through various relationships. They are documented with bemused detachment and sly insight: “Sure, no strings attached/ shows you how even bondage/ gets complicated.”

Written in the spring of 2016 and covering the preceding eight years, Damaged by Dames & Drinking is urban, accessible, wise and often laugh out loud funny. Inspired by artists as diverse as Ikkyu, Charles Bukowski, Lou Reed, Richard Brautigan and the comedy of Mitch Hedberg.

It is a collection of poems and pictures which capture a place and time, yet endeavors to remind one at every turn, what it costs.