HUMPTY DRUMPFTY AND OTHER POEMS by MELINDA LUISA DE JESUS

STEVE KLEPETAR Reviews

Humpty Drumpfty and Other Poems by Melinda Luisa de Jesús

(Moria Books’ Locofo Chaps, Chicago, 2017)

Melinda Luisa de Jesus has a way of breaking apart Mother Goose rhymes, interrupting the rhythm and rhyme to create both comic effects and outrage. Here’s an example from the title poem:

Donald Drumpf felt so small

Donald Drumpf wanted a wall

But all Bannon’s horses

and all McConnell’s men

Couldn’t do fucking squat

So they subcontracted to some nice Mexican dudes

            down at the Home Depot

We chuckle at the profane, colloquial break after line four, and admire the clever joke, which is also commentary – the big shot developer hiring (as he has often done) illegal immigrants to do the work. The Mexicans are not only “nice,” but hardworking and competent. What’s especially delicious is how the poem proceeds –

But it sure was strange how that sturdy wall

seemed to move

a few feet north day

after day

Pretty soon there were two, even three taco trucks

on every corner

and good panaderias in every town

Here’s another, short enough to quote in its entirety:

Pussy hat, pussy hat

What makes your purr?

Five million people worldwide

Protesting 45’s fuckery.

She also has some choice words for her “fellow Filipino Americans who voted for Trump:”

We’re just here

to be the diversity in the photo op

to serve and clean,

smiling,

always smiling, submissive

houseboys, nannies, maids, sex workers

model minorities

She is not smiling in these clever, stinging poems. Laughing maybe, but with rage right behind.

*****

Steve Klepetar’s work has appeared in nine countries, in such journals as Boston Literary Magazine, Deep Water, Antiphon, Red River Review, Snakeskin, Ygdrasil, and many others.  Several of his poems have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net, including four in 2016. He has published 12 collections, the most recent of which include "A Landscape in Hell" (Flutter Press); "Family Reunion" (Big Table Publishing); and "How Fascism Comes to America" (Locofo Chaps).