We inaugurate our ON-Poetry column featuring the second video from the new book by David James Parr – PERSONAL TRAINING: poetry & exercise tips
The video-poem “Jupiter Rising” is read by the author and shot around various locations in NYC. PERSONAL TRAINING is now available on Amazon and Kindle. Please enjoy here below both the video and the poem.
Jupiter Rising
Steady as my glass that just fell off of the table—
don’t worry it wasn’t full—
and what phase of the moon are we in now?
which tide just got pulled?
Today I felt all bitter and fucked up
like a poem by Dorothy Parker
brittle on the outside
but fragile at the core
They say Jupiter is visible tonight
but I can’t see it through all this rain
On 9th Avenue the boys are cruising one another
and they’re all starting to look the same.
So Jupiter is rising high
in the cloudy sky tonight
Michaelangelo must have spilled his paints again
leaving us this pearly drop of light.
Today I felt like a Henry James heroine
crafty and unfulfilled
dreaming of a perfect match
in a rudely imperfect world.
In my back pocket I have a business card
from—I think his name was Ed?
He works in technology
but I didn’t hear a word he said.
I was only thinking how the way he held his glass was sort of like
the way you held my wrist in the movie theatre
stroking up and down as if I might break
stroking up and down as if I might purr.
Tonight I felt like a French film star
leaving by the back door
I’d tell you la raison porquoi
but then again, what for?
Can you see Jupiter from where you sleep?
Can you see it from his bed?
In my back pocket I have a business card
—I’m sure his name was Ed.
Today I felt like a ballad by Adele
all bittersweet and corny
distraught and crying out your name
yet deep down just plain horny.
Jupiter is visible again tonight
impersonating a star
like a drag queen on a good night
think we could get there by car?
And how long before it twirls around?
Blinking its big red eye
How long before it rolls back over?
to a completely different sky.
About the Author
Writer David James Parr was born on a cul-de-sac in suburban Ohio and grew up on a farm in rural Pennsylvania, where he learned how to spell “cul-de-sac” and to mispronounce “rural”, respectively. He is the author of the novels Violet Peaks and Beauty Marks, as well as the collection How To Survive Overwhelming Loss & Loneliness in 5 Easy Steps: Stories. His title story How To Survive Overwhelming Loss & Loneliness in 5 Easy Steps was chosen by Michael Cunningham (The Hours) as one of the Top 10 Stories in The Tennessee Williams Fiction contest, and is included in the anthology The Best Gay Stories of 2017. David’s story Mata Hari was also selected in 2015 as one of the winners of The Tennessee Williams Fiction contest. David’s plays Slap & Tickle, Albee Damned and Pluto Is Listening have been produced all across the U.S. including Chicago, Dallas, New York, Provincetown and St. Petersburg, and his play Mimi at The 44th Parallel was a Top 10 Finalist in The Austin Film Festival’s 2019 Playwriting Competition. His fiction has appeared in Saints + Sinners, Mosaic and Feminisms. His play Eleanor Rigby Is Waiting was made into a film which premiered at the 2019 Manhattan Film Festival, winning Best Independent Feature.
