In Reference to Murder

Poetry is Criminal

To celebrate National Poetry Month, Gerald So, editor of The 5-2: Crime Poetry Weekly website and The Lineup poetry chapbooks, invited me to participate in a blog tour. The challenge: to choose a favorite poem from the 5-2 website.

That proved to be a bit of a problem, because poems are like soul candy to me—jelly bellies, if you will—one day your favorite may be key lime pie and the next, sour apple or black licorice. However, I ultimately chose Jackie Sheeler's "Lt. Machine" to feature today, as it is a timely poem, tied to the still-ongoing (if sputtering) Occupy Wall Street movement.

You may recall the recent pepper-spraying incident where Police Lieutenant John Pike, dressed in riot gear, nonchalantly aimed his spray can at a group of college student protesters who were sitting down peacefully. The lieutenant and that video soon went viral and spawned a cultural phenomenom all its own, an international frenzy with dozens of websites and parodies.

What Jackie Sheeler does in her poetic take on that whole spectacle is to create a sardonic account that at the same time peers into the mind—and seeming mindlessness—of the officer's actions, "He neither smiles nor frowns / flourishes the canister / arms-length, like a cardsharp shooting his cuffs / before the deal. Winning is inevitable." And yet, there are hints of what Sheeler imagines really lies beneath the lieutenant's unprompted behavior, "If he screamed / I got your education right here you little pricks!"

I'm a sucker for "humor noir," if that can be labeled a true subgenre. In this poem, despite the underlying tinges of anger and injustice, there are also hints of humor, as in these lines, "He makes a second pass across the line / just in case. Filling in the blanks, you might say." You can argue all day about whether Lt. Pike and other police actions against the Occupy protesters are justified or not (or both, depending upon the circumstances), but I like how Sheeler's poem takes a step back, viewing this incident in words as a photographer would with a lens.

I also loved Jackie's note about the poem, "It was the memes. Yes, definitely, the memes. He pepper-sprayed the Last Supper! And the holy bush of Marilyn Monroe, her white skirt airlifted by a passing subway. Entrapment. I had no choice. Guilty as charged."

Jackie's latest collection of poems, Earthquake Came to Harlem, was a finalist for the 2011 Paterson Poetry Prize. One reviewer called it "nuanced yet aggressive, Earthquake Came to Harlem is a tour-de-force of NYC poetry." I rather like that. I think "nuanced, yet aggressive" is an apt description of "Lt. Machine."

By the way, The 5-2 is looking for more submissions to showcase each week. If you think you have a crime poem in you, you can submit up to two poems per month that are "honest, powerful reactions to what you see as crime." Any form or style is fine, and the only rule is that each poem must be 60 lines or fewer.

Here's the schedule for the rest of the 5-2 Blog Tour. But you don't have to wait — you can go and read the poems yourself, any time.

Media Murder for Monday

MOVIES

Kenneth Branagh is set to direct the reboot of Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan spy thrillers starring Chris Pine (Captain Kirk from Star Trek). The untitled film is said to follow in the same vein as The Hunt For Red October and A Clear and Present Danger.

Various actresses are vying to star opposite Johnny Depp in the adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's novel The Thin Man. The leading contenders to play Nora Charles are Carey Mulligan, Emma Stone, Kristen Wiig, Emily Blunt, Rachel Weisz, Eva Green, Amy Adams, and Isla Fisher.

TV

Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman is developing a police drama for FX titled Inside. The show is set in San Francisco and centers on a homicide detective who discovers his father is an imprisoned serial killer claiming to be innocent of killing the detective's mother.

Alex O'Loughlin (Steve McGarrett) will only miss one episode of Hawaii 5-0 due to "supervised treatment for prescription pain medication." The McGarrett-free episode will feature guest stars Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J in a crossover with fellow CBS show NCIS: Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Michelle Borth has been promoted to a series regular, reprising her role as McGarrett's love interest.

Jean Reno is to star as an elite homicide cop in the drama Le Grand. Each episode will revolve around an iconic location in the French capital of Paris, including Nôtre Dame, the Place de la Concorde and the Opéra.

AMC and the producers of The Killing announced how they plan to wrap up the murder mystery left hanging at the end of the first season; AMC exec Joel Stillerman brushed off complaints that the spoiler has removed the element of surprise from the show, predicting that viewers will still "enjoy the ride."

Fox has renewed Bones for an 8th season. The writers plan to give the characters of Hodgins (TJ Thyne) and Cam (Tamara Taylor) more extensive arcs in season eight. In more Bones news (as Omnimytery New notes), the current season of Bones will return tonight on its new night after a long hiatus.

Laz Alonso has signed on to play NYPD cop Will Sacovitch in NBC's Notorious, about a female detective (Joanna Locasto) who investigates the myterious death of the wealthy heiress who raised her.

BBC America picked up the new series Inside Men, a four-part thriller bout three security employees who plot a multi-million pound theft.