She [Paperback]

Saul Williams (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1999

Hailed as "a dreadlocked dervish of words...the Bob Marley of American poets" (Esquire), Saul Williams is a gifted young poet who is opening up this literary art form to a new generation of readers. Like his writing -- a fearless mix of connecting rhythms and vibrant images -- Saul Williams is unstoppable. He received raves for his performance as an imprisoned street poet in the Trimark Pictures release Slam, winner of the Camera d'Or at Cannes and the Grand Jury prize at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. The consummate spoken-word performance artist, Williams has also been signed by producer Rick Rubin to record a CD of his poetry.

She is a fascinating and unique collection of interconnected poems by this multi-talented star -- and marks the beginning of an incredible and totally original artistic career.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Saul Williams received his B.A. in acting and philosophy from Morehouse College in Atlanta, and his Masters in acting from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. He co-wrote and starred in the Cannes and Sundance award-winning film Slam; he was also featured in the documentaries Slam Nation, Underground Voices, and I'll Make Me A World. He has released albums, Saul Williams and Amethyst Rock Star. He has written three books of poetry for MTV Books. He lives in Los Angeles.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

From She

i presented

my feminine side

with flowers

she cut the stems

and placed them gently

down my throat

and these tu lips

might soon eclipse

your brightest hopes

***

she had nothing

but time on her hands:

silver rings, turquoise stones

and purple nails

i rubbed my thumb

across her palm:

a featherbed

where slept a psalm

yea, though i walk

i used to fly

and now we dance

i watched

my toenails blacken

and walked a deadened trance

until she woke me

with the knife edge

of her glance

i have the scars to prove

the clock strikes

with her hands

***

i have seen the truth

many times

but for the first time

she saw me

i wore suspenders

for the judgment

in my pants

***

i laced my shoes with sorrow

and walked a weary road

dead end streets

don't come undone

with double knots

wing tipped shoes

that walk on air

through vacant lots

***

she kept her deck

beneath her pillow

and had promised

me a reading

she stuck a bookmark

in my heart

and walked away

it was autumn then

the leaves

suddenly flames

the sidewalk

burning cinders

i walked the streets

as if the sun

had called me boy

mad at the world

on aging feet

shuffling

her cards

shuffling

my feet

head

to the sky

blue

the clouds

her cards

the clouds:

her cards

shuffling

the skies

a storm passes

new clouds appear:

the chariot

the priestess

the moon

in broad daylight:

an omen

***

love is an unbridled horse

with one wing out-stretched

the other tucked and folded

on the right side

the horse galloping

towards a cliff

knowingly

panting just enough

for you to think

he's laughing

he?

love is male?

love is a dumb horse

with silver streaks

and a sometimes penis

a sometimes penis?

on thursdays

the rest of the week

she grazes

and paints her hooves

with red mud

making tracks

through the fields

which disappear

soon after they appear

because nature has a way

of changing

the same way

it remains

Copyright © 1999 by Saul Williams

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: MTV Books; Original edition (June 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671039776
• ISBN-13: 978-0671039776
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 6.2 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #231,839 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My first reading of Williams---A Fresh, Real Voice, June 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: She (Paperback)

While not forgetting his ancetors, Saul Williams uses a blues and jazz infused vocal style that touches on the sharp and the smooth of human relationships. This book and CD are simply beautiful, hauntingly so. It is dark, yet able to make its own light in the power struggle of a human life. I applaud his ability to transcend race. Many get so caught up in the past that there simply is no future, but Williams crosses this line and opens up his poetry like a creaking door, behind which, music plays. His topic is love and hate, sex and loneliness, but not your typical angst-filled drivel that so haunts the poetic world today. If I had to compare, I would say Langston Hughes. Quite simply, poetry at its best. Even if poetry leaves you dry, his ability to take poetry back to its oral roots makes music of breaths. Buy this book and CD set. You won't be sorry.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Modern Metahporic Melody..., November 29, 1999

By 

Infinite (State University at Albany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: She (Paperback)

He has placed a subliminal message in the minds of us all. He's in your ear, in your books, and on your TV screens; each time with a classic sequence of metaphors. Saul Williams is the poet that we've all been waiting for; his words are a melodic metaphors of our inner thoughts: "Can we all be poets?" Each page of his book is remarkable. An actor, poet, and simply a genious!Williams is the rebirth of expressiveness in poetry. Long has it been since the world has seen, read, and heard one of our great poets; Saul Williams has made it all possible. Buy his book, listen to his CD, and watch his movies and get ready for the ride of your life. Fasten your seatbelts because it's going to be one Hell of a ride.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shemotions, April 27, 2003

By 

"audrey325" (Sunnyvale, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: She (Paperback)

Saul Williams is one of the most gifted poets I've ever read or listened to, and I wish he were more widely known! I strongly recommend any poetry or poetry slam lover to watch Slam, a film Williams starred in. After hearing the emotively passionate poetry read by Williams, anyone reading the poetry in She can practically hear him recite the poems while reading them. Williams's audio cd, Amethyst Rock Star, contains a few of the poems in She, allowing us to actually hear him read his poems! In his performances his accentuation of his literary devices, themes, patterns, and word play brings life to the lyrics. The cadence of the poems is so strong, however, the cd isn't necessary to fall in step with his writing just by reading it. Saul pours out lines revealing every feeling of guilt, insecurity, tenderness, or sensitivity, allowing any reader or listener the privilege to view his scars. She is Willliams's tribute to women, and though he maintains his male perspective of women, female readers may be surprized by his understanding of the fair sex.