Milk and Filth

Adding to the Latina tradition, Carmen Gimnez Smith, politically aware and feminist-oriented, focuses on general cultural references rather than a sentimental personal narrative. She speaks of sexual politics and family in a fierce, determined tone voracious in its opinions about freedom and responsibility. The author engages in mythology and art history, musically wooing the reader with texture and voice. As she references such disparate cultural figures as filmmaker Lars Von Trier, Annie from the film Annie Get Your Gun, Nabokovs Lolita, facebook entries and Greek gods, they appear as part of the poets cultural critique. Phrases such as the caustic domain of urchins and the gelatin shiver of teas surface take the poems from lyrical images to comic humor to angry, intense commentary. On writing about downgrading into human, she says, Then what? Amorality, osteoporosis and not even a marble estuary for the ages. Gimnez Smiths poetic arsenal includes rapier-sharp wordplay mixed with humor, at times self-deprecating, at others an ironic comment on the postmodern world, all interwoven with imaginative language of unexpected force and surreal beauty. Revealing a long view of gender issues and civil rights, the author presents a clever, comic perspective. Her poems take the reader to unusual places as she uses rhythm, images, and emotion to reveal the narrators personality. Deftly blending a variety of tones and styles, Gimnez Smiths poems offer a daring and evocative look at deep cultural issues.