Killer Verse: Poems of Murder and Mayhem is a spine-tingling collection of terrifically creepy poems about the deadly art of murder. The villains and victims who populate these pages range from Cain and Abel and Bluebeard and his wives to Lizzie Borden, Jack the Ripper, and Mafia hit men. The literary forms they inhabit are just as varied, from the colorful melodramas of old Scottish ballads to the hard-boiled poetry of twentieth-century noir, from lighthearted comic riffs to profound poetic musings on murder. Robert Browning, Thomas Hardy, W. H. Auden, Stevie Smith, Mark Doty, Frank Bidart, Toi Derricotte, Lynn Emanuel, and Cornelius Eady are only a few of the many poets, old and new, whose work is captured in this heart-stopping-and criminally entertaining-collection.
Harold Schechter is a professor of American literature and culture at Queens College, CUNY, and the author of mystery novels featuring Edgar Allan Poe. He lives in New York City.
Kurt Brown is the author of four books of poetry and the editor of numerous anthologies. He lives in Santa Barbara, California.
Foreword
ALL IN THE FAMILY
Simon Armitage "Gooseberry Season"
Gregory Djanikian "Abel"
Rigoberto Gonzalez "Your Darling Matricide"
Margherita Guidacci "Cain and Abel (I)"
Kaci Hamilton "Mother"
Thomas Hardy "Her Second Husband Hears Her Story"
Jan Heller Levi "Fall River Historical Museum"
John Masefield from "Lollingdon Downs"
Roger Mcgough "Fart"
Donna Reis Sempronia
Vernon Scannell "A Case of Murder"
Ruth Sharman "Knife"
Ruth Whitman "The Passion of Lizzie Borden"
MURDER BALLADS
Anonymous "The Cruel Brother"
Anonymous "The Cruel Miller"
Anonymous "The Cruel Mother"
Anonymous "The Twa Sisters"
Anonymous "Frankie and Albert"
Anonymous "Pearl Bryan"
Anonymous "Stackalee"
Charles Causley "The Ballad of Charlotte Dymond"
Megan Levad "American Murderer"
Estha Weiner "The Talk of the County"
VERS NOIR
Tony Barnstone "The Chop Shop"
Tony Barnstone "The Lover"
Lynn Emanuel "The Murder Writer"
Richard Garcia "Naked City"
Andrey Gritsman "Found Poem Found No Answers"
Randall Horton "In Front of 1425 T Street"
Suzanne Lummis "Double Indemnity/The Second Shot"
Lawrence Raab "The Assassin's Fatal Error"
Thom Ward "Actually, However"
Phillip B. Williams Tequila"
Baron Wormser "Chinatown"
THE MIND OF THE MURDERER
Ryan Black "When the World's on Fire"
Robert Browning "The Laboratory"
Christopher Davis "The Murderer"
Cornelius Eady "Birthing"
Thomas Hood "The Dream of Eugene Aram"
Mary E. Moore "You Know Who You Are"
Kenneth Patchen "The Murder of Two Men by a Young Kid Wearing Lemon-Colored Gloves"
Stevie Smith "The Murderer"
David Starkey "The Murder Suspect, Moments Before He Is Confronted by Police"
J. J. Steinfeld "The Assassin's Morning"
Gail White "Black Widow"
PSYCHO KILLERS
Ai "The Good Shepherd: Atlanta 1981"
W. H. Auden "Victor"
Melissa Balmain "Facebook Psycho"
Frank Bidart "Herbert White"
Robert Browning "Porphyria's Lover"
Carol Ann Duffy "Psychopath"
Thom Gunn "Hitch-Hiker"
Kimiko Hahn "All Told"
Kimiko Hahn "Road Kill"
Francine J. Harris "In Rostov, the Butcher"
Susan Kelly "Whitechapel Nights"
Virginia Slachman "Kabuki"
Patricia Smith "Speculation"
Kevin Vaughn "April 25, 2009"
John Whitworth "Blood Ties"
VICTIMS
William Cullen Bryant "The Murdered Traveller"
Hayan Charara "On the Murder of an Ice Cream Man"
Martha Collins from "Blue Front"
Philip Dacey "With or Without Milk"
W. H. Davies "The Inquest"
Toi Derricotte "On the Turning Up of Unidentified Black Female Corpses"
Mark Doty "Charlie Howard's Descent"
Melissa Fadul "Lord of Crows"
Leon Gellert "Blue-beard's First Wife"
Richard Jones "Desire"
Edgar Lee Masters "Amanda Barker"
Elise Paschen "Wi'-gi-e"
Maria Terrone "The Slain Wife of the Lighthouse Keeper Speaks"
Caitlin Elizabeth Thomson "Denise Naslund"
Caitlin Elizabeth Thomson, "Eleanor Rose Naslund"
Charles Harper Webb "The Sound that Wakes Me at Night, Thinking of It"
MEDITATIONS ON MURDER
Miles A. Coon "Studying"
Wyn Cooper "Conversation Piece"
Marie Howe "After the Movie"
Weldon Kees "Crime Club"
Ravi Shankar "Killers in Letters"
Michael Waters "Morpho"
John Whitworth "These Boys"
John Whitworth "The Pure Essence"
James Wright "At the Executed Murderer's Grave"
Index of Authors
Acknowledgments
Killer Verse: Poems of Murder and Mayhem is a spine-tingling collection of terrifically creepy poems about the deadly art of murder. The villains and victims who populate these pages range from Cain and Abel and Bluebeard and his wives to Lizzie Borden, Jack the Ripper, and Mafia hit men. The literary forms they inhabit are just as varied, from the colorful melodramas of old Scottish ballads to the hard-boiled poetry of twentieth-century noir, from lighthearted comic riffs to profound poetic musings on murder. Robert Browning, Thomas Hardy, W. H. Auden, Stevie Smith, Mark Doty, Frank Bidart, Toi Derricotte, Lynn Emanuel, and Cornelius Eady are only a few of the many poets, old and new, whose work is captured in this heart-stopping-and criminally entertaining-collection.
Harold Schechter is a professor of American literature and culture at Queens College, CUNY, and the author of mystery novels featuring Edgar Allan Poe. He lives in New York City.
Kurt Brown is the author of four books of poetry and the editor of numerous anthologies. He lives in Santa Barbara, California.
Foreword
ALL IN THE FAMILY
Simon Armitage "Gooseberry Season"
Gregory Djanikian "Abel"
Rigoberto Gonzalez "Your Darling Matricide"
Margherita Guidacci "Cain and Abel (I)"
Kaci Hamilton "Mother"
Thomas Hardy "Her Second Husband Hears Her Story"
Jan Heller Levi "Fall River Historical Museum"
John Masefield from "Lollingdon Downs"
Roger Mcgough "Fart"
Donna Reis Sempronia
Vernon Scannell "A Case of Murder"
Ruth Sharman "Knife"
Ruth Whitman "The Passion of Lizzie Borden"
MURDER BALLADS
Anonymous "The Cruel Brother"
Anonymous "The Cruel Miller"
Anonymous "The Cruel Mother"
Anonymous "The Twa Sisters"
Anonymous "Frankie and Albert"
Anonymous "Pearl Bryan"
Anonymous "Stackalee"
Charles Causley "The Ballad of Charlotte Dymond"
Megan Levad "American Murderer"
Estha Weiner "The Talk of the County"
VERS NOIR
Tony Barnstone "The Chop Shop"
Tony Barnstone "The Lover"
Lynn Emanuel "The Murder Writer"
Richard Garcia "Naked City"
Andrey Gritsman "Found Poem Found No Answers"
Randall Horton "In Front of 1425 T Street"
Suzanne Lummis "Double Indemnity/The Second Shot"
Lawrence Raab "The Assassin's Fatal Error"
Thom Ward "Actually, However"
Phillip B. Williams Tequila"
Baron Wormser "Chinatown"
THE MIND OF THE MURDERER
Ryan Black "When the World's on Fire"
Robert Browning "The Laboratory"
Christopher Davis "The Murderer"
Cornelius Eady "Birthing"
Thomas Hood "The Dream of Eugene Aram"
Mary E. Moore "You Know Who You Are"
Kenneth Patchen "The Murder of Two Men by a Young Kid Wearing Lemon-Colored Gloves"
Stevie Smith "The Murderer"
David Starkey "The Murder Suspect, Moments Before He Is Confronted by Police"
J. J. Steinfeld "The Assassin's Morning"
Gail White "Black Widow"
PSYCHO KILLERS
Ai "The Good Shepherd: Atlanta 1981"
W. H. Auden "Victor"
Melissa Balmain "Facebook Psycho"
Frank Bidart "Herbert White"
Robert Browning "Porphyria's Lover"
Carol Ann Duffy "Psychopath"
Thom Gunn "Hitch-Hiker"
Kimiko Hahn "All Told"
Kimiko Hahn "Road Kill"
Francine J. Harris "In Rostov, the Butcher"
Susan Kelly "Whitechapel Nights"
Virginia Slachman "Kabuki"
Patricia Smith "Speculation"
Kevin Vaughn "April 25, 2009"
John Whitworth "Blood Ties"
VICTIMS
William Cullen Bryant "The Murdered Traveller"
Hayan Charara "On the Murder of an Ice Cream Man"
Martha Collins from "Blue Front"
Philip Dacey "With or Without Milk"
W. H. Davies "The Inquest"
Toi Derricotte "On the Turning Up of Unidentified Black Female Corpses"
Mark Doty "Charlie Howard's Descent"
Melissa Fadul "Lord of Crows"
Leon Gellert "Blue-beard's First Wife"
Richard Jones "Desire"
Edgar Lee Masters "Amanda Barker"
Elise Paschen "Wi'-gi-e"
Maria Terrone "The Slain Wife of the Lighthouse Keeper Speaks"
Caitlin Elizabeth Thomson "Denise Naslund"
Caitlin Elizabeth Thomson, "Eleanor Rose Naslund"
Charles Harper Webb "The Sound that Wakes Me at Night, Thinking of It"
MEDITATIONS ON MURDER
Miles A. Coon "Studying"
Wyn Cooper "Conversation Piece"
Marie Howe "After the Movie"
Weldon Kees "Crime Club"
Ravi Shankar "Killers in Letters"
Michael Waters "Morpho"
John Whitworth "These Boys"
John Whitworth "The Pure Essence"
James Wright "At the Executed Murderer's Grave"
Index of Authors
Acknowledgments
Foreword
ALL IN THE FAMILY
Simon Armitage “Gooseberry Season”
Gregory Djanikian “Abel”
Rigoberto Gonzalez “Your Darling Matricide”
Margherita Guidacci “Cain and Abel (I)”
Kaci Hamilton “Mother”
Thomas Hardy “Her Second Husband Hears Her Story”
Jan Heller Levi “Fall River Historical Museum”
John Masefield from “Lollingdon Downs”
Roger Mcgough “Fart”
Donna Reis Sempronia
Vernon Scannell “A Case of Murder”
Ruth Sharman “Knife”
Ruth Whitman “The Passion of Lizzie Borden”
MURDER BALLADS
Anonymous “The Cruel Brother”
Anonymous “The Cruel Miller”
Anonymous “The Cruel Mother”
Anonymous “The Twa Sisters”
Anonymous “Frankie and Albert”
Anonymous “Pearl Bryan”
Anonymous “Stackalee”
Charles Causley “The Ballad of Charlotte Dymond”
Megan Levad “American Murderer”
Estha Weiner “The Talk of the County”
VERS NOIR
Tony Barnstone “The Chop Shop”
Tony Barnstone “The Lover”
Lynn Emanuel “The Murder Writer”
Richard Garcia “Naked City”
Andrey Gritsman “Found Poem Found No Answers”
Randall Horton “In Front of 1425 T Street”
Suzanne Lummis “Double Indemnity/The Second Shot”
Lawrence Raab “The Assassin’s Fatal Error”
Thom Ward “Actually, However”
Phillip B. Williams Tequila”
Baron Wormser “Chinatown”
THE MIND OF THE MURDERER
Ryan Black “When the World’s on Fire”
Robert Browning “The Laboratory”
Christopher Davis “The Murderer”
Cornelius Eady “Birthing”
Thomas Hood “The Dream of Eugene Aram”
Mary E. Moore “You Know Who You Are”
Kenneth Patchen “The Murder of Two Men by a Young Kid Wearing
Lemon-Colored Gloves”
Stevie Smith “The Murderer”
David Starkey “The Murder Suspect, Moments Before He Is Confronted
by Police”
J. J. Steinfeld “The Assassin’s Morning”
Gail White “Black Widow”
PSYCHO KILLERS
Ai “The Good Shepherd: Atlanta 1981”
W. H. Auden “Victor”
Melissa Balmain “Facebook Psycho”
Frank Bidart “Herbert White”
Robert Browning “Porphyria’s Lover”
Carol Ann Duffy “Psychopath”
Thom Gunn “Hitch-Hiker”
Kimiko Hahn “All Told”
Kimiko Hahn “Road Kill”
Francine J. Harris “In Rostov, the Butcher”
Susan Kelly “Whitechapel Nights”
Virginia Slachman “Kabuki”
Patricia Smith “Speculation”
Kevin Vaughn “April 25, 2009”
John Whitworth “Blood Ties”
VICTIMS
William Cullen Bryant “The Murdered Traveller”
Hayan Charara “On the Murder of an Ice Cream Man”
Martha Collins from “Blue Front”
Philip Dacey “With or Without Milk”
W. H. Davies “The Inquest”
Toi Derricotte “On the Turning Up of Unidentified Black Female
Corpses”
Mark Doty “Charlie Howard’s Descent”
Melissa Fadul “Lord of Crows”
Leon Gellert “Blue-beard’s First Wife”
Richard Jones “Desire”
Edgar Lee Masters “Amanda Barker”
Elise Paschen “Wi’-gi-e”
Maria Terrone “The Slain Wife of the Lighthouse Keeper Speaks”
Caitlin Elizabeth Thomson “Denise Naslund”
Caitlin Elizabeth Thomson, “Eleanor Rose Naslund”
Charles Harper Webb “The Sound that Wakes Me at Night, Thinking of
It”
MEDITATIONS ON MURDER
Miles A. Coon “Studying”
Wyn Cooper “Conversation Piece”
Marie Howe “After the Movie”
Weldon Kees “Crime Club”
Ravi Shankar “Killers in Letters”
Michael Waters “Morpho”
John Whitworth “These Boys”
John Whitworth “The Pure Essence”
James Wright “At the Executed Murderer’s Grave”
Index of Authors
Acknowledgments
Harold Schechter is a professor of American literature and culture
at Queens College, CUNY, and the author of mystery novels featuring
Edgar Allan Poe. He lives in New York City.
Kurt Brown is the author of four books of poetry and the editor of
numerous anthologies. He lives in Santa Barbara, California.
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