Blue Lipstick: Concrete Poems by John Grandits - Poetic Form

Bibliography

Grandits, John. 2007. BLUE LIPSTICK: CONCRETE POEMS. New York: Clarion Books. ISBN 978-0618568604.

Review and Critical Analysis

            BLUE LIPSTICK: CONCRETE POEMS by John Grandits is a book of thirty four concrete poems, written in various shapes that reflect the title and subject matter. The narrator of all but one of these poems is Jessie, a high school girl. The poems express her views on life, school and family. Grandits provides a Table of Contents, however it is located on the back cover of the book. He also provides a Note From the Author entitled POCKET POEM, about the benefits of always carrying a poem with you. Finally, Grandits includes a list of all of the typefaces he used throughout the book along with information about the illustrations. All of Grandits' drawings were done with a Bristol China Marker and edited in Adobe Photoshop.

            Grandits only employs rhyme in one of his poems ZOMBIE JOCKS. This poem consists of four stanzas that are four lines each. The words at the ends of the lines in each stanza rhyme. In the first, second and fourth stanzas the words are the same, 'trophy' in stanzas one and four and '‘em' in stanza two. In the third stanza the first and second lines rhyme with each other, as do the third and fourth. The poems language is exactly like a zombie would talk, in a mindless, trance-like fashion. This is also the only poem in the book that is not narrated by Jessie and is not a direct account of her life in any way. The illustration accompanying the poem also reflects its tone. It is of a black figure meant to represent a zombie, with eyes in blue made up of the word trophy. This reinforces the only singular thought on the jocks minds, winning a trophy.

          Many of Grandits’ poems have a narrative style to them, and are written not only in everyday rather than poetic language, but also in typical conversational language used by teenagers. This use of language is exemplified in ALL MY IMPORTANT THINKING GETS DONE IN THE SHOWER. In this poem Grandits employs the stream of consciousness writing technique as Jessie remarks on various ideas that occur to her as she is in the shower. Two lines in particular are a reflection of Grandits’ writing style, “College! College! College!...Enough about college. I wonder if there’s an art school that teaches you how to do tattooing and piercing.” and “Mom’s tossing the laundry-room curtains because Robert got bleach on them. They would make a totally cool skirt” represent typical teenage idioms and thoughts. The stream of consciousness style is also echoed in the shape of the poem itself, the words are written in blue and meant to represent water streaming out of a shower head. The poem reads as if Jessie was sitting next to the reader and talking to them as she would talk to a friend. This realism adds to the overall tone of the poems, and makes them more relevant to young readers.

Teens will see many familiar themes in this book such as friendship, having a crush, and annoying yet loving family members. Jessie provides an authentic voice as she discusses the trials and rewards of life as a teenager. MY ABSOLUTELY BAD CRANKY DAY showcases twenty six, one for each letter of the alphabet, problems Jessie encounters in a single day. Among them are, having to do homework for three classes, being forced to do fifty jumping jacks for complaining in PE and dealing with a younger immature brother, Robert. The poem also provides a timeline at the top of the page showing the hours in the day and when each event occurred. In contrast, TATTOO AND TONGUE STUD is a humorous account of how Jessie puts on a fake tattoo and tongue stud to provoke her younger brother into telling on her. Right before he returns with their parents Jessie has removed both items, and is claiming she has no idea what her brother is talking about. The poems in this book present a range of emotions from happiness, to frustration to angst.

Young girls will relate to what Jessie has to say, however I do not believe that everyone will put in the effort to read it. Yes, the book is meant to be poetry in different shapes; however it is difficult to actually read many of them. In one poem alone, MONDRIAN, the reader is forced to turn the book in four different directions just to read all the words. Another, GO LOOK IN THE MIRROR!, has a large section of the poem written in reverse writing so the reader is forced to actually hold it up to a mirror to read it. VOLLEYBALL PRACTICE has words written in angles, upside down and sideways. Certain poems are written in an easily readable way, however most are very tangential. Readers may get discouraged in having to work their way through oddly shaped poems to actually reach the ones that are easily readable. This may cause many to abandon the book before finishing it. Poetry is generally not a popular genre among teenagers, and literacy is a problem among young people, BLUE LIPSTICK is not necessarily a book that will result in a teenager embracing the genre of poetry. I do not believe Grandits is reaching his intended audience of high school age readers. Teenagers are more adult today than they were 10 years ago.  In today’s world BLUE LIPSTICK would appeal to middle-schoolers. They might find it fun to read upside down and backwards. I would recommend this book for young people no older than 13.

Poem Used to Support Critical Analysis and Follow Up Activity

From BAD HAIR DAY

By John Grandits

Lisa had this cool idea to do my hair a totally extreme way.

I said, “Let’s go for it.” So after school we went to the drugstore and

bought some hair bleach and some blue dye that was even on sale.

First, we stripped out my natural color with the bleach,

which made me look ancient-like I’d turned into my grandmother. That was so

scary, we put the blue dye on right away. Then something went really wrong. One side

of my hair was all limp and pale, and the other side was blue. Lisa started crying. “I’m soooo

sorry,”she said. “Do you want to borrow some scarves to wear to school?” I sent her home.

School? I couldn’t go to school. I’d be totally humiliated. My life was ruined!

          Grandits' poem BAD HAIR DAY effectively employs the conversational style of speaking that is unique to teenagers. By Jessie using words like ‘totally’ and ‘cool’ and overdramatizing when she discusses her life young readers will have no problem relating to the subject matter. This conversational style is used by Grandits throughout most of this book. However, this poem is another example of the difficulties of reading Grandits’ work. The lines themselves are all written in such a way that the reader must hold the book sideways. Then, to reflect badly dyed hair, halfway through the poem the writing becomes jagged and turns in many different directions, again forcing the reader to continually turn the book or hold it at odd angles.

          For the follow up activity to this poem I would provide construction paper and ask the students to think of something that happened to them personally that they originally thought was a good idea, but that turned out badly. Then, on an individual basis, I would have them construct a shape that represented their memories using the construction paper and various art tools. On that shape I would have the students write a poem that represented their thoughts. When done, they would read the poems aloud and explain why they chose the shape they did and how it helped to express the poem.