Harlot

by Jill Alexander Essbaum

Few poets' roots go deeper than the Romantics; Jill Alexander Essbaum's reach all the way to the Elizabethans. In her Harlot one hears Herbert and Wyatt and Donne, their parallax view of religion as sex and sex as religion, their delight in sin, their smirking penitence, their penchant for the conceit, their riddles and fables, their fondling and squeezing of language. But this "postulant in the Church of the Kiss" is a twenty-first century woman, a "strange woman" less bowed to confession than hell-bent on fairly bragging of threesomes and more complications than were wet-dreamt of in Mr. W. H.'s philosophy. - H. L. Hix

Genres: Poetry

88 pages, Poetry

First published October 10, 2007

Reviews

[Jessica Piazza · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book ever.

[Rusty · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a book--it's alive on my tongue.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Harlot by Jill Alexander Essbaum - No Tell Books/ 978-0-6151-6131-0 / 84pps /

Harlot... What divine connotations just the sound of it evokes. Evoke - to call forth. And with a rapacious appetite for the illicit and sublime, Essbaum calls forth, “so adamant, so Jezebel” an estrus unyielding. An orgy of verse, glistening with “Covens/of bedroom men” and genital cannibalism. These poems ooze. Giving an almost saintliness to her persona, much in the vein of Elizabeth Cunningham’s “The Passion of Mary Magdalen”, a Holy Whore, she worships the flesh as a Rastafarian would his ganja. The not so subtle references to Biblical verses, the constant religious innuendoes, the perpetual calls of glory, sacrificing all for the holy “O,” she’s a rambunctious frolic of endless experimentation. Giving and taking with zeal “I was invited to your torture and I went” - as if checking into the “Hotel California,” but she doesn’t want to leave.
With adept usage of graphic metaphor, she shares “How the cloister/of her thighs wept liturgies” in “The Assignation” and then woes “When I’m pissed on want for lack of wine” in “Lament”
A playful juxtaposition of the him & him’s humors us with “The Men We Marry, the Men We Fuck”

This one wed me in the chapel,
That one ate me like an apple,

In the title poem, “Harlot/(a definition)” it is bodaciously explained that “She’s the fiction invented for your arousal,/The serpent you take up and the poison you suckle,/A frivolous income at your disposal” & “The she-wolf with your crotch in her jaw” OW!
Her wanton addition is evident in such poems as “The Ellipses We Consist Of” where “The presence of your absence swells the bowls of my hips.” and in “De Profundis” where “I draw closed like the curtain in your absence/I torch the sugar, I swill the absinthe” and then giving in to her own damnation, “for what the devil claims, he rarely abandons.” The loving and the leaving is, of course, bittersweet, as in “Surely Come the Days” as “I sort/our photos into stacks of yes and no, no, no.”
The lust is fated and insatiable, honest and adamant. But what else would one expect from a self-proclaimed “Postulant in the Church of the Kiss”...
?

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jill Alexander Essbaum's Harlot is a masterpiece from the first poem. The way she plays with language in this collection—*chef's kiss* This poetry is throbbing with life. I devoured these poems in one sitting, unable to put it down even as I kept telling myself I'd read just one more. I hadn't really done this with a poetry collection since Gabriela Mistral's Madwomen: Poems of Gabriela Mistral.

Many of the poems in Harlot explore affairs. There is a theme of comparison, husband vs. lover, etc. Sadness, desperation, subterfuge, and sexual encounters appear throughout. The other running theme is Christianity, and the Biblical references are on point. Essbaum is the maestra of marrying sex and religion in literature.

There's a 16th/17th century sensibility and quality to the writing. Archaic words and use of language are incorporated so well. The poems flow beautifully. When there is rhyming the rhyming is great. Harlot possesses a wonderful rhythm. Visceral imagery brings the poetry to life. Most of these poems demand to be reread right away. After you first read them, they make you race back to the beginning to rediscover each poem. These are poems to be savored, to linger over.

Harlot is full of excellent figurative language and imagery. Essbaum pairs different metaphors together so well. If you enjoy clever play on words, this one's for you. She interrogates language: "This is no consolation, as laughter's but an ess away from slaughter." The poem "Riddles" is sharp & funny, rich in wordplay, hilariously blasphemous, and makes the best use of homophones. In "Poem," Essbaum brilliantly captures the moments in between. Each line in this poem starts with "After" and goes on to say what it comes before. The titular poem is a tour de force. I thought it was cool this volume contains a poem called "Judas Hausfrau," a precursor to Essbaum's brilliant debut novel Hausfrau. (If you love this book, you'll love that.) Some of the shortest and simplest poems in this book have the most impact and speak volumes, like "The Heart." It's almost a haiku and the title itself tells so much of the poem. "The Nothing That's Left" had me thinking, my God, what an ending. It's bleak, sad, depressing—and fabulous.

Harlot is by turns playful and passionate and it's often both at the same time. It's nice to see a poet who can have fun while exploring serious themes. This sexy meditation on lust is a delicious read. Jill Alexander Essbaum has a very unique voice and style. Her mastery of language puts her a cut above the rest.

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is no one that turns a phrase, or gets inside your head the way this poet does. You'll feel dirty and elated, guilty and freed after reading Harlot. She explores what it means to be spiritual and human in all its nitty gritty glory, from lust to heartbreak and everything in between. Buy several copies, because you'll want to hand it to everyone you know, but keep your copy because you'll want to revisit it often.

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of poems, both formal and free form, will take you on a journey into the romantic and sometimes taboo realm of eroticism written from a christian's viewpoint.

When asked if the lover is a mere mortal, or if this is a spiritual symbol, the poet Jill answers "Why do we have to choose?"

[Jerrod]

Filthy, elegant and provocative. It will make you a more eloquent pervert. And in Essbaum's universe, which I think we all visit, if not live in, that is surely a good thing

[Kent Winward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Word play.
Sex and religion.
Made me want to go back and read Psalms and Proverbs . . .

[Frankie · Rating 1 out of 5]

It seems I’m the only one here that hated this. There were some good lines, but they were far and few between. The rest was artsy for arts-sake; nothing hard hitting or of value.

[Hillary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Underwhelmed.

[Christina]

If Amazon ever ships the copy I ordered, I will get to read this. Ordered it 5 weeks ago, grrr.