The Blood Dark Sea Combines Outlaw and Outsider Poetry

Dennis Gulling writes a new kind of Outlaw Poetry. A poetry that combines elements of outlaw and Outsider poetry. Anti-authority, and outside the canons of the academy, but also not willing to adhere to the cliched rules of much outlaw writing, Gulling forges a third path that is unique and original in a genre not known for originality. Here are some poems from Gulling's first full-length book, The Blood Dark Sea, released by Zombie Logic Press in May.

SERIAL KILLER

He’d slice

The ears off each victim

And nail them

To the wall

Above his bed

So they could hear

His dreams talk

KISS

Her kiss

Was a red knife

In my dreams

            Illustration By Jenny Mathews of Rockford Illustrating

BURTON

Burton was standing

In front of the tv

Drinking JD

When the bullet came

Through the window

Loretta spun around

When she heard

The bottle hit the floor

He went down

Like a rock

In front of the sofa

Died sitting upright

His useless eyes

Watching a woman on tv

Scream at something unseen

Her lips were moist & red

Her teeth white as bone

                          Tiny Drawing By Jenny Mathews 

THOMPSON

The night Thompson’s 3rd wife

Left him she snapped his head

Back with a table lamp

That left two long scars

On his right cheek

They curved around each other

And looked like a pair

Of shiny lavender lips

A ghost mouth that only speaks

To the night according to him

Sometimes

When he’s drunk enough

He’ll put lipstick on it

And call it the kiss of death

PALMER

Palmer’s wife

Put three bullets in him

But he managed

To walk down the alley

To Delgado’s place

He fell through the screen door

Into the kitchen where

Delgado was stirring something

On the stove

He curled up in a little ball

While Delgado screamed

And went pale

He called 911

And put Palmer’s head in his lap

And held a flask to his lips

Palmer tasted good whiskey

On his tongue

And he could hear sirens in the distance

He smiled a little

Coughed

And what was left of his life

Leaked away

On the floor

MANNY BLACK

Two days after

Manny Black testified

Against Mike O’Brien

For the Tandino shooting

Somebody unloaded

A shotgun into his guts

While he was walking

To his car behind

The Silver Dollar Pancake House

When Charlene

The night cook

Got to him

He was trying

To push in all the stuff

Coming out between his fingers

     These poems illustrate how deftly pulls off the almost impossible task of observing others without becoming implicated in their scenarios. There is no judgement in these poems. Sure, bad things are happening, but Gulling takes a steady approach to his descriptions, and always delivers a trademark twist of humor at the end. Shit happens, might as well make a poem out of it. The Blood Dark Sea is now available at Rockford poetry publisher Zombie Logic Press. It is part of editor Thomas L. Vaultonburg's Rock River Literary Series, an attempt to publish the best writers in Rockford and give their books a national spotlight.