J Pascutazz’s Comments

In “Mother of All Water” I expand the notion of “nonbinary” as a gender queer identity term to include the notion that we as human beings cannot clearly distinguish ourselves from the natural world.

In “Brunch with the Gorgon” I take on the role of a hurricane/girlfriend breaking up with America.

“Magical Girl Transformation(s)” was inspired by the flamboyant processes by which anime superheroines transform into their magical selves. We are all Magical Girls.

I wrote “The White Vampires” after reading an article in Granta by Jeremy Narby, an anthropologist who lived with the Ashaninca tribe in the Amazon. The Ashaninca have developed an elaborate mythology around visitors from the white world, who they call pishtakos—or “white vampires.“ I was deeply moved by this characterization of our culture. It begs the question, though: In writing this poem am I the whitest vampire of all? You can read the article here: Confessions of a White Vampire.

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