justin.barrett lives in Salt Lake City with his wife. He is a chemist. His first book, i was a third grade genius..., was published by Bottle of Smoke Press in 2003 and was recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize. He is the editor of the poetry journal remark. and started Hemispherical Press with salvatore and Glenn W. Cooper. justin.barrett writes poetry.

JUSTIN'S INFLUENCES

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CHARLES BUKOWSKI

Click image to listen to audio clips of Bukowski reading and discussing his work on the Mindspring site; for biography and poetry by Bukowski on the Beat Page, click here or for related books and cd's on Amazon, click here

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GERALD LOCKLIN

Click image to read 'Four Old Beatniks in a Cadillac' - Dave Alvin's interview with Locklin; for Joy Thomas's comprehensive index to Locklin's works, click here or for books by Locklin on Amazon, click here

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e.e. cummings

Click image to read poetry by cummings and listen to audio clips of him reading his poetry on the Poetry Exhibits site; for an overview of cummings' life and poetry on the Modern American Poetry site, click here or for related books on Amazon, click here

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AYN RAND

Click image for a biography, chronology and bibliography of Rand on the All About Ayn Rand website; for the official website of the Ayn Rand Institute, the Center for the Advancement of Objectivism, click here or for related books on Amazon, click here

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HARRY CREWS

Click image to visit A Large and Startling Figure - the official Harry Crews website; for a Harry Crews quiz on the excellent Barcelona Review website, click here or for related books on Amazon, click here

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JUSTIN'S PREVIOUS PUBLICATIONS

PRINT

Nerve Cowboy, Chiron Review, Staplegun Press, Newsletter Inago, Joey and the Black Boots, Monkey Fist, Anthills, Umbriate, Pitchfork, The Blind Man's Rainbow, Fearless, Poesy, Prose Ax, Skyline, Lunatic Chameleon and Lead.

ONLINE

Thunder Sandwich, Poetry Midwest, TM Poetry, Open Wide, The James River Poetry Review, Zygote in my Coffee, Babel Magazine, Poetry Repair Shop, Ceteris Paribus, Megaera and Sunny Outside

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MORE POETRY BY JUSTIN

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'limited warranties' and 'making poetry bleed,', 'who we were', 'not Bukowski' and other poems, 'it's kind of link being a poet', 'five minutes i'll never get back', 'i was a third grade genius', 'Afterglow: for KT', 'new year's resolution' and other poems, 'who the hell i think i am', 'happiness is a warm gun', 'reach around', 'star search', 'where have you gone, Jack Kevorkian', 'the difference between a man and a woman, 'motivational speaker', 'my huge talent', 'depression', 'beer may kill braincells but so does getting bludgeoned with a 12-pound sledge', 'a failed attempt at flattery', 'Michael Jordan is a friend of mine', 'it's even better than Viagra', 'chinese takeout', 'ask hemingway' and 'anti-social psychopath'

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SELECTED POETRY
by Justin Barrett

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'after 3 bottles of wine'
by Justin Barrett

she tells me
that she's the kind
of girl who'll
try anything once
if she's drunk
enough.

but, when
i take off
my pants and
snuggle up to her
on the couch

she pushes me
away
saying,

"i'll never be
that drunk."

© Justin Barrett
Reproduced with permission

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'after the lull'
by Justin Barrett

after months of
growing apart, the
little insignificances
slowly accumulating
into a wall that
separated us,
we find each other
across the expanse
of our bed.

she searches for my
body, reacquainting herself
with my bends and
curves;
my scars and
ticklish spots.

i rediscover the
crook of her elbow, the
taut of her thigh,
the soft of
her cheek.

she giggles when i
breath on her
neck.

i exhale.


© Justin Barrett
Reproduced with permission

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'and i’m an alcoholic'
by Justin Barrett

my father has
said these words.

so has his father
and each one of
his five brothers.

on my mother’s side,
her two brothers
and father have
said these words
as well.

odds are one
or two members of
your own family
has said these words and
there’s even a
pretty good chance
that you have
said them
yourself
in the past.

but i will never
say these words,

and not for lack
of need or
humility,

but because after watching
the lives of all
of my rehabilitated
relatives become
nothing more than a
strict regiment
of painful maintenance

i’ve come to the
realization that it
is far better
to admit
defeat
and open a beer

than to wither
away in a
sober
wasteland.


© Justin Barrett
Reproduced with permission

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'PRIORITIES'
by Justin Barrett

while i lie in bed,
unable to sleep,
worrying about money
because my boss
off-handedly turned
down my request
for a raise again,
worrying about
keeping the creditors
at bay for just
one more week,
worrying about not being
able to make rent
on time for
the eighth month
in a row;

my uncle lies in bed,
2500 miles away,
unable to sleep,
worrying about the
inevitable as his body
is being eaten by cancer
one cell at a time,
worrying that he
hasn’t told his wife
and kids that he
loves them as often
as they deserve,
worrying that he
won’t see the birth of
his grandchild three
short months away.

and
my insomnia
seems so foolish.


© Justin Barrett
Reproduced with permission

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'definitive proof i’ve finally become my father'
by Justin Barrett

i actually
bought a Playboy
yesterday
just for
the articles.


© Justin Barrett
Reproduced with permission

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'it can buy drugs, alcohol and pay-per-view boxing, as well'
by Justin Barrett

i’ve heard the saying
that money can’t
buy happiness

but it can buy
sex

and being a
typical male

that’s plenty
enough for me


© Justin Barrett
Reproduced with permission

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'everybody's a critic'
by Justin Barrett

for years my wife has asked me
why i have to write
so much;
why i feel compelled to
get my words down.

i always gave her the
basic writerly platitudes of
"i write because i have to" or
"i write because i have something to say" or
the all-time great nugget
"i write to soothe my soul."

the other day, after she
was fed up with me spending
hours in front of the computer, after
she pleaded for me to take a break,
she asked me again,
"why must you spend every
free hour in front of that
goddamn computer?"

i told her that what i am
doing is nothing more complicated
than writing the
best poems i can, because
when i die they will be all
she'll have left of me.

without skipping a beat, my
wife said, "okay, then,
i'll let you get back because,
after reading the last few
you wrote, you have your
work cut out for you."


© Matt Smith
Reproduced with permission

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