I kept seeing reproductions of guns . In artwork , in art world merchandise , in pop culture ” says Ray . Poet Cathy Park Hong encouraged her form experiment , noting how the parenthesis around words and phrases made them look like the gun ’ s bullets .
In the pistol poem “( customs , motherfuckers ),” the encounter between a border control agent and the female persona of the poem is fraught with all that can go wrong when we ’ re questioned by agents of the state : “( holding my passport ) ( the officer says nice ) ( nice like a gunshow ).” This man can keep her out of her own country if he chooses . This man can detain her . There ’ s a question of the “( contraband crackers )” in her bag , but this doesn ’ t concern him . He ’ s commenting on her picture , as if he has the right . He ’ s commenting on her child , “( must be
he looks like Daddy ),” and then makes an aside “( in DC , huh ) ( is he a politician )” that can be snide while probing to see if there ’ s a more powerful man who ’ ll retaliate . He can take these liberties because he holds not just her passport but the power in that moment . His border control is border aggression .
We ’ ve all grown up fearing the aggressive stranger . But too many of us know the pain of family violence . In Ray ’ s pistol poem “( when u broke the protective order ),” we feel her anxiety when “( my x moved to the nabe ) ( from 3 states away )” and her helpless rage when “( the detective in my living rm . says ) ( it ’ s a free country )” then tells her she should get her locks changed . How her ex shows up at her regular haunts . He ’ s a ghost now . A promise of violence .
© Montana Ray , 2015 . Courtesy of the artist .
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