Ryan Eckes Offers Another Vision for America

At Fanzine, Gina Myers reviews Philadelphia poet Ryan Eckes's third poetry collection, General Motors (Split Lip Press, 2018).  "Eckes offers another vision for America–a glimpse at how different things could be if people were to recognize their collective power and reclaim public spaces," writes Myers.  More:

Despite the title calling to mind Detroit and other former auto factory cities, General Motors is all about Philadelphia, where the author was born and where he continues to live. Philadelphia locales are name-dropped, from Old City to McGlinchey’s to the Boulevard. The heart of the collection, “spurs,” is made up of a series of poem-essays that discuss the development of Philadelphia’s transit system, including how racism and corporations, like General Motors, shaped it, and how Eckes’ own family history is wrapped up in it. One of the most moving poem-essays in the book, “Passyunk spur,” discusses South Philadelphia, its history and gentrification, while also exploring the speaker’s own failed relationships. Eckes writes, “Before the wildlife was ‘preserved,’ of course, all of South Philly was wild. Weccacoe, it was called by the Lenape. That’s supposed to mean ‘peaceful place.’” After discussing the predatory nature of the Philadelphia Parking Authority (PPA) and OCF Realty, who is responsible for much of South Philadelphia’s gentrification, he writes, “Every word is a spur, an outgrowth, a departure. Language, like the city, is wild, even while it inhibits our freedom, our ability to make peace. I think Weccacoe now means this: to make poor, or to systematically fuck the poor.”  

There is a lot of fight in this book, which again speaks to the pursuit of desire: the desire for a better, more just world...

Find the full review here.