Lady Killers

Elio Iannacci

In those days
we called each other lady
such a necessary nuisance 
—like larks in the street
calling south all the time
lay lay lady! so exasperating
preoccupied with 
squeezing the sun directly
into our tight tees
then, gritting our teeth
when the tall, lean giants came close
oozing all that daytime drama charm 
seconds of death snapped up
in one glassy glance
we’d lick the moment every time
breathe second class air
—and wait for it
the build-up for the breakdown
every goddam sickle
waving under the mirror ball

The Science

This poem was written on Fire Island in New York on the periphery of a LGBTQ+ nightclub blasting a DJ set of soulful House music. The lines of this poems were deeply influenced by the dopaminergic reward system this type of music produces and the extreme highs it produces once heard. The meter and cadence of this poem were written at 130 BPM (beats per minute) to a fairly fast bass pattern. The speed of the beats backgrounding the poem piloted the way my heart was beating, and my hand was writing, thus pushing the timbre of the poem. According to studies at McGill University, writing or creating in a highly syncopated environ — forging text, context, music, and literature — echoes what is called a 'build up and drop in' theory. This scientific-ethnomusicological hybrid theory suggests House music helps the production of intense and extreme emotions. This memory of my past life as a regular club goer emerged from what David Huron, Professor in the School of Music and in the Center for Cognitive and Brain Sciences at the Ohio State University, suggests are side effects of this music's anticipation. Huron's five response factor system involves imagination, tension, prediction, reaction and appraisal—which surrounds this short piece of verse.

The Poet

Elio Iannacci is an award-winning writer, Queer poet, and a long-time arts reporter for Maclean’s. He has written for more than 80 publications, contributing to periodicals such as The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, The National Post, The Hollywood Reporter and The Toronto Review of Books. Some of his most notable profiles include Sophia Loren, Barbra Streisand, Lady Gaga, Joni Mitchell and Beyoncé. The Writer's Trust of Canada recently asked Iannacci to be a juror for the Dayne Ogilvie Prize, a literary award dedicated to emerging LGBTQ+ authors.

Next poem: Log 1? Upon the surprise by Richard East