Hallelujah, I’m a Bum
Callie Garnett
Tallulah Pomeroy, Illustrator
September 2015
Last night I dreamt again of ad Santa
His blonde locks tumbled from the hat like fake chest hair
Around him we stood ourselves
In loose arousal
rnWe probably will have to raft.
...a fairytale catnap of “loose arousal” in a field where the bums are always winning.
Alli Warren
Hallelujah, I’m a Bum is an old rag bearing new news. Taking its title from Al Jolson’s Depression-era musical about a “happy hobo” occupying Central Park, this collection sends his tin-pan patter clattering into wholly novel regions of our current evening.
About the Author
Callie Garnett is the author of the chapbooks Hallelujah, I’m a Bum (UDP) and On Knowingness (The Song Cave). Her poems have appeared in Prelude, Company, jubilat, and elsewhere. She works as an Assistant Editor at Bloomsbury Publishing and lives in Brooklyn.
Praise
When I was a kid, those around me used “bum” as hate speech, which was just one slur on a long and vicious list (I’m so bored with the U.S.A.). So I’m happy that Callie Garnett’s Hallelujah, I’m a Bum celebrates all manner of bumming (linguistic, logical) with these playful, surreal songs. Read this chapbook to take a fairytale catnap of “loose arousal” in a field where the bums are always winning.
Alli Warren
This is a seriously scrappy poem. Garnett's ear and humor and ear for humor delight and estrange-- she peals apart the whole bum thing then throws it right back at and on you. Hallelujah! "Heaven no more understand."
Rod Smith
About the Contributor
Tallulah Pomeroy is an illustrator from England. She interned at Ugly Duckling Presse, and then worked as Production Apprentice. Hallelujah I’m a Bum is her first illustrated book. See her drawings at tallulahpomeroy.co.uk or @tallulahpom.
Publication Details
Chapbook
Stapled pamphlet in vellum envelope. 32 pp, 6 x 9 in
Publication Date: September 01 2015
Distribution: Direct Only