Mr. West (6 page)

“A Day at the Mall Reminds Me of America”: See my two sisters. See my youngest. She's Chinese, adopted. I was 13 when my mother went to China and brought her home. See her like a daughter.

“Taylor Doesn't Speak Out Against Racism”: See comments made at concerts.

“It's Hard Not to Be Moved”: See the definition of fearsome: frightening, especially in appearance.

“My Summer with Kanye”: See the blog post, “A Preview of Kanye West's ‘Power': ‘Apocalyptic in a Very Personal Way,' ” at the
New York Times
ArtsBeat.

“My Summer with Kanye”: See comments made on the radio.

“Watching Weeks”: See West's music video for “Can't Tell Me Nothing” and the music video Zach Galifianakis made for the same song, and discuss form vs. content. If I could include videos in this book, I would.

“I Try Not to See Myself as a Mother Figure”: See Aziz Ansari's stand up about meeting West and hanging out with him and Jay-Z: “Jay-Z was drinking vodka he
makes
. How baller is that? Jay-Z's on the tab, and the money went back into his own pocket.”

“Suge Knight”: See Suge Knight lose the case.

“God's Face over Gold”: See West's musical performances on the episode of
Saturday Night Live
that aired on October 3, 2010.

“Twilight: Starring Kanye”: See sestina. See line two of the chorus of West's “Monster.” See Nicki Minaj have one of the best verses in hip hop's history.

“Hybrid”: See the February 2006 Rolling Stone's cover. See West's BET performance of “Power.” See West's “Runaway.”

“Gaze”: See Catie Rosemurgy's “Variorum” from her book,
The Stranger Manual
.

“Gaze”: See my father-in-law, born before the end of World War II. See his mother, choosing to get pregnant and bring a Jewish child into this world at a time when Jews were being killed by the millions. See, I imagine, an incredible amount of faith in herself as a mother, in her ability to provide. See how she was right. See how that's incredible. If she hadn't, I wouldn't have my husband or my son.

“Teeth”: See Blue Ivy Carter, daughter of Jay-Z and Beyoncé.

“Kanye Is Glamorous”: See Barack Obama calling West a jackass in 2009, and affirming his statement in 2012. See West's response in a 2010
XXL
interview, “He was trying to pass the healthcare bill. And if he said that to relate to the
room or lighten the room up and the whole mood, then I'd be more than happy to be the butt of all of his jokes if it in some way helps his overall mission.”

“Kanye Raps, ‘
  
' ”: See line three of verse two of West's “Way Too Cold.”

“Kanye Raps, ‘
  
' ”: See Evan McGarvey, who first said West was Paris.

“Kanye Raps, ‘
  
' ”: See North (Nori) West, baby girl of Kardashian and West, born June 15, 2013. See Kardashian and West married on May 24, 2014.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Sincere thanks to the editors of the following journals, who published many of these poems, often in earlier versions:

At Length:
“After Donda Died, Kanye Dated Amber,” “Kanye as a Quantum Particle Yet to Be Observed,” “It's Hard Not to Be Moved,” “Because Kanye Isn't King Kong or Emmett Till or a N****,” “Jesus Walks,” “I Want a House to Raise My Son In,” “Dear Donda,” “Runaway”

The Awl:
“Ha Ha Hum,” “Heartbreak,” “Kanye's Circulatory System,” “Seeing Kanye”

Barrelhouse:
“Twilight: Starring Kanye,” “Teeth,” “Kanye Raps,
  
,' Part 1,” “Kanye Raps, ‘
  
,' Part 2”

Boston Review:
“A Day at the Mall Reminds Me of America,” “Three Months, to the Day, Before Taylor Turns Twenty, but Kanye,” “‘Runaway' Premieres in Los Angeles on October 18, 2010,” “I Try Not to See Myself as a Mother Figure,” “Suge Knight,” “Kanye Is Glamorous,” “Adventures”

Drunken Boat:
“Kanye's Skeletal System,” “My Summer with Kanye”

Fleeting Magazine:
“The Week Kanye Joined Twitter”

#GOODLitSwerveAutumn: An Anthology of Independent Literature About Kanye
West
: “Con Moto,” “In Song,” “On November 10th, 2007, Donda West Died,” “God's Face Over Gold”

JERRY
: “Hate Is for Hitler,” “I No Longer Have to Look Up Dates Like Your Birthday, June 8, 1977,” “Hybrid”

Juked:
“Kanye's Digestive System”

MiPOesias:
“Like the Poems Do”

The Musehouse Journal:
“Watching Weeks,” “Taylor Doesn't Speak Out Against Racism”

The Northville Review:
“Aftermath”

Sentence:
“Dear Kanye”

Witness:
“God Created Night and It Was Night,” “The Fallible Face,” “So Kanye Transformed Himself, Producer to Superstar”

“A Day at the Mall Reminds Me of America” was developed as a short film at
motionpoems.com
.

Thank you to my husband, Noah, and my son, Aaron. Thank you to Kanye and Donda West. Thank you to Judy Michaels, Tom Quigley, Cathy Day, Tom Cable, Brian Bremen, Bruce Snider, and Marie Howe. And so thank you to Princeton Day School, The College of New Jersey, The University of Texas at Austin, and the Michener Center for Writers where I met these wonderful teachers.

Thank you to Todd Davis and Julia Kasdorf. If it hadn't been for Todd's support at the very start, who knows if I would've continued. If it weren't for Julia, this book wouldn't ask for or give or risk or trust nearly as much. And so thank you to The Pennsylvania State University where I met them.

Thank you to my friends—Lynne Beckenstein, Linda Gallant, and Rachel Mennies. Thank you to all the fans of Kanye West I've met along the way, especially my friend EJ Koh. Thank you to my husband's family. Thank you Mom, Dad, Nick, Victoria, and Bian. And Pop Pop, who I miss dearly.

Thank you to Wesleyan University Press and Suzanna Tamminen for believing in this book as a book. And special thanks to the National Endowment for the Arts.

Thank you, too, to Josiah Meekins, Sarah Yake, Evan McGarvey, Bronwyn Becker, Sheila Squillante, Geffrey Davis, Natalie Eilbert, Daniel Story, Kimberly Andrews, Lauren Tyrrell, Aaron Kimmel, Sarah RudeWalker, Alyse Bensel, Emily Anderson, Robin Becker, Elizabeth Kadetsky, Toni Jensen, and many others.

For everything, just everything, thank you to Catie Rosemurgy.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

sarah blake
received her MFA in creative writing from the Pennsylvania State University in 2011 and her MA in creative writing from the University of Texas at Austin in 2008. She is a recipient of a 2013 NEA Literature Fellowship. She lives near Philadelphia with her husband and son. An online reader's companion is available at
sarahblake.site.wesleyan.edu
.