This little collection arrived on my doorstep the other morning, to be perused at leisure, over strong coffee and a soundtrack of Jimmy Smith, which suits its vibes perfectly. Jason Disley’s latest book on Beatnpress is a pocket sized collection of modernist beat poetry entitled Pop Versus Subterranean, with an introduction from poet and artist Becky Nuttall. As Jason explains on his website, the underlying ethos of the collection is the relationship between popular and underground culture, that what is underground today could be popular tomorrow.
But it’s scope is so much wider than that. I’ve been delving into the book a lot over the last few days. The thirty poems here draw you in with their rhythms, take you on a journey with their imagery that conjure up a vision of modern living – pre covid and beyond – mixed with beat literary themes and references. There’s Pop art, jazz, culture, society and suburbia, with an underpinning of social conscience and morality – from the excesses of over-privilege, through Black Lives Matter and revolutions of the past, to reference to Les Zazous of forties Paris. Along with much more.
These are subjective descriptions of Pop art sensibility with, like the very best beat poetry, a turn of phrase, a shared viewpoint into the madness out there. There are those wonderful moments when experiences cross, when you know that you see the world the same way. “A dented tin on a shelf”, “raindrops pooling in my mind”, “peacocks leaving a trail of hypnotic eyes” are a few such instances. They are phrases that conjure up images, ones you won’t quickly forget.
The opening description dedicates the book to “those who are creative. The bohemians, the artists, the mavericks. The go getters and the dreamers. The stylish and the cool.” I would exhort any of the above to get a copy of Pop Versus Subterranean. It is an inspired collection.