Come See about Me, Marvin
An imagined personal exchange with Marvin Gaye, in verse, on life in Michigan.
come see about me, marvin is accessible, honest poetry about and for real people. In the collection, brian g. gilmore seeks to invite the reader into a fantastical dialogue between himself and Marvin Gaye--two black men who were born in the nation's capital, but who moved to the Midwest for professional ambitions. In trying to acclimate himself to a new job in a new place--a place that seemed so different from the home he had always known--gilmore often looked to Marvin Gaye as an example for how to be. These poems were derived as a means of coping in a strange land.
The book is divided into four sections, beginning with section one, "love that will shelter you," and features poems about dealing with life in Michigan as it is in reality. Sections two and three, "nowhere to hide" and "no ordinary pain," include poems about the brutality of the Midwest and some of the historical realities as gilmore came to understand them. The final section, "let your love come shining through," attempts to invoke hope in poetry.
come see about me, marvin is gilmore's answer to life's perplexing issues, with Marvin Gaye as the perfect vehicle to explore these ideals. Readers of poetry and lovers of Motown will embrace this love letter to a local legend.
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brian g. gilmore was born and raised in Washington D.C. He is the author of three previous collections of poetry, including We Didn't Know Any Gangsters, a 2014 NAACP Image Award Nominee. Both a Cave Canem Fellow and Kimbilio Fellow, he currently teaches social justice law at Michigan State University.
An impressive compendium of deftly crafted verse that is as memorably thoughtful and thought-provoking as it is reader engaging and inherently interesting, "come see about me, marvin" will prove to be an enduringly appreciated and valued addition to community and academic library Contemporary American Poetry collections.
-- "Midwest Book Review"In come see about me, marvin, poet gilmore's literary toolbox is on full display, offering a poetic soundtrack rooted in the African American vernacular tradition, paying homage to the many black writers that help shape the current landscape of contemporary poetry. Through the backdrop of Michigan's 'cold winter streets' and the beautifully written 'distant lover' series, influenced by Motown legend Marvin Gaye, the reader is escorted on a journey, exploring the social, political, and economic state of this country while pondering the epiphanous question asked by Gaye in 1971, as in: what's going on? Gilmore is very aware of the literary shoulders he stands on. Be prepared to be dazzled by a poet in full bloom.
--Randall Horton "poet and memoirist"
