Let’s workshop this poem about a natural but revolting incident on an urban subway, an incident that commuters ignore for selfish reasons: olfactory discomfort outweighing even fear of seeming racist.
"Action Jackson" is an extraordinarily visceral and profoundly disturbing poem that plunges the reader into a tableau of urban decay, extreme human transgression, and the unsettling dynamics of public reaction. It functions as a transgressive social commentary, not merely presenting a scene, but interrogating the complex interplay of human depravity, immediate sensory repulsion, and the pervasive anxieties that shape social interaction within confined spaces. The poem's confrontational power stems from its unsparing detail and its willingness to expose the raw, often unacknowledged, undercurrents of urban life.
Formally, the poem's concision is central to its impact; with short, clipped lines and strategic enjambment, it builds an almost unbearable tension. The title, "Action Jackson," initially creates a jarring ironic dissonance, brutally subverted by the horrifying inertia of the scene. The opening lines, "He humps the hobo corpse / on the subway, natural as a bunny—," are designed for maximum shock, the comparison to a "bunny" unsettlingly normalizing a grotesque act. The poem meticulously details the perpetrator's actions, emphasizing a perverse, almost clinical, engagement: "he hooks the leg / to ogle every in and out." The chilling interjection, "Sshh," not only signifies a desire for quiet but also implicates the perpetrator in a twisted intimacy with both his victim and the encroaching public, a demand for their complicit silence.
The thematic core resides in the reactions of the "fresh boarders." The poem powerfully illustrates the immediate, visceral human response to such a scene: the passengers' desire to move into "cars / free of clobbered-colon stank" directly demonstrates that avoiding overwhelming olfactory discomfort is the overriding, primary motivation for their immediate physical movement. While they also possess an "aversion to looking racist," the poem explicitly shows them actively "push[ing] past" this social anxiety. This indicates that their impulse to escape the repulsive sensory experience unequivocally trumps their concern about how they might appear socially. They choose to prioritize immediate physical relief, offering "excuses" as a secondary coping mechanism, rather than engaging with the horrifying act or remaining in the uncomfortable presence.
This reveals a bleak commentary on the urban condition: a space where extreme acts can occur openly, and where individuals, even when confronted with the unthinkable, may navigate their escape by prioritizing their most immediate, basic physical needs, rationalizing their non-intervention through social anxieties. "Action Jackson" is ultimately a stark, unflinching mirror held up to the dark, often ignored, underbelly of human behavior and societal dysfunction.
necrophilia, transgressive poetry, social commentary, urban decay, moral ambiguity, bystander effect, public reaction, taboo, social anxiety, olfactory discomfort, sensory revulsion, dehumanization, violence, grotesque, human behavior, prioritization of motives.
"Action Jackson" is an extraordinarily visceral and profoundly disturbing poem that plunges the reader into a tableau of urban decay, extreme human transgression, and the unsettling dynamics of public reaction. It functions as a transgressive social commentary, not merely presenting a scene, but interrogating the complex interplay of human depravity, immediate sensory repulsion, and the pervasive anxieties that shape social interaction within confined spaces. The poem's confrontational power stems from its unsparing detail and its willingness to expose the raw, often unacknowledged, undercurrents of urban life.
Formally, the poem's concision is central to its impact; with short, clipped lines and strategic enjambment, it builds an almost unbearable tension. The title, "Action Jackson," initially creates a jarring ironic dissonance, brutally subverted by the horrifying inertia of the scene. The opening lines, "He humps the hobo corpse / on the subway, natural as a bunny—," are designed for maximum shock, the comparison to a "bunny" unsettlingly normalizing a grotesque act. The poem meticulously details the perpetrator's actions, emphasizing a perverse, almost clinical, engagement: "he hooks the leg / to ogle every in and out." The chilling interjection, "Sshh," not only signifies a desire for quiet but also implicates the perpetrator in a twisted intimacy with both his victim and the encroaching public, a demand for their complicit silence.
The thematic core resides in the reactions of the "fresh boarders." The poem powerfully illustrates the immediate, visceral human response to such a scene: the passengers' desire to move into "cars / free of clobbered-colon stank" directly demonstrates that avoiding overwhelming olfactory discomfort is the overriding, primary motivation for their immediate physical movement. While they also possess an "aversion to looking racist," the poem explicitly shows them actively "push[ing] past" this social anxiety. This indicates that their impulse to escape the repulsive sensory experience unequivocally trumps their concern about how they might appear socially. They choose to prioritize immediate physical relief, offering "excuses" as a secondary coping mechanism, rather than engaging with the horrifying act or remaining in the uncomfortable presence.
This reveals a bleak commentary on the urban condition: a space where extreme acts can occur openly, and where individuals, even when confronted with the unthinkable, may navigate their escape by prioritizing their most immediate, basic physical needs, rationalizing their non-intervention through social anxieties. "Action Jackson" is ultimately a stark, unflinching mirror held up to the dark, often ignored, underbelly of human behavior and societal dysfunction.
necrophilia, transgressive poetry, social commentary, urban decay, moral ambiguity, bystander effect, public reaction, taboo, social anxiety, olfactory discomfort, sensory revulsion, dehumanization, violence, grotesque, human behavior, prioritization of motives.