a review of Dead Poems Storage by Rudy Johnson, published by Beyond the Last Estate – Peter Webb
April 10, 2026
“Philly has droogs and when they beat up the drunks everyone applauds “ or “the dream of alt lit”
This boisterous faste paced obscenity, this what I determined worked, and what I determined I liked, in the venues of Pittsburgh. Of course there is the other thing (carefully constructed vulnerability… conjurations of feeling) that the many sensitive poets tried out which occasionally worked. But no really the thing I would feel the potential for, that consistently worked, was loudmouth varied obscenity… kind of like a homeless guy yelling to themselves…
So it’s low hanging fruit (strange fruit) comparing @lynchpoet to a homeless guy and Dead Poem Storage is, like many poets, an escalation of that voice (I SHOULD HAVE… FUCKED HER… THOUGHT ABOUT… CUMMING DOWN HER THROAT… BUT THEY WERE ALL TRANNIES… ETC.) Sadly this is where my enthusiasm for the form ends; it’s not life changing like Jon Leon’s “The Malady of the Century” sort of was, or more outwardly pederasty, like you know Dennis Cooper’s best, or The 120 Days. Why even subscribe to a Cumtown homeless schizo mixtape— for the friend cred of course…to have something lying around for friends and to show off the risqué cover at the park.
this is also content which is eminently enjoyable buts not actually controversial enough to feel vital
It’s giving homeless gang stalker rapists that wont shut up screaming, whistling, beautful until it gets annoying and horrible if you care about the harassment of Women, which I guess I do less of these days?
The solution is arrest, forcible treatment, forcible deportation… forcible movement.. these solutions apply to Rudy only in shadow in that the homeless harasser’s desire to be heard is the same as Rudy’s (and big dawg goes in for consent). Yeah these poems arent particularly rapey either but more like the dream of rape, the shadow of fucking intent.
and when i skim through the well constructed nearly endless verse i think well i would like it at a reading. How about my own intentions— public place filling that has become like rape or led to my own little forme— it
it’s a frustrating cry to Loss which Has the feeling like A scoreboard
but it’s also screeds
but one guy’s points
screed ets
well Rudy produces things that would read well at a reading… kill at any philly poetry reading… light the world on fire for those people. And this is no longer my goal…and I think Rudy could be closer to my goal if these pieces had more direct, more real violence to them, instead of just being In The orbit of it all
Terrance Hayes… ass… bro is writing at the pinneaxle of the contemporary… and they all sound pretty close… frederick siedel. Yeah you can make the case that Rudy’s poems tend to lack the higher order qualities that elevate the best of Frank O Hara or Bukowski (nostalgia? Occasional Simplicity? shape?) maybe compared to Lowell and Plath… we are getting … less mature poetry’s
Of course all my interaction with these guys happens in the nostalgic ideal (heard about it / wanna use it as a focal point, ) blah blah… this is as good as Patricia Lockwood’s shit certainly. The negative zone of the drunk catcaller… toxic aperture… chasing away the hoes…
It’s just applying every trick of contemporary poetry and playing it well (like a harasser at the park ) to be hooky and get to mid+ emotional orgasms… Rudy the stable and healthful, earnest period of jerking off … the harasser says nice things and wishes people well, he says “I love you”.
Rudy the “safe” cultural provocateur who establishes himself as a safe pair of hands who will nonetheless spook you (vs Ye’s genuine liabilities).
But everyone’s keeping an ear on for Ye (like the serial harasser) vs everyone’s appreciation and auteur praise for Rudy —
Both different kinds of attention, none really good and there are different mind bending kinds of attention like idk episodes from “The Pitt” and some characters … and video games… and of course live readings where this would play well
So there is some argument that this is “a book of sheet music” like it requires acting it out to get to the very good fruit.
Up and down and threatening to taze the catcaller… a group of teens plausibly threatening to taze the public drunk… until we are BEGGING for a bit of the old ultra violence
“Philly has droogs and when they beat up the drunks everyone applauds “
Contemporary authors like Xrafstarguts to which it appears there is a specific niche of readers, or the odd vaulted organic group of disassociated long term fans. I am no longer doing poetry except at one open mic and not particularly crushing it there (Rudy is at that mic) . lol less enthusiasm as i go get all my tools which include the brush and water for the Díshū
(
Rudy shouldn’t kill himself because he is in the vanguard of post gamer lit and has an off chance of creating a great work
This is miles and miles ahead of the dirt fairies, this is the dream of alt lit.
It’s also somewhat clear that the pamphlet isn’t the exact ideal narrative for this despite being perfect in every way here ($7 shipped, rare, perfectly laid out and illustrated?, ok could have been printed on more bibleish paper) .
To order, email beyondthelastestate@gmail.com