<DIV><P>Using musical allusion and metaphor, juxtaposing history and autobiography, Matejka navigates a triracial identity. In these poems, having too many heritages means having no heritage at all. As a result, cultural identifiers&mdash;be they afros, war paint, or William Shatner&mdash;take the place of identity. Vibrant narrative lyrics use image as riff, syllable as note, to improvise on a personal history severed from tradition.</P><P><B>Betwixt and Between</B></P><P>Miscegenation&rsquo;s capitol <BR>is the mule. Not quite horse, <BR>almost donkey. No useful <BR>erection to speak of. <BR>In any unnatural concoction, <BR>somebody&rsquo;s got to take <BR>the blame. Freud would say <BR>credit the mother if props <BR>are necessary. <BR>Mulattos<BR>are human mules&mdash;half <BR>black, most times more <BR>than half white&mdash;misogynous<BR>on a good day. All the while, <BR>impotent between tribes. <BR>Blame: gift of the exotic, <BR>like Hendrix opening <BR>for the Monkees, or Othello <BR>key holed by Iago. Blessed <BR>be he with the hybrid vigor <BR>of melanin, arrested between<BR>the sun and the sun. <BR></P><P>"Reading Adrian Matejka&rsquo;s amazing debut, I was left with the feeling that American Poetry was at last beginning to catch up with early twenty-first century American life. He has written the first serious songs from a world that&rsquo;s about to make itself felt and known."&mdash;Cornelius Eady</P></DIV>