Georgia Poet Pens Ode to Prince in New Yorker

DECATUR, GA -- A poet from Decatur is remembering Prince in an ode to the pop icon published Monday in The New Yorker magazine.

"Little Red Corvette," by Emory University professor Kevin Young, weaves lyrics by Prince into a nostalgic remembrance of the musician's work.

When You Were Mine

Nothing passed us by. Baby, you’re much too fast. In 1990 we had us an early 80s party—nostalgic already,

Prince, 57, died April 22 at his Paisley Park studio at his home in Minnesota.

Since then, tributes of all sort have poured forth for the artist, whose work weaved pop, rock and funk into a unique tapestry of sound that entertained and inspired millions for nearly 40 years.

Young's poem, a series of vignettes, goes on to recount another Prince-inspired party:

What was sleep even for? The year before, a freshman, I threw a Prince party, re-screwed the lights red & blue—

the room all purple, people dancing everywhere—clicked PLAY on the cassette till we slow-sweated to “Erotic City” or “Do Me Baby.” I’m going down to Alphabet Street.

Young is the author of six poetry collections and editor of five others.

His most recent book of poems, Dear Darkness, was published in September 2008 and won the Southern Independent Bookseller's Award in poetry. It was featured on National Public Radio and in The New Yorker as one of the best books of that year.

According to his Emory University profile, Young's poetry and essays have appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, The Kenyon Review, Callaloo and other journals and anthologies.

(Photo by Melanie Dunea, via kevinyoungpoetry.com)