Invisible Strings - 32. "Resurrection" by Kim Addonizio

"Resurrection" by Kim Addonizio

I'm stuck between two on this - "Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?" and "Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince."

The argument for "Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?" begins with the line in the poem, "Do I look slutty in this shroud?" This immediately made me think of this song because she's leaping from the gallows and levitating down your street. And while she's likely not dead, escaping the gallows reminds me of death, and a shroud is a symbol of death. "I'm getting blind drunk on pink rabbits" from the poem could parallel with "I'm always drunk on my own tears." And then there's the line from the poem, "I was such a messy crime scene," which could link with, "The bullet had just grazed." The song comes across as confrontational and in-your-face, which lines up with the the poem, "I'm not going to hide in the nearest bathroom stall. / Honey, I'm not going to hide at all." Finally, the poem's title also seems to reference her coming back to life/cheating death, leaping from the gallows.

"Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince" is the technical pick, though I'm not convinced that it matches in tone. The first stanza of the poem certainly seems like it was spoken by a teenager, which is alluded to in the song, "You know I adore you, crazier for you / Than I was at 16":

Welcome to my strip mall.

Do I look slutty in this shroud?

Peel off the labels

O my frenemy

 And the nearly identical lines:

Song: "They whisper in the hallway, 'She's a bad, bad girl.'"

Poem: "I'm a bad bad girl."

The song continues to mimic high school, with the "And I don't want you to go / I don't really wanna fight / Cause nobody's gonna win," chant, so in some ways it does line up with the poem.

Perhaps in responding, the poet has taken the song's narrator, who escaped, and brought her back ("Resurrection") and made her bold? For that reason, I think I'm sticking with "Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince" as the match for this one.