Ruben Quesada’s poetry collection Brutal Companion explores themes of identity, love, and brutality with astonishing vulnerability.
Jericho Brown wrote of the book:
“Ruben Quesada’s Brutal Companion is one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read about the fact of longing: ‘You slowly fade/behind a sugar maple, branches like scarecrows waving goodbye.’ And he manages this beauty with a poetry so pure I am always left gagging at even the slightest move and smallest decision in each line (for instance, ‘above the black milk of Lake Michigan’). These poems are a stunningly melancholic look at love and its eternality.
In his own words, here is Ruben Quesada’s Book Notes music playlist for his poetry collection Brutal Companion:
At its heart, Brutal Companion is about survival. It reminds me that we can face our vulnerabilities while still embracing the potential for joy and self-discovery. I’m inviting readers into these intimate experiences of desire, memory, and trauma that I think resonate with a lot of people. Many of these songs make me want to dance. The selection process was a deeply personal one, with each song chosen for its ability to amplify the emotions and themes of the poems. The songs capture or shed light on the emotional landscape of my poems.
The Pointer Sisters – “Jump”
Consider “Jump” by The Pointer Sisters, the opening track of my playlist. As I crafted “I Was a Boy,” I found myself drawn to the joy of “Jump” juxtaposed with the poem’s somber tone. The Pointer Sisters exude an infectious optimism, while my poem delves into the discomfort of adolescent years and the daily dose of homophobic abuse. Yet, there’s a shared thread of resilience in both. The symbolic act of going all-in, or jumping as the song describes, resonates with the personal leaps I’ve taken in accepting my identity.
Marvin Gaye – “Sexual Healing”
Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing” taps directly into the sensual, physical energy that pulses through many of my poems. My piece “Fervent Throats” shares a kinship with Gaye’s track in how it explores intimacy and physical connection. While Gaye revels in the restorative power of physical love – “sexual healin’…makes me feel so fine,” “Let’s make love tonight…it’s good for me…You’re my medicine, open up and let me in” – in my work, queer desire is not just a source of pleasure but a profound expression of selfhood. I wanted to capture the fleeting beauty of these encounters.
Michael Jackson – “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough”
When crafting “After Hours,” I found myself reflecting on the relentless energy that permeates Jackson’s “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough.” My poem recounts a disorienting, pharmacologically-enhanced night in Los Angeles, filled with surreal imagery and a palpable sense of excess. The frenetic pace and hedonistic undertones of Jackson’s track serve as an apt sonic parallel to the chaotic search for meaning – or perhaps escape – that I aimed to convey in my work. Both pieces, in their respective mediums, delve into the human propensity for pushing boundaries and seeking intense experiences, be it through music, substances, or the intoxication of urban nightlife.
TLC – “Waterfalls”
TLC’s cautionary narrative in “Waterfalls” finds an unexpected echo in my poem “On Progress.” While the musical piece warns against the pursuit of dangerous ambitions, my work contemplates the fragility of existence and the inevitability of calamity. The imagery I employed – a plummeting aircraft and the weightless sensation of bodies suspended in chaos – resonates with the song’s warning about the dangers inherent in reckless pursuits. Both works, I believe, invite the audience to consider the precarious nature of human aspirations and the often unforeseen consequences of our actions.
Irene Cara – “What a Feeling”
In composing “Moonlight,” I found myself inadvertently channeling the spirit of transcendence that permeates Cara’s “What A Feeling.” While her anthem speaks to triumph and liberation, my poem explores a night suffused with yearning and a sense of the ethereal. The lyrical imagery I crafted aims to capture fleeting moments of beauty and the possibility of surpassing mundane existence. Both works, despite their differing tones, speak to the human capacity for aspiration and the pursuit of something beyond our immediate grasp. Cara’s exuberant call to action finds a more subdued, yet equally potent, counterpart in the quiet revelations I sought to evoke under the moon’s gentle glow.
Annie Lennox – “Walking on Broken Glass”
Annie Lennox’s “Walking on Broken Glass” is resonant with some of the harsher moments in Brutal Companion. The song’s painful defiance aligns closely with my attempts to live authentically, knowing that rejection and marginalization are still out there. In my poems, I try to strike a balance between pleasure and pain that often characterizes the queer or othered experience. This feeling finds its musical expression in the powerful vocals and evocative lyrics of the women on this list.
Depeche Mode – “Just Can’t Get Enough”
In “Aubade,” I found myself exploring themes that resonate deeply with Depeche Mode’s “Just Can’t Get Enough.” The poem captures an intimate moment between lovers at dawn, fraught with the bittersweet knowledge of impending separation. The sense of yearning and insatiable desire that permeates the Depeche Mode track finds its poetic counterpart in my speaker’s desperate attempt to cling to a fleeting moment of connection. Both works, I believe, tap into the universal experience of longing – that profound human need for connection that often leaves us wanting more, even in moments of fulfillment.
Laura Branigan – “Gloria”
When I think of Laura Branigan’s “Gloria” and how it connects to Brutal Companion, I see parallels in the themes of inner turmoil and the search for identity. In “Gloria,” there’s this frantic, almost desperate energy as she struggles to break free from societal expectations while grappling with self-doubt and, similarly, navigating personal chaos, wrestling with desire, identity, and the weight of the past.
New Order – “True Faith”
New Order’s exploration of faith, doubt, and existential questions in “True Faith” resonates deeply with the themes I sought to address in “Afterlife.” By casting myself in the role of Orpheus, perpetually searching for someone beyond the veil of death, I aimed to create a poetic space where light and darkness intertwine. The tension between despair and hope that characterizes both the song and my poem speaks to a fundamental aspect of the human condition – our relentless drive to find meaning and connection, even in the face of uncertainty and loss.
Ace of Base – “The Sign”
In composing “This is the Way the World Ends,” I found an unexpected parallel with Ace of Base’s “The Sign.” While my poem delves into apocalyptic imagery and the inevitability of endings, it shares with the song a profound sense of awakening and clarity. The upbeat, reflective nature of “The Sign,” with its message of realization and new beginnings, finds a more somber yet equally powerful expression in my poetic contemplation of finality and transformation.
As both a poet and a music lover, this intersection of art forms offers a unique space for exploration and expression. Music can evoke emotions in ways that words alone sometimes can’t, and when paired with poetry, it can unlock new levels of meaning and feeling. The interplay between these songs and my poems creates a bridge of sound and word, each enhancing the other. It reminds me that we can face our vulnerabilities while still embracing the potential for joy and self-discovery.
Ruben Quesada’s collection, Brutal Companion, won the Barrow Street Editors Prize (October 15, 2024). He edited Latinx Poetics: Essays on the Art of Poetry, a Gold Medal winner from the Independent Publisher Awards. Quesada served as a poetry editor for AGNI, Poet Lore, Pleiades, and his writing has been featured in Best American Poetry, The Believer, American Poetry Review, and Harvard Review. He teaches literature and writing in low-residency MFA programs at Antioch University and Cedar Crest College.