You Are Jeff

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 2019

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Poem Analysis

Themes

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Related Poems

“Litany in Which Certain Things Are Crossed Out” by Richard Siken (2005)

This is another long poem from Crush, which explores some of the same themes as “You Are Jeff” (bruising effects of desire, instability of identity, and so on) in a more recognizably poetic form, yet also experimenting with broken lines and visual disconnectedness that reflects the fragmentary nature of the poem’s story.

“Landscape with the Blur of Conquerors” by Richard Siken (2014)

This poem is an example of Siken’s interest in painting, both in itself and as a source of inspiration for poetry. It describes the creation of a painting and the artist’s thoughts and feelings during the process of creation.

“Real Estate” by Richard Siken (2020)

This poem appeared online some 18 months after Siken’s 2019 stroke, signaling his return to writing and publishing poetry. The speaker talks about parentage, death, and inheritance. The poem reads like a personal story, but Siken has repeatedly warned against reducing poetry to the author’s biography.

Further Literary Resources

“Fight Club: Richard Siken” by Legacy Russell (2011)

In this revealing interview for Bomb Magazine, Siken discusses his writing process, his 2005 collection Crush, and the readers’ response to it.

“The Doubling of Self: An Interview with Richard Siken” by Peter Mishler (2014)

This interview for Tin House focuses on Siken’s 2015 collection War of the Foxes. Siken explains how that book differs from Crush and how the painting process or individual paintings inspired many of the poems.

“Queer Discomfort: Desire and Heteronormativity in Richard Siken's Crush” by Tine Kempenaers (2019)

This scholarly article is a thorough and insightful analysis of Siken’s first book, including a discussion of “You Are Jeff.” It is a great resource for anyone who wishes to explore Crush in more depth. It is not freely available on the Internet, but it can be accessed through various library databases.

“Postcard from Richard Siken” (2015)

In this three-minute video, you can hear Siken himself talk about transitioning from Crush to War of the Foxes, painting as inspiration, and his views on poetry.

Listen to Poem

“You Are Jeff”

In this recording, created by a YouTube user named Silke, the reading of the poem is accompanied by re-edited images from a film by Wong Kar Wai and music by Marcel Pequel, creating an original multi-sensory experience. There are subtitles with the text of the poem, so the viewer can both read it and listen to it.