Saturday, January 31, 2009
Gertrude Stein
Because the Poems for the Millennium anthology devotes a lot of space to her poems, I assume she is incredibly significant. I find Gertrude Stein incredibly annoying, though. As far as I can tell, she effectively deconstructs language, stripping all the words of their meaning through mindless repetition and jarring shifts that shatter all of our usual associations with the words. In this, she successfully robs English of any beauty it may dare to have, and she makes me hate my own language, and if I read her for too long, my head might explode. Was the point, then, to provoke a strong reaction rather than to write anything good or beautiful? Did she intend to write poetry that is horrible and annoying to read?
The commentary is unconvincing, and its use of ampersands is irksome, so I just want someone to tell me what reasons there are (if any) to truly appreciate what Stein has written.
Reading for Week 5-Feb 11
Joseph Conte, intro to Unending Design (on reserve in McFarlin)--look at chapters on Oppen and Duncan
Caleb Puckett, Tales from the Hinterland (he is visiting class Feb 11)
Oppen, Of Being Numerous (online soon)
Roethke, North American Sequence (online soon)
Get started on the Conte and Puckett, and I will post the other readings soon.
Friday, January 30, 2009
give blood!
Drive goes until 6 pm tonight (Friday).
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Etude 3
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
generations of generations
THE cabinet DIES LIKE A bold fork.
incest, anger, AND incest.
THE swallow thinkS LIKE A moldy bowl.
WHY DOES THE leg tumble?
eat a dick, desire!
lust, hatred, AND desire.
ALL wimminS take DEAD, moldy cabinetS.
NEVER toke A wimmin.
swallowS think LIKE cold ladyS.
DAMN, heat!
eat a dick, desire!
SHARKS walk!
yeasty, SUNNY ladyS blankly slap A DEAD, stoled imprint.
hatred IS A damp bitch.
courage IS A cold tongue.
ladyS think LIKE stolid tokeS.
WHERE IS THE LIVELY WHALE?
THE shower curtain thinkS LIKE A DEAD SHARK.
lust, incest, AND incest.
THE amazon walkS LIKE A moldy shower curtain.
idea IS A OLD shower curtain.
LIVELY, LIVELY legS later toke A yeasty, wet gal.
NEVER fuck A imprint.
ALL wadS drag SUNNY, OLD boxS.
O, idea!
White Moments
blank moments,
between one thing and the next.
He's left with only himself,
discovering
the whispers drowned
by static chatter,
too much color.
They find a full voice
in the bleached landscape
infinitive space-time, sterile
liquid white-out
running down his forehead,
into his eyes,
creeping near the tear ducts
and the corneas.
Kill the static.
Kill the static.
So that you can hear us
all the time.
So many things to tell
with silence.
So many things to see
if you only close your eyes.
Feed the White.
Feed the White.
Come home,
come in,
let us in.
Blinking, reeling, sputtering
on the outside, quiet,
coming to himself
from a far distance,
an immeasurable distance.
She asks if he's ok,
face pale,
color draining.
Oh, no, no, no.
She keeps draining,
swirls like water down a sink,
nothing there.
“Stay here with me,”
he says,
but she fades,
a washed image.
He feels a prick,
grabs the back of his neck,
turns to see
the fanged whiteness smiling.
This was the one I wanted to share during class, but was too chicken. Wrote it a few days ago.
-Strix
Class Collective Six Word Memoirs
Results of Our Futurist Pantoum
1.
If language were crumpled into a ball, then knowledge would surpass imagination.
When the room is empty, it will be one.
When the arrow pierces, I will become that which no word has come before.
If I could see myself as someone else, then the women of Troy would sob and beat their breasts.
If the sky fell, then you would not ask.
When the Lord comes down like fire, trash will be wholesome.
If we could follow directions, then everything would be forgotten
If this day were rewound, then all the windows would shatter into green and crimson.
When sorrow overtakes happiness, I will pass judgement.
If I come to a pause, then we would hate each other.
If it were wrong to lie, then the fractalization of the function would be incomplete.
2.
If I could see myself as someone else, then the fractalization of the function would be incomplete.
If I come to a pause, then everything would be forgotten
When the room is empty, I will pass judgement.
If this day were rewound, then we would hate each other.
When the Lord comes down like fire, I will become that which no word has come before.
If it were wrong to lie, then knowledge would surpass imagination.
If we could follow directions, then you would not ask.
If the sky fell, then all the windows would shatter into green and crimson.
When sorrow overtakes happiness, it will be one.
When the arrow pierces, trash will be wholesome.
If language were crumpled into a ball, then the women of Troy would sob and beat their breasts.
3.
When the arrow pierces, knowledge will surpass imagination.
When I can see myself as someone else, I will pass judgement.
If it were wrong to lie, then everything would be forgotten.
If the sky fell, then the fractalization of the function would be incomplete.
When the Lord comes down like fire, then all the windows will shatter into green and crimson.
When the room is empty, then we will hate each other.
If I came to a pause, then you would not ask.
If we could follow directions, then the women of Troy would sob and beat their breasts.
If this day were rewound, trash would be wholesome.
When sorrow overtakes happiness, it will be one.
If language were crumpled into a ball, I would become that which no word has come before.
4.
If sorrow overtook happiness, trash would be wholesome
When the sky falls, we will hate each other
When the room is empty, I will pass judgment
When the Lord comes down like fire, everything will be forgotten
If I came to a pause, I would become that which no word has come before
When it is wrong to lie, you will not ask
If the arrow pierces, it will be one
If this day were rewound, the women of Troy would sob and beat their breasts
When I can see myself as someone else, knowledge will surpass imagination
If we could follow directions, then the fractalization of the function would be incomplete
When language is crumpled into a ball, all the windows will shatter into green and crimson
5.
If it were wrong to lie, then we would hate each other.
If I come to a pause, then the women of Troy would sob and beat their breasts.
When the room is empty, then the fractalization of the function would be incomplete.
If the sky fell, then knowledge would surpass imagination.
When the arrow pierces, you would not ask.
If I could see myself as someone else, then all the windows would shatter into green and crimson.
When sorrow overtakes happiness, trash will be wholesome.
If language were crumpled into a ball, it will be one.
When the Lord comes down like fire, I will pass judgement.
If this day were rewound, then everything would be forgotten.
If we could follow directions, then all the windows would shatter into green and crimson.
6.
If the arrow pierces, all the windows will shatter into green and crimson.
If this day were rewound, trash would be wholesome.
When the sky falls, knowledge will surpass imagination.
When the room is empty, everything will be forgotten.
When the Lord comes down like fire, I will pass judgment.
If I came to a pause, the women of Troy would sob and beat their breasts.
When it is wrong to lie, you will not ask.
When I can see myself as someone else, we will hate each other.
If we could follow directions, then the fractalization of the function would be incomplete
When language is crumpled into a ball, I will become that which no word has come before.
If sorrow overtook happiness, it would be one.
7.
If language were crumpled into a ball, then the fractalization of the function would be incomplete.
When the room is empty, I will become that which no word has come before.
If this day were rewound, then knowledge would surpass imagination.
When the Lord comes down like fire, I will pass judgement.
If it were wrong to lie, then you would not ask.
If we could follow directions, then we would hate each other
If the sky fell, then everything would be forgotten.
When sorrow overtakes happiness, trash will be wholesome.
If I come to a pause, then the women of Troy would sob and beat their breasts.
If I could see myself as someone else, then all the windows would shatter into green and crimson.
When the arrow pierces, it will be one.
8.
If we could follow directions, trash would be wholesome
If sorrow overtook happiness, knowledge would surpass imagination
When the sky falls, the women of Troy will sob and beat their breasts
When I can see myself as someone else, I will pass judgment
If this day were rewound, all the windows would shatter into green and crimson
When the room is empty, we will hate each other
If I came to a pause, then the fractalization of the function would be incomplete
When it is wrong to lie, I will become that which no word has become before
If the arrow pierces, it will be one
When language is crumpled into a ball, everything will be forgotten
When the Lord comes down like fire, you will not ask
9.
If imagination surpass would knowledge then a ball into crumpled were language if one be will it when empty room the before come has word no which that become will I pierces the arrow when breasts their beat and sob would Troy of women the then else someone as myself see could I if ask not would you then fell sky the if wholesome be will trash fire like down comes Lord the when crimson and green into shatter would windows the all then, rewound were day this if forgotten be would everything then judgment pass will I happiness overtakes sorrow when Other each hate would we then pause a to come I if incomplete be would function the of fractalization the then lie to wrong were it.
The Importance of Poetry
TGFID
Question for everyone else--if you read this: How are you embarking on your portfolio work? Have you started yet? Are you just jumping in and trying to write anything beyond our etudes, or are you making a concerted effort at some exact goal? Just wondering. Besides not being sure of my own poetics, I'm still not certain what I hope to accomplish in terms of creative output this semester.
Enjoy your R&R.
dz
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Readings for Week 3
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Statement of Poetic Values and Goals Due Jan 28
Etude 2-Futurist Pantoum
- First, click "Comments" below and then cut-and-paste the clauses into a new document.
- Now match each if-clause with a clause in future tense (will) or a when-clause with a clause in the conditional (would)
- Choose 11 of the best lines and post them as a comment to this post.
- the combination of if/when clauses with conditional/future clauses (yes, you may change the adverb and or the tense of the clauses)
- the order of the lines (make sure your order of lines is unlike any of the ones before yours)
etude 1
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Info for Caleb Puckett
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Responses to Week 2 Readings
Syllabus Correction (already)
Etude 1
Next, make a poem out of your brainstorming using the vocabulary from one or more of the contexts that you mentioned in your brainstorming. The more different or dissonant the vocabulary from the topic of your poem, the better. Gather samples of texts from that context to use as resources if necessary.
Post your response by clicking the "Comment" link below. Hint: If you want the post to look like it does on the page, upload it as a bitmap image file not to the comments but as new blog post.