tinkle bell rings
it’s sweet time
a fine flock of exquisite perceptions
like rhythmic nimble jism
or eyebrow gusto and satyr jack
penis-wagging
on the banks of the Nile
hot wire the psyche
fry my circuits
wattle welt & wrinkle
ouch is right
it’s the rust that accretes
(13.i.2009)
-
Today, boys and girls, we’re going to look at ‘Song of the Chinchilla’ by Lisa Jarnot*. I liked the poem immediately – and I’ve given it to ...
6 comments:
A rude one, O Carpenter, and a good one too...
W.
PS Is the credit crunch getting to you? I'm anxious all the time. I may have to ration my exposure to the news, which invariably fills me with dread. Today I came upon Cavafy's fine poem 'Waiting for the Barbarians' (Cavafy a new find, such a refined sensibility, like Pessoa, perhaps, or Kafka) and this stanza struck me as potentially applicable to the high street I wandered through this morning:
Why has this anxiety come upon us all at once,
why such confusion? (How serious all the faces!)
Why are the streets and squares emptying so quickly,
and all the people returning to their homes so subdued?
(tr. Avi Sharon)
If you come across any other poems or stanzas that seem strangely applicable to the credit-crunch, do post 'em...
W.
Mmm ... I think Atkins' Horace has left its mark - plenty of smut in those poems from what I can see. Although, more seriously, I really like the openness with which he writes. That's something I need to work on. (I think).
I'm looking at Blake with one of my classes & thinking about his & Spicer's theories of Dictation. I'm not making any presumptuous claims, rather thinking that you shove down what seems to come of its own accord. That's how I'm trying to develop these 12 liners - 'Morse Solids' as a working title - and when there are enough of them I'll look and see what's going on. One of my great self-crippling techniques is to get too self-conscious and the whole thing dries up. Maybe there's only going to be one line or a phrase that works. But that's better than doing nothing. (perhaps?)
re. credit crunch - people around us are losing their jobs or finding their businesses drying up. International schools will almost certainly feel the effect, too. I suppose the hope is that teaching is relatively secure - the big money (thus high risk) lies elsewhere. But I'm not sure there are any guarantees.
I used to be a big radio listener & newspaper reader. In the twelve years I've lived in Belgium I've become more and more disenchanted with the UK media. Such things as the Iraq invasion, the child abuse cases, now Gaza and the financial crisis are so bloody depressing i) for themselves and ii) for the dreadful way they're covered. I go with John Pilger that mainstream media is just about finished due to corporate ownership, political manipulation & lowest common denominator values. (Why I lament people like Jonathan Ross getting such ridiculous salaries).
I'd also argue for the financial crisis being in no small part caused/exacerbated by media coverage - the speed with which markets can react to a news bulletin is pretty terrifying.
On the other hand, I'm also aware that I might be guilty of shutting myself off, fiddling while Rome burns etc. I notice how Lisa J.'s Blog is so defiantly engaged. How does the poetry & the politics relate? Surely they have to.
Naively, perhaps, I hope that engaging with the poetry is a way of tapping into what's going on. Ginsberg's ideas of first-hand speech. But maybe that's just self-justification.
Actually, you've made me start to question things here. Good point.
I'll come back to this.
Cheers
The C.
Are you still out there in the ether, O Carpenter?
I've just discovered the Atelier de Creation Radiophonique on Radio France. It has a long and distinguished history, with its roots in les evenements of 1968. And it's still going strong! You can hear the latest podcasts here:
http://www.touslespodcasts.com/
annuaire/radio-tv/
radio-nationales/1192.html
I also highly recommend the reading of Ghérasim Luca's 'Passionnément' (Luca was one of Deleuze's favourite poets and a friend of Celan). You can hear 'Passionnément' here:
http://www.ubu.com/sound/
luca.html
Brilliant, isn't it?
All the best,
Walrus
Yes ... still here. Time to Blog seems to have been elusive this week. Bloody report writing!
Reading quite a lot of Blake, though. Will try to put some thoughts out into the ether.
Also listening to a bumper set of Artur Schnabel CDs - 1930s lo-fi but they impress me!
Cheers
The C.
yes, Posada is wonderful , funny you mention artists who don't like the "mention" or "term" artists'books, you know why? because these guys don't wanna give credit , they think they invented the books , like some slick catalogues are called artists'books these days , even high schools for art re-invent artists'books instead of cherishing the old archives and give credit to the pioneers but then you are considered an avant-garde enfant terrible or dilletant like me
This one's for The Walrus ...
Apologies for the delay in replying - we're having work done on the house & the past few days have given over to clearing up. Stuff has been under wraps to protect it from brick dust etc.
I will check out those links & report back. Ubu web is a terrific resource. Teaching as I do, I'm often thinking how bloody lucky the students are - such astonishing access to stuff which back in 1990 ... 1980 ... 1970 ... well, where would you have found it?
Then again, perhaps this is the problem: too much? Where do you start?
Cheers
The C.
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