Santiago.
We hunt and forgather at the capital of ceramic.
It is jealous and lost.
But we have our vases.
The street is the horse,
and it runs. Red.
Clay, we coagulate; a need for succession?
Perdition? Prevention?
No. We have our paper cliche.
Shelved heads.
They are lost and jealous.
The vases: "Spurn enervation."
A streak-- Spanish horseflesh-breeze on the gritted streets.
Compounded existence (that is, Santiago–- Ed.).
My love, unknown greets, bemoaned, these fleets (that is, of foot-- Ed.).
Those, of the capital of ceramic (that is, conventional-- Ed.).
In light of James' nostalgia, I dug up one of my own poems of the past. Back when I had the confidence to write, when I (blessedly) didn't consider, couldn't conceive or perceive the notion that anyone could write better than I could, or that they did. I was a huge fan of using the thesaurus and unearthing exotic words, the type that you could drop in a sentence and create an area of ambiguity and uncertainty (there's a certain term that Wordsworth used for it, but I can't remember what it is). On top of that, I was also rabid about (and still am) creating one-shot locations and characters (in this case, 'Santiago', despite it being a real name/place) that produced more mystery than definition or something definitive, that would give the reader (hopefully) so much more to think about than the actual words on the page. A lack of finality, a prolonged existence for the poem, etc.. I don't know.
In short, but not really in summary, it's an approximate opposite to James' most recent post ("What's More Important").
Despite possibly being premature, how would you guys feel about compiling some sort of sampler (themed, maybe?) to publish in print. Something to get ourselves out there, as the adage goes, or something to get Pedestrian Protection some publicity (equating to an audience/readership). Thoughts?
I ask because the group that inspired this one, Mediocre Militia, is releasing their own sampler of art and comics this month.
Gunter, post something.
8 comments:
i love the idea of some sort of publication. writer communities tend to be pretty incestous, for better or worse, because 90% of people who read poetry write it as well. for a theme, i think a "mission statement" theme of sorts, being anti-art-for-art's-sake, might be something that people would feel compelled to respond to and be a part of. thoughts?
Right, but what did you think of the poem?
I'm jesting, partially.
I think you should elaborate on your idea. I see what you're saying about the mission statement and being 'anti-art-for-art's-sake', but at the same time it's a little unclear to me. What exactly do you mean when you use 'anti-art'? Is that really our goal, the identity of this group and its purpose?
When I said 'theme', I was thinking of something more basic in nature-- mostly just deciding on unified, continuitous subject matter, so that our publication would be more operatic and story-esque, if you will, instead of just a mesh of our own individual works-- rather than an overarching intellectual purpose, or anything. Content over purpose, at this point.
But, yeah. If I get what you're saying, I'm in agreement/supportive of the cause. Let's discuss it further.
This is what I meant by 'streamlining' when I spoke with you earlier tonight.
Nice and concise early on it seems. I think your trap and to some extent folly has been the thesaurus. It's fine to use sometimes but not habitually or generally more than on the rare occasion since then it's not really coming from within you, and at that point it's not even esoteric, just contrived.
Don't take me wrong though your work's very interesting and often quite good, thought provoking, almost cinematic, especially liked the ones about Adam and Eve you wrote sometime ago.
(I especially like the line 'Spanish horseflesh-breeze on the gritted streets btw', conveys and excellent tensity)
In terms of a magazine a DIY propaganda book wouldn't be too hard to put together. As of now I'm seeing a giant coccyx on the front and back maybe with a few other little scrap musings on the pages between made from collage-cartoons (cowboys riding terriers, that sort of stuff) I've been making these past few years with a few spare moments.
Also regarding the mag, I think we're putting one thing before the other, we need more people first, then people to stumble on this page.
Once we have a base of people, a readership, then I think it becomes possible to profit from a mag. Only if there's something special/unique about it though that they couldn't just get free here, some sort of gimick to interest people.
For example: Writing little poems/stories about each card in a deck of cards, and eventually have it printed and package on the cards too (assuming this little idea ever reaches that stage), or for the time being maybe just attached in the book with the price built into the mag's cost. I don't know, could be kind of cool, just an idea.
haha my apologies, shaun. i try not to offer judgment unless it's invited, just the same as i offer myself to any available judgment.
that said i really love the fragmentation as well as the way you commit to the punctuation. there's something primal about the delivery that fits the content, and it's very rich texturally, like chris said gritty. to some extent i was almost confused about when the poem ends because of the Ed.'s, are they edits you've made since you originally wrote the poem? in both the case of the original line and its edit, i kind of lose track of what i'm reading because i get distracted by the parentheses. other than that though, really great mood throughout. amen brother.
also, to actually answer your question, i love the idea of coming up with a pervasive topic for the publication, especially in line with chris' idea. he and i were brainstorming; maybe if we could segment the poem to cover the whole ace to king progression, it could be a cool arrange-your-own-poem thing within the four poems we'd written (one for each suit). sweet, right?
as for anti-art-for-art's-sake, that's a bit harsher in tone than what i'm still trying to articulate. it's how there are a lot of writing fellowships that love to pat themselves on the back about how great they are, whereas the tone here is decided less full of shit and more on improving as craftsmen. but i think you're right, it's better that remains a tone rather than an identity.
"Pride, in absentia: Suits and Ties.
Poems presented by the Guardsmen of Pedestrian Protection."
Or something along those lines. I'm all for it.
Fifty-two poems for fifty-two cards, and an overall focus on humility and craftsmanship (genuineness, etc.). How are we going to divide that up? Chris'll contribute art/visuals, and, as I hinted before, I'm a glutton for concept albums and the like, so would we have some sort of overarching storyline that ties everything together at a basic level of plot/provides continuity and an odd unity considering our varying styles?
Muy bien. I'm giddy and tingling.
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