In my first wobbly foray out of the field hospital in a week -- 2:30 a.m., only time I dare the streets any more -- I encountered a rustling spectre in a pear tree.
A mature male California Mule Deer, with fully developed, noble rack of horns.
The deleted comment was "Psalm" by George Oppen but the stanzas were skewered by Google; thankfully, the deer are still out there if you "google" you-know-what.
I guess google automatically left-justiies ..... everything ? Pity. "Psalm" is an important poem... Oppen an important poet.... that entire Manhattan group of friends... a solid plinth for us to leap out from maybe, even, as the deer leaps leap ? --could have posted the poem in a format that google wldn't recognize and cldn't mess with ? like:
"The small nouns/Crying faith/In this which the wild deer/Startle, and stare out."
close this way but, yet "no cigar ?
If ONLY I had read Rakos'si AND Oppen's prior to my dropping out in 1975... besides ALL of WCW and a little of Ted Enslin (who came late to that group) things might have been....
as it turned out I discovered Oppen and Rakosi around 1998. Connected with Carl Rakosi via a cpl of letters in 2000 (sent him a copy of my 1974 The City & some drawings & Nine Perfect Ensos) and also visited Ted in 2000
that cluster "in this which" just might 'open' the door to a poets entire boddhi of works written ?
sure is nice to return to and re:visit "stuff" in the quiet of this (mostly) solitude and isolation... if ONLY to quiete this "too busy mind"
“Psalm” indeed a wonderful poem as is the body of Oppen’s work; these Objectivist “guys” (who were later to be (mis)appropriated by the LangPo Gang were virtual non-entities to the English lit program at the UW back in the late 60s, early 70s so I also came to them rather too late, I’m afraid, around the beginning of the 80s. BTW, speaking of Oppen and Rakosi, a few years back, a former student of mine who was then working for the small Greek publishing firm of Gavrielidis, asked me to suggest some books by poets for a series of translations he was overseeing and I came back with Oppen’s “Of Being Numerous” and Rakosi’s “Amulet.” –Oppen’s book came out two years ago and Carl’s is due any time--first time ever in Greek for these guys. Neat, eh?
Nice. And crazy, but who am I to talk.
ReplyDeleteIn my first wobbly foray out of the field hospital in a week -- 2:30 a.m., only time I dare the streets any more -- I encountered a rustling spectre in a pear tree.
A mature male California Mule Deer, with fully developed, noble rack of horns.
And I said: Hello.
And he... vamoosed into the night.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe deleted comment was "Psalm" by George Oppen but the stanzas were skewered by Google; thankfully, the deer are still out there if you "google" you-know-what.
ReplyDeleteI guess google automatically left-justiies ..... everything ? Pity. "Psalm" is an important poem...
ReplyDeleteOppen an important poet....
that entire Manhattan group of friends... a solid plinth for us to leap out from
maybe, even, as the deer leaps leap ?
--could have posted the poem in a format that google wldn't recognize and cldn't mess with ? like:
"The small nouns/Crying faith/In this which the wild deer/Startle, and stare out."
close this way but, yet "no cigar ?
If ONLY I had read Rakos'si AND Oppen's prior to my dropping out in 1975... besides ALL of WCW and a little of Ted Enslin (who came late to that group) things might have been....
as it turned out I discovered Oppen and Rakosi around 1998. Connected with Carl Rakosi via a cpl of letters in 2000 (sent him a copy of my 1974 The City & some drawings & Nine Perfect Ensos)
and also visited Ted in 2000
that cluster "in this which" just might 'open' the door to a poets entire boddhi of works written ?
sure is nice to return to and re:visit "stuff" in the quiet of this (mostly) solitude and isolation... if ONLY
to quiete this "too busy mind"
BOY ! I sure am sloppy with my sentences... leaves my "self" lots of editing to do when I get too old to give a shit about The Crowd?
ReplyDelete
ReplyDelete“Psalm” indeed a wonderful poem as is the body of Oppen’s work; these Objectivist “guys” (who were later to be (mis)appropriated by the LangPo Gang were virtual non-entities to the English lit program at the UW back in the late 60s, early 70s so I also came to them rather too late, I’m afraid, around the beginning of the 80s. BTW, speaking of Oppen and Rakosi, a few years back, a former student of mine who was then working for the small Greek publishing firm of Gavrielidis, asked me to suggest some books by poets for a series of translations he was overseeing and I came back with Oppen’s “Of Being Numerous” and Rakosi’s “Amulet.” –Oppen’s book came out two years ago and Carl’s is due any time--first time ever in Greek for these guys. Neat, eh?