self-similar writing
asemic texts in fractal dimensions
Sunday, October 10, 2004
The Sunday Archive
The absence
The fire. We are here,
& are now uncertain
why we came. Have driven
far / over rough roads / propelled
by — what? Promises? or the
escape promised
by the black back-country night?
Either way, we came un-
questioning, unerringly, like
migratory birds. Did not
deliberate, but came
straight up out of the city,
in the manner of our information,
a smooth measure of words
pinpointing the exact
location of the barbecue.
What we passed through / we did not
see. Our eyes clenched tight
as diamonds. Night-
piercers: but nothing
entered them until the fire's
reflection, the vajrachchedika.
Nothing transcendental: the bare
image — sparks coming off
to form a crackly calligraphy
in the night. & our
friends gathered round, mournful,
like lost Indians.
Yet there were
others here, a group
of musclemen,
& they
were full of noise. They sang & danced,
their chattering setting up
a vibration, a personal applause
as they flexed their muscles
in gaudy competition amongst themselves.
They were separate from us, & wanted
no part of the fire
we had come so far to find.
What was it
the man inside the house
had said? "The musclemen are less
than stone monkeys."
This much was true:
but here they were something
more than we were. We had arrived
at somewhere
they had always been. Had come
miles
to be shown we should have
remained where we were ...
& move
from there.
1968
The fire. We are here,
& are now uncertain
why we came. Have driven
far / over rough roads / propelled
by — what? Promises? or the
escape promised
by the black back-country night?
Either way, we came un-
questioning, unerringly, like
migratory birds. Did not
deliberate, but came
straight up out of the city,
in the manner of our information,
a smooth measure of words
pinpointing the exact
location of the barbecue.
What we passed through / we did not
see. Our eyes clenched tight
as diamonds. Night-
piercers: but nothing
entered them until the fire's
reflection, the vajrachchedika.
Nothing transcendental: the bare
image — sparks coming off
to form a crackly calligraphy
in the night. & our
friends gathered round, mournful,
like lost Indians.
Yet there were
others here, a group
of musclemen,
& they
were full of noise. They sang & danced,
their chattering setting up
a vibration, a personal applause
as they flexed their muscles
in gaudy competition amongst themselves.
They were separate from us, & wanted
no part of the fire
we had come so far to find.
What was it
the man inside the house
had said? "The musclemen are less
than stone monkeys."
This much was true:
but here they were something
more than we were. We had arrived
at somewhere
they had always been. Had come
miles
to be shown we should have
remained where we were ...
& move
from there.
1968
Saturday, October 09, 2004
the arrogance to come, the hubris, hopefully, to follow
It seems as if the conservative Coalition parties have been re-elected in the federal Australian election with an increased majority. Let me make the prediction that once the "I am humbled by this result" speeches are out of the way we will witness a rightwing arrogance that is unprecedented. It's time to ensure the chariot of hubris is ready to be called out. If we can find a driver.
& let me also predict that within a few days you will hear George W. Borg claiming that this victory is a vindication of the invasion of Iraq by the U.S. & its coalition of the washing-up water.
& let me also predict that within a few days you will hear George W. Borg claiming that this victory is a vindication of the invasion of Iraq by the U.S. & its coalition of the washing-up water.
Friday, October 08, 2004
god forbid
There is a Federal Election in Australia tomorrow. From the public opinion polls it appears that the conservative Coalition Parties led by John Howard will be returned ahead of the almost equally conservative Australian Labor Party led by Mark Latham.
But it will be a pity if Howard is re-elected. Labor has more of a social conscience, even if it has voted against same-sex marriages, will still probably do little to improve the health of indigenous Australians (who have a life expectancy of at least twenty years less than the population average) & has not mentioned the question of humane treatment of refugees.
Latham, at least, is promising to withdraw Australian troops from Iraq. Howard is still claiming he did the right thing sending them because even if Saddam didn't have WMDs he was working on re-acquiring them. & Howard publicly agreed to send troops – even though there were already elements of the Australian Special Forces in Iraq – only after George W. acceeded to his request to phone him twice to show the world what an important person he was.
There are the usual collection of "minor parties" contesting the election. They have little chance of winning seats in the Lower House, the House of Representatives which is based on single electoral districts. But in the Upper House, the Senate, which is made up of representatives from the States, & where election is based on achieving a quota, usually through the exchanging of preferences, of that State's votes, they do get elected.
Many of the minor parties are single-issue, though some, like the Greens & the Democrats, are traditional broad-based political parties. There are the usual right-wing crazies that derive from their U.S. equivalents & are usually supported financially by them. & this election there is a fundamentalist Christian party, Family First, loosely (?) aligned with the Assemblies of God, which is fielding candidates in every electorate as well as the Senate. Its logo is a stylised Australia with the stars of the Southern Cross displayed, put together in a form that replicates a Bishop's mitre.
& their policies? Well so far one of their volunteers has had to be reprimanded because he advocated burning lesbians "because they are witches" (kari edwards also referred to this at transdada) & a Senate candidate believes that brothels, bottleshops, Freemason temples & Moslem mosques should be torn down because they are visible manifestations of Satan.
& the Prime Minister? (Who, I must point out, just like the owners of pets are popularly supposed to grow to look like their animals, is resembling his political caricatures more & more. A fat little irritable mouse with (George W. (?)) bushy eyebrows.)
Well the Coalition has brokered a deal with Family First, agreeing to consult with them over policy in return for their preferences. & The Australian newspaper reports that the deal was personally brokered by John Howard.
Some Liberal candidates have been asked to sign three-year voting agreements before being included in the deal.
Family First has ruled out some Coalition candidates who "don't necessarily reflect the family agenda we have" – such as lesbian Ingrid Tall, and supporter of gay marriage Warren Entsch. The party will however give preferences to Ross Cameron, who is a conservative Christian but who recently moved out of his family home after publicly confessing to having an affair while his wife was pregnant.
But it will be a pity if Howard is re-elected. Labor has more of a social conscience, even if it has voted against same-sex marriages, will still probably do little to improve the health of indigenous Australians (who have a life expectancy of at least twenty years less than the population average) & has not mentioned the question of humane treatment of refugees.
Latham, at least, is promising to withdraw Australian troops from Iraq. Howard is still claiming he did the right thing sending them because even if Saddam didn't have WMDs he was working on re-acquiring them. & Howard publicly agreed to send troops – even though there were already elements of the Australian Special Forces in Iraq – only after George W. acceeded to his request to phone him twice to show the world what an important person he was.
There are the usual collection of "minor parties" contesting the election. They have little chance of winning seats in the Lower House, the House of Representatives which is based on single electoral districts. But in the Upper House, the Senate, which is made up of representatives from the States, & where election is based on achieving a quota, usually through the exchanging of preferences, of that State's votes, they do get elected.
Many of the minor parties are single-issue, though some, like the Greens & the Democrats, are traditional broad-based political parties. There are the usual right-wing crazies that derive from their U.S. equivalents & are usually supported financially by them. & this election there is a fundamentalist Christian party, Family First, loosely (?) aligned with the Assemblies of God, which is fielding candidates in every electorate as well as the Senate. Its logo is a stylised Australia with the stars of the Southern Cross displayed, put together in a form that replicates a Bishop's mitre.
& their policies? Well so far one of their volunteers has had to be reprimanded because he advocated burning lesbians "because they are witches" (kari edwards also referred to this at transdada) & a Senate candidate believes that brothels, bottleshops, Freemason temples & Moslem mosques should be torn down because they are visible manifestations of Satan.
& the Prime Minister? (Who, I must point out, just like the owners of pets are popularly supposed to grow to look like their animals, is resembling his political caricatures more & more. A fat little irritable mouse with (George W. (?)) bushy eyebrows.)
Well the Coalition has brokered a deal with Family First, agreeing to consult with them over policy in return for their preferences. & The Australian newspaper reports that the deal was personally brokered by John Howard.
Some Liberal candidates have been asked to sign three-year voting agreements before being included in the deal.
Family First has ruled out some Coalition candidates who "don't necessarily reflect the family agenda we have" – such as lesbian Ingrid Tall, and supporter of gay marriage Warren Entsch. The party will however give preferences to Ross Cameron, who is a conservative Christian but who recently moved out of his family home after publicly confessing to having an affair while his wife was pregnant.
anonymous Hoth
The person I call He of the Heteronyms has taken a new name. Or rather has done away with names altogether. No signature now appears at The Red Dragon & The Black Beast. It's almost an oxymoron. The anonymous Hoth.
It's not surprising. He stopped posting to As/Is because he was "bored". The posts on his early blogs would quite often be deleted after a couple of days, sometimes after only a couple of hours. His hay(na)ku blog disappeared altogether, was resurrected. Then both his blogs disappeared. I've likened this coming & going to Cthulhu's Island, from H.P.Lovecraft, a writer whom it turns out we both like.
But under any name……
Let me quote from Why Hay(na)ku, a post by Crag Hill who is not only a writer of excellent hay(na)ku but an excellent writer about the form. I've included a bit more of the post than is immediately relevant because it's worth the wider dissemination.
demons
love men
in such ways
as
to bring
them to fire
unquenchable
(from As/Is)
it's
all intermission
it seems, tragedy
yet
to be,
and always forthcoming
(from a comment box at Series Magritte)
& a recent anonymous post from The Red Dragon & The Black Beast which I'm including here because it's possible it may disappear from its original site & I'd like to record it for posterity
It's not surprising. He stopped posting to As/Is because he was "bored". The posts on his early blogs would quite often be deleted after a couple of days, sometimes after only a couple of hours. His hay(na)ku blog disappeared altogether, was resurrected. Then both his blogs disappeared. I've likened this coming & going to Cthulhu's Island, from H.P.Lovecraft, a writer whom it turns out we both like.
But under any name……
Let me quote from Why Hay(na)ku, a post by Crag Hill who is not only a writer of excellent hay(na)ku but an excellent writer about the form. I've included a bit more of the post than is immediately relevant because it's worth the wider dissemination.
Why me? Why now?A couple of Joseph Garver hay(na)ku.
Every word counts. That's hard to resist in The Age of Logorrhea.
The form encourages paring, discourages padding.
Lines shaped by word count rather than syllable, engendering more rhythmic variety among poems and within the poem itself.
Enjambment abound, bounds.
Poems start small, grow taller, taller, then hunkerdown, dip, curtsy, until they build toward tall at the end. I read the sea there, gentle tides. (I'm so damned land-locked right now, I read the sea just about everywhere.)
They often arrive on my tongue before I can even locate pen or paper.
And if you've had the chance to read some of the poems found through the links above, the form's not so rigid that it breeds sameness. Mark Young's hay(na)ku do not read like Joseph Garver's.
demons
love men
in such ways
as
to bring
them to fire
unquenchable
(from As/Is)
it's
all intermission
it seems, tragedy
yet
to be,
and always forthcoming
(from a comment box at Series Magritte)
& a recent anonymous post from The Red Dragon & The Black Beast which I'm including here because it's possible it may disappear from its original site & I'd like to record it for posterity
The
third method
of beginning a
process
is the
commonest and most
usual
one, because
it is secret.
Thursday, October 07, 2004
Wednesday, October 06, 2004
I have added
Anny Ballardini's narcissusworks to the sidebar blog links.
She is also the curator of Fieralingue's Poets' Corner which is a site well worth checking out. I have added that to the other links section of the sidebar.
She is also the curator of Fieralingue's Poets' Corner which is a site well worth checking out. I have added that to the other links section of the sidebar.
Tuesday, October 05, 2004
Adding
Allen Bramhall's Tributary.
He says he "plans to write about EACH AND EVERY ONE" on the Buffalo Poetics List. Me, I'd rather go out into the garden & eat worms.
Like several of us, he also has a poetry blog, r/ckets and s/ntries.
He says he "plans to write about EACH AND EVERY ONE" on the Buffalo Poetics List. Me, I'd rather go out into the garden & eat worms.
Like several of us, he also has a poetry blog, r/ckets and s/ntries.
The Allegrezza Ficcione, Part 15
"It is said that the sage Bodhidharma brought the teachings of Buddha to the Kingdom of Wei. & that is true if you accept as the beginnings three temples the size of privies, a few old men who claimed to be monks & who ate only dried waterlily shoots to prove it & a handful of believers who could not reach consensus on a single point. Let us say, therefore, that it was Bodhidharma who planted the first seeds, even if they grew into straggly plants.A Preface to Monkey, by Wu Ch'eng-en. Dated The 181st Year of the Ming Dynasty.
That put behind us, it can be then said that it was Hsuan Tsang who truly brought Buddhism to our land, who brought the strong seeds that grew into a forest. A long & perilous journey that he undertook, that we knew he had begun only after he had finished it. Who could not have accomplished it on his own, but who, being a simple man, would not admit that he was worthy of the assistance of the Hosts of Heaven. I have corrected the story, added in those who I know to have been his traveling companions, so his true adventures can now be told.
& yet - there must always be an '& yet' for there is no journey that does not contain the traces of an earlier one - a commentary on the Mahayana Sutras of the Masters Asanga and Vasubandhu says there was one who came from the north before Hsuan Tsang & left with the Sutras. A man from the Eastern Turkish Khaganate, from the Takla Makan desert, who had a vision that he must first travel east to Wei where he would find the true faith struggling to survive, learn what he could of it so he could then learn more. Who would then travel west, retracing his earlier steps, until he arrived back from whence he came; & then go south, across the Karakorum, down through the Hindu Kush & into India, to find the Sutras. Who would take them back to the Great Tang where they would flourish.
But the Kings of the Four Corners of Heaven were not yet ready to welcome Gautama so they caused misfortune to befall this man whose name is never told. In Afghanistan, in the Bamiyan Valley, his legs were crushed by a falling rock so he could travel no further. (In another version, it is implied that the followers of the Hinayana, the Lesser Vehicle, caused the rock to fall, seeking to prevent the rival teachings from spreading.)
There he stayed, & taught. & people came & were so inspired by what they heard that they decided to glorify the Buddha, carving two enormous standing images of him into the sandstone of the cliffs with the details of the Buddha's face shaped by a mixture of mud & straw covered over & fixed with lime.
It is also whispered that there is a third statue at Bamiyan, hidden in a secret cave deep within the cliffs whose entrance has only ever been known to a few, a reclining figure as large as the other two but with a different face, that of the teacher, because some believed he was truly the Buddha reincarnate.
This is all I know of that story. But I know that when Tripitaka saw the Buddhas of Bamiyan he knew that he had almost completed the first part of his quest. & I know that the Monkey-King was so excited when he saw them that he jumped up onto the head of one with a single leap & shouted with joy."
Previous Part / Next Part
Monday, October 04, 2004
The Sargasso Sea on which we surf
You post things, & think they disappear without trace. But it seems like there's a Sargasso Sea out there, all binary & briny, to which things drift & then break off, to wash up on unexpected shores.
Such as this.
Such as this.
The Hay(na)ku Anthology
This week's reminder of The Hay(na)ku Anthology (details here) is Nicholas Downing's because at A New Broom.
Sunday, October 03, 2004
The Allegrezza Ficcione, Part 14
The following entry was found in the visitors' book at the Poets' Memorial, Tabriz.
For ShahryarPrevious Part / Next Part
Given the here
& now
of this place
it is
not surprising
you
found only the
past
worth writing
about.
U.A. 13/2/97
The Sunday Archive
My hands had forgotten Lorca
Though my body was full of him, for I
had spent part of last Saturday discussing
his poetry with a Chilean sailor, my hands
had forgotten Lorca.
Until tonight, when,
glancing through an anthology,
I came across a poem of his, called Córdoba.
&, opening an atlas to search
for this city, realised as I ran
my fingers over the map of Spain
that I was stroking Lorca’s face.
1964
Though my body was full of him, for I
had spent part of last Saturday discussing
his poetry with a Chilean sailor, my hands
had forgotten Lorca.
Until tonight, when,
glancing through an anthology,
I came across a poem of his, called Córdoba.
&, opening an atlas to search
for this city, realised as I ran
my fingers over the map of Spain
that I was stroking Lorca’s face.
1964
Saturday, October 02, 2004
Andrew & Jeannie
have been their usual busy selves at Poetic Inhalation.
There is a new double issue of Tin Lustre Mobile up, plus new e-books by Steven Stewart, kari edwards & harry k.stammer plus an e-chap of collaborations, tiptoe laureates, which includes the Kervinen-Young "Spectroscopy".
There is a new double issue of Tin Lustre Mobile up, plus new e-books by Steven Stewart, kari edwards & harry k.stammer plus an e-chap of collaborations, tiptoe laureates, which includes the Kervinen-Young "Spectroscopy".
Friday, October 01, 2004
Cthulhu's Island
This post should really have a voice-over from David Attenborough, all breathless BBC, for its subject has displayed a tendency to delete his posts or, at worst, delete his blogs altogether.
I am quietly adding The Red Dragon & The Black Beast to the sidebar. I am giving as its owner the name Simon Hoth. He posts as Simon, & since my previous nonemclature of him as "Hoth" - He of the heteronyms - has now been picked up by David Nemeth in his listing of newly-linked blogs I have decided to put the two together.
Tread softly when you visit. He has a tendency to run away. Whatever name you use to call him to you.
I am quietly adding The Red Dragon & The Black Beast to the sidebar. I am giving as its owner the name Simon Hoth. He posts as Simon, & since my previous nonemclature of him as "Hoth" - He of the heteronyms - has now been picked up by David Nemeth in his listing of newly-linked blogs I have decided to put the two together.
Tread softly when you visit. He has a tendency to run away. Whatever name you use to call him to you.
Now it's Jukka the calligrapher
at both Nonlinear Poetry & textual conjectures.
The sites overlap more than they ever have; but if I were genotyping I would describe them as having the same father but different mothers - though close, like sisters - because, to me at least, the images on each site devolve from what has preceeded them on that particular site.
It is interesting to see the progression in his work. He experiments, masters each new technique that he has developed, moves on from it but brings it & its precedents along & uses them when he feels they would augment so that, at times, there is the synergy of several styles in a new piece. The constants are an incredible ability to use space (for unlike a linear creator, these pieces are worked within a fairly defined area), an excitement, a sense of discovery, of mysteries of which we see only a portion but can find for ourselves now that we have been shown an entrance.
Every time I visit his blogs it is with anticipation. I am never disappointed. Jukka fills me with awe. I truly believe we are watching genius at work.
The sites overlap more than they ever have; but if I were genotyping I would describe them as having the same father but different mothers - though close, like sisters - because, to me at least, the images on each site devolve from what has preceeded them on that particular site.
It is interesting to see the progression in his work. He experiments, masters each new technique that he has developed, moves on from it but brings it & its precedents along & uses them when he feels they would augment so that, at times, there is the synergy of several styles in a new piece. The constants are an incredible ability to use space (for unlike a linear creator, these pieces are worked within a fairly defined area), an excitement, a sense of discovery, of mysteries of which we see only a portion but can find for ourselves now that we have been shown an entrance.
Every time I visit his blogs it is with anticipation. I am never disappointed. Jukka fills me with awe. I truly believe we are watching genius at work.
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