'Il faut absolutement 'stupid''
Yes, that is so pertinent. I can't articulate the 'whys', but all my
instincts tell me that cleverness and poetry don't go together, for
instance, which is one reason why I get so uptight about academic models of
poetry, and the discourses therewith. Also, maybe, in terms of 'real life',
of the overwhelm of money and gain, poetry is a 'stupid' activity, and too
the somewhat out of the self state that it's creation requires, the
dissolution of the ego's boundaries, requires a kind of capacity for
stupefaction. I recall that one of John Clare's problems was not only with
the rich who took him up then dropped him but also with his local community,
who widely regarded him as a 'plonker', a dreamyhead not in focus.
Stupidity is also very useful in relation to those who claim not be so.
Best
Dave
David Bircumshaw
Leicester, England
Home Page
A Chide's Alphabet
Painting Without Numbers
www.paintstuff.20m.com/index.htm
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/david.bircumshaw/index.htm
----- Original Message -----
From: "Alison Croggon" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2001 8:40 AM
Subject: Back on Planet Earth
> Lately I've been on holiday in another world, which has been
> strangely restful. Just returned to this one, and it looks just as
> dire as it ever did. Anyone else here read Robert Fisks's article in
> the Independent the other day about what it's like in Taliban-held
> Afghanistan? Yeah, right.
>
> Anyway, for these and myriad other reasons, I was pondering Heiner
> Muller's statement that "poets have to be stupid". (It's probably
> important to remember that Muller writes poetry). I think he's right.
>
> But why?
>
> Best
>
> Alison
> --
>
>
> Alison Croggon
>
> Home page
> http://users.bigpond.com/acroggon/
> Masthead
> http://au.geocities.com/masthead_2/
>
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