I've now retrieved Dan Spielman's poems from the archives. No idea why I
didn't get them the normal way. I haven't looked at the translations from
Rimbaud yet, but I've been puzzling over _Where_. Just when you think you've
got it pinned down it turns into something else. It seems to parody the idea
of a play, with its non-cast of CHORUS, PLAYER and ORATOR (the last of whom
doesn't speak), and its stage direction THE PLAY BEGINS which occurs just
before it ends. The play starts at sea, but the Chorus's opening lines are a
comically physical description of walking. Yet one can't dismiss it as pure
farce because of the grimness of some of the material, eg the apocalypic
description of the women burying themselves in the rain. Clown, Angel,
Devil, Chorus, sound effects that go nowhere etc - a lot of the time it
feels about role playing, about theatricality itself, which it seems to want
to explode by its absurd juxtapositions. But I'm sure I'm missing a good
deal. I'd be interested to hear other people's views.
Best wishes
Matthew
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