Certainly, me too, altho I think my range of reading is less broad than
yours. No self-praise intended.
The issue becomes, finally, I think (and I wouldn't be surprised if you
agree with this, too), "and simultaneously I perceived such and such
sights, spoke such and such
words," as Doug Oliver put it in the passage Alison quoted at the beginning
of this discussion. Anything else, it seems to me, involves a kind of
strategizing that makes it difficult not to conventionalize the perceived
beyond recognition. What I mean by pastiche, or verse, as opposed to poetry.
As to pastiche, there's nothing wrong with it per se, and Henry does it
rather well. He also does poetry.
How are you reajdusting to life in the far north as the republic threatens
to destroy the world for the sake of a few regional industries? (Boy, that
question got out of hand. Let me try again:) How's life back on the farm
now that you've seen gay Hanoi?
Mark
PS. A note on Doug Oliver. I only knew him for a few months, and that
entirely by email, mostly public, some backchannel. And I nonetheless feel
the loss intensely. He had that kind of effect on people. It would have
been nice to sit down with him over a glass of cognac.
At 08:09 PM 8/2/2001 -0400, you wrote:
>Mark writes:
><<It would at any rate be difficult to describe the style of Langpo such
>that it would cover, say, Perelman and Armantrout, as it would be difficult
>to describe the style of Black Mountain and its near associates so as to
>cover Olson and also Duncan and Wieners. Or for that matter Bishop and
>Lowell in their camp. The identification happens at a deeper level.
>
>I'm comfortable with calling all of these "practices," like different types
>of Buddhism or monastic Christianity. They certainly involve deeply
>committed stances towards the world and the word. Very different from
>"yesterday I wrote a postmodernist poem. Gee, maybe I'll write a sonnet
>today," in which style is no more essential than a change of clothes or a
>style of basketweaving.>>
>
>Mark, this seems right to me. But I think that the edges of the categories
>are at least a little bit fuzzy & that poets do learn from reading in other
>practices. True for me anyways.
>
>jd
>
>
>======================
>Joseph Duemer
>School of Liberal Arts, 5750
>Clarkson University
>Potsdam NY 13699
>315.268.3967
>======================
>
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