Andrew, re "Warning Signs": which one of you wore red knickers?
You brought a near-unbearable-mooded subject into compelling view. 'Tis a WAY tough thing to do. Like tryna make a "depressed" character the novel's fascinating protagonist (unless the readers are self-flagellant, they'll consign the book to a thrift shop before reaching its tenth page).
I note, too, that you returned us, perhaps consciously, to the "flying kite" metaphor (Ben Bellitt?) for the way we write poetry. Ben'd apparently felt, as you'd paraphrased him in your days-ago explanation, "in the end the kite was flying him---in his concentration, etc." Your (below) poem says, beautifully, "the kite of all my days flies a tattered tail. I am holding on"---and I'm fascinated with what that image might mean for the snapman.
Thanks!
Judy
----- Original Message -----
From: "Andrew Burke" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, June 23, 2005 12:02 AM
Subject: snap
> Warning Signs
>
>
> gourmet snails
> eat the chilli plant
> the flowering bush
> is a handful of sticks
> someone has put their butts
> in the geranium's pot
>
> today I bought
> Jill's the book of
> Possibilities
> for 50 cents
> of more delight than
> John's Peripheral Light
> (Harold left out the best of .)
>
> I sneeze and wheeze
> through coffee
> with my exwife
> and go through
> market shops with her
> like back when .
> only now its
> her money -
>
> at night between sets
> at Wimbleton
> I read Winton and Genette-
> forty / fifteen.
> Tim comes up to the net
> Gerard stays back of court ...
>
> Talking Heads are
> live in concert
> on the stained speakers
> 'warning sign of things to come -
> turn me over, turn me over'
> I go to bed
> and dream of fucking
> my ex-wife in red knickers
> 'warning sign, warning sign -
> look at my hair -
> like the design?'
>
> the kite of all my days
> flies a tattered tail .
> I'm holding on
> holding on
> snails at the chilli
> Talking Heads silent
>
>
> Andrew Burke
> Mt Lawley
> 23 June 2005
>
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