"Backs" is actually a Vincent invention for these Irish emigrant
construction workers sitting with their backs to me at the bar - their
"backs" backed off from the day's work - yet, one can sense the physical
vibrations of lifting, hammering, etc. in their systems. (While I 'labor' in
my journal over an Irish coffee at my table viewing the fog through the big
glass windows)
Course that should be all in the poem, right? Makes me realize how much
many of us, including myself, ignore the work, the sheer labor, its
specifics, of the people who create the architecture, including streets and
gardens, about us. But that kind of attention is something allocated and
dismissed as "working class" literature, right? - and now the question,
"dismissed by who and why and through what means??"
Stephen V
Blog: http://stephenvincent.durationpress.com
> Vincent Yes that 'relief in september'gripping fogs
> Some refs went over this aged head (as usual)
> Backs back off is that footbal ??
> Cheers Old P
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Poetryetc provides a venue for a dialogue relating to poetry and
> poetics [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Stephen Vincent
> Sent: 23 August 2005 20:49
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Snap - Vincent
>
> "The coldest winter I ever spent was an August in San Francisco." Mark Twain
>
> At five o'clock the "backs" back off
> Riddle the sky, throw blank stares at each other
> We don't know why we are here
> Your ennui not more valuable than mine
> I dream my heart through roses
> It's August in San Francisco
> The fog grips the psyche like an iron vice
> There's no use to cry "Uncle"
> No one except the advent of blue and sunshine
> Will lift one off the mat:
> It's winter. There's no way out
> You better die and die a little more
> If one breathes there will be relief in September
> Or, head to the high country
> Give in to neither bad politics
> Or bad - we got tons of it - weather.
>
> Stephen V
> Blog: http://stephenvincent.durationpress.com
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