re: this Creeley poem discussed last month, and how it got memorised -
I've just been reading a pamphlet by Alec Finlay, I KNOW A POEM, composed
from the Creeley poem as recollected by 7 people - my favourite bit:
& why not
& why not
and why not buy
why not buy a
buy a goddamn
why not get a goddamn
goddam big car and
big car &
buy a goddamn big car -
big car,
a goddam big car
lets get a goddamned big car and
drive
I Know a Man
As I sd to my
friend, because I am
always talking, -- John, I
sd, which was not his
name, the darkness sur-
rounds us, what
can we do against
it, or else, shall we &
why not, buy a goddamn big car,
drive, he sd, for
christ's sake, look
out where yr going.
Note: Creeley found it amusing that his one poem that made it beyond
the realm of poetry readers and students into the realm of pop
culture is usually misread, as in the film title. He claimed that the
I of the poem says the word "drive," the rest is John's. Makes it a
more interesting poem (tho far from my favorite of Creeley's), but
hard to imagine how even a pretty good reader would get this.
|