Hi Doug

I'll think on that. It's good listening on your part although I was trying
for awkwardness.

I can hardly write to a NA ear! though I do steal from NA speech when it
suits me. "Speak" can be used transitively; but whether I am right there
or not is another matter; and you're right I am sure to trust your ear

It's not necessarily the end of the series. Titles come and go to some
extent; and I am not sure this one is needed. I think what it conveys is
implicit.

I say "not necessarily" because I have it in mind to reorganise everything
- as I had done as I approached 30 poems!

I'm wondering whether it may split into 2 sets.

I have some poems to go yet (the last of the set is 57 as it stands now)
and work through them one a day on a Monday to Friday basis! just because
I use the college machine and have tended to stick to a 5 day week for a
while

Some time later in the summer I'll try ordering them - that'll be
interesting. I felt I could hold the shape in my head when it was half
this size. Now...

L


On Tue, June 22, 2010 17:54, Douglas Barbour wrote:
> Okay, Lawrence, phew.
>
>
> I dont think you need that 'anything' though; sounds funny to my NA
> ears after 'speak.'
>
> Do you see this as a conclusion to the series? with its title etc?
>
>
> Doug
> On 22-Jun-10, at 3:28 AM, Lawrence Upton wrote:
>
>
>> If I went on stage and tried to tell them
>> what I think is the use of Poetry, they would not laugh, would not find
>> that funny and they would not agree with my theses – although they might
>> hear another word there.
>>
>> As do I.
>> Think “shit”. I, too, am childish.
>> Few could give a response more than “Get off”.
>> They do not understand logical thought.
>> They do not respect people who debate.
>> Which is not to say that they are stupid.
>>
>>
>> It is, though, better not to speak anything.
>> Words do not last long in a mob before
>> they turn back into grunts and pre-verbal experiments in threatening and
>> fear. If they asked, I would say “Poetry’s fun”;
>>
>>
>> but that’s because I enjoy being liked more than I want to make our
>> lives worthwhile. It is my cowardice, not their bravery,
>> which undermines attempts to be truthful and ensures that idiots are
>> heard the most.
>
> Douglas Barbour
> [log in to unmask]
>
> http://www.ualberta.ca/~dbarbour/
>
>
> Latest books:
> Continuations (with Sheila E Murphy)
> http://www.uap.ualberta.ca/UAP.asp?LID=41&bookID=664
> Wednesdays'
> http://abovegroundpress.blogspot.com/2008/03/new-from-aboveground-press_10
> .html
>
>
> because I want to die
>
> writing Haiku
>
> or, better,
>
> long lines, clean and syllabic as knotted bamboo. Yes!
>
> Phyllis Webb
>
>


-- 
Bartender: You really think the world's gonna end?
Ford: Yes.
Bartender: Shouldn't we lie down? Put paper bags over our heads or something?
Ford: If you like.
Bartender: Would it help?
Ford: Not at all.


Lawrence Upton
AHRC Creative Research Fellow
Dept of Music
Goldsmiths, University of London