Ric and Peter`s Introduction to their Anthology looks to be
as good an overview of the various events and non-events which
constitute their given historical period as you could want and it
bodes well for the contents and the reception of the book itself. I
hope, with Doug, that those who partake of the Buffalo list will stir
up interest if they can.
I have no interest in an argument about which individuals
should and should not have been included but I`d still like to know
which Scottish poets, if any, are in there. Only then will I be able
to make up my mind about whether or not Doug has a case for the
wished-for inclusion of W.N. Herbert and Edwin Morgan. Until that
comes to pass, I can sit in limbo and formulate reasons for not
including any Scots; formulate reasons for ruling in and ruling out
any number of them (like the possibility that all Scottish poets (bar
a few, such as IHF, Leonard, Turnbull, David Kinloch (in his
excellent "Dustie-fute") and Peter Manson) are more or less glib
pasticheurs of the schools represented in the anthology, not
actually contributing
. That may or may not be fair, or even
true. But it may give a clue as to how to read the recent work of
Thomas A. Clark, if he is really revising IHF`s ambivalences in the
direction of Buddhism and homoeopathy, revising Richard Long in the
direction of Andy Goldsworthy in the direction of a vacuous quasi-Zen
meets Safeways` fruit `n` veg counter ( I do like sixteen sonnets,
tho`):
> In it he is emerging as an inscriptional land-artist
> or something similar (nice that poetry can be "shown" through silence
> and not just read). There are some beautiful texts there, and there
> is also a newly published card called "Ten Attentions". I quote
> (without permission) a few sentences:
> Not forms but the relations between forms
> Not the obvious but the inconspicuous
> Not light but air
> Not the object of desire but the presence of desire
> Not colours but values
> Not the gate but the field
> The whole show (which contains some real fruit and flowers) makes
> me think of what it is insciptions can do as a distinctive variant
> of generic text - the importance of surface, scale, placement,
> changing light, affixing a text to something, next to some other
> object etc
> Peter
TEN LAPSES IN ATTENTION
Nope, start again.
Mmf.
Hang on.
The phone?
Whistly nose.
Right, start again.
Right.
Wait a second.
A wee minute.
OK, ready.
all best
robin
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