h'm, so that's what it's all about. or is it?

as far as i can make sense of bill griffith's latest posting it seems that
he has taken a piece of mine published in angel exhaust (edited by the
grand satan, andrew duncan) to be part of a concerted attack on himself
because it bears the subscription "after bill griffiths". now, altho' i am
not willing to withdraw the (most certainly not a perfect piece - some
lines work, but overall it's inchoate) poem from publication nor do i see
any need for apologies i am willing to contact the site owner to ask if he
will delete the subscription as it obviously causes bill distress.
 that apart, i must protest at the bendings & twistings of truth contained
in the posting: to find myself transformed into both a freudian & an
elitist in one night is rather like going down in a lift out of control
with my stomach going upwards in an opposed direction.
 (i can't stand freud - i'll never forget my utter dismay at reading the
penguinised edition of "the psychopathology of everyday life" in my late
teens, & as for elitism (wow!) - i live on the 6th floor of a tower block -
most definitely not made of ivory - among crackheads, schizos, alkies etc
(some of whom are very nice people) & the idea of me as an elitist is
almost enough to send me running laughing to my friendly neighbourhood
debt-collector)
 i have had poems published in "angel exhaust", yes, & for that matter
"first offense", but i am not part of any conspiracy against anyone. i have
not seen the infamous article in "first offense" but do appreciate that
bill griffiths has been distressed by it, however, i would suggest that he
& his friends are effectively publicising it.
 as for bill's vision of the "socialist-democratic" expansion of culture,
my experience whispers, with a slight aside "oh dear", that he is seeing
things. almost all of our culture, i think, is driven by capitalism, from
the spice girls to the forward prize, here & there little bits peek out
that are semi-independent, but what expansion there has been has only been
as the result of our masters & mistresses requiring an increase in the
'educated' workforce (as happened with the grammar schools of edward vi &
the forster education acts, & so with the wilson government & the polys
etc.
 - very crude history this but it's only an
e-mail). & i speak as someone who can say, with hugh macdiarmid, " i am not
for, i am of the working class" i have no idea why bill griffiths is taking
to impersonating norman tebbitt on the cultural front - viz his aspersions
about european high culture (believe it or not, bill, us scum actually like
the stuff, given the chance to get it) & am quite amazed by his attributing
to me 'personally' matters which he first raised himself i.e. the use of
abstractions as insults.

from

a pig in the muck

david bircumshaw


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