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I'm reading a book on Prynne, and have often seen it mentioned that *Brass *is
*very *difficult to read. I think this shows I'm missing something, from
reading in general. So to take one example, as I begin to flick through --
*Poems*.* Royal Fern 5*

     So that the fiat parks by the kerb.
     We hear him switch off, he is
     dreaming of the void. In time
     soup for the father in open green.

I just infer a short narrative about someone stopping their car and getting
out. The only unusual elements is "void" and "soup", which seem quite close
to me. I just infer that he is walking alone. The whole poem seems to just
be about walking, culminating in scene comparing that to a peaceful
("warm") family. This would make some phrases very strange e.g. "singing
with it I run" or "Tears streamed down his unlied face", but this can
perhaps be linked quite easily to the "Fern" in the title and repetition of
'beads', as according to wikipedia

*     Onoclea sensibilis*, the *sensitive fern*, also known as the *bead
fern*, is a coarse-textured, medium to large-sized deciduous
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deciduous> perennial
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perennial_plant> fern
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fern>. The name comes from the observation
by early American settlers that it was very sensitive to frost, the fronds
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frond> dying quickly when first touched by
it.

 So that seems to make perfect sense! What am I missing, aside from how the
poem actually *works*?

Luke