Michael Gardiner wrote:
> (ok let's get discussion of women writers up towards 50% irrespective of who's on the list - I could use advice on reading Denise Riley, Veronica F-T, Gael Turnbull, Helen MacDonald).
Looking forward to Doug's promised words on Denise Riley, to see how he
will expand the blurb on Georgette (also can hardly wait for the new
book from Reality Street, post Mop Mop poems I've seen in mags &
anthologies have been very enticing). The following riff is a persona
poem, of course: would not allow myself to be so insensitive.
On reading d.riley: an improvident improvisation.
Reserve a pool-side table.
Order drinks on the rocks; talk on the fly, the wing,
catch the buzz, the drift, flow with it, fall & rise with air
without air.
Do a synchronized air-swim routine with the waiter, tip him
into the shallow end.
Shred your copy of "Child Care
and the Growth of Love".
Be wary of wariness, aware of the limits
of perception: ignore those limits.
Stand in the Hall of Mirrors,
remark unremarkably, "I am
legion". Inspect the troupe,
change your guard
every few days. Keep those defense
mechanisms oiled & smooth:
stay as fleet as you are.
Peel back the layers of the hyper-intellectualised self: find other
than you'd expected - stand in your pillars of dna threaded like
a barber's pole,
strands of blood & its staunching, a self in its natural &
surgical divisions.
Let fools who are glad to
suffer. Do not settle
for everything.
As confidence grows
let out more & more line: make yourself heard above the din-
ner chat. Be earnest of next self, not echo of former.
Loop 'em with your talk, proffer a hand & give 'em a slip,
throw 'em back with the hooks still
in. Hone that tone
with 40-grit sandpaper: give it & take it
as rough as it
comes. Throw.
the. misogynists.
some. rind.
Oh Baby.
Pete.
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