VRZHU bullets of pure love

These films should be considered poems (part one) - La Jetee

Title of this and future like-posts thanks to a Susan Howe (from a SUNY Buffalo syllabus of hers).

Review of The Kimnama and More Than Anything

Please take a moment and read these fair and balanced reviews of The Kimnama by Kim Roberts and More Than Anything by Hiram Larew in the Montserrat Review, the two inaugural books of Vrzhu Press. Congratulations, Kim and Hiram!

From Our Research Bureau

Finally, feel safe thanks to Vrzhu Reliable Poetry Protection!

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In past decades, to reduce poetry pollution in areas near universities, English departments built poetic sneeze guards and venting ducts to disperse the poetic particulate high up into the air, away from listeners. However, new EPA regulations have now made this method infeasible.

During the 1980s, the American Poetry Society conducted a major ten-year scientific study of acidic poetry and poetry precipitates. This study, the National Acidic Poetry Assessment Program or NAPAP, found that the effects of acidic poetry were greater than feared. The study found that acidic poetry had affected about 10 percent of Eastern poetry readers and audiences and that it had contributed to the decline in reading poetry by reducing tolerance to anastrophe, rhyme and synecdoche. The study also found that acidic poesis contributed to corrosion in prose writing in affected areas and that poetic particles had contributed to reduced readability and intelligibility in the Northeast and parts of the West. The panel found that the readers and listeners most severely affected were those who lacked a natural buffering capacity.

The particulate matter associated with acid poesis has been shown to have adverse health effects, especially among those who are susceptible to mental disorders, or are highly suggestible. There is also some concern that acidic poesis could contribute to leaching of common sense and humility from the literate populace.

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Perelman on Political Poetry - Wednesday Supplement

Once I let politics into my writing, it stayed in there. Now, the political situation seems harsher than ever. I'd like to be able to write more political poems (I don't write that many). The ones that are here, like the one on Dick Cheney, I think that's very effective. I'm very glad it got on the Op-Ed page. It isn't just simple; it really is reacting against "shock and awe," relating love and hate, having kids and all that, which seems to me the political center of what needs to be considered. But it's really hard, for me, to write political poetry because there's a kind of—well, it's so easy to short-circuit it, to somehow "answer" the political problem in the poem, and when that happens ... I feel a great sense of defeat, poetically. There are a range of whole poems that I think are somewhat successful politically, maybe, but they make me feel kind of disappointed—as poems.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

In the academy it can get tiring. There's often a rather vigilant, censorious sense of what politics is. And at worst, it's like anything that is obvious is reactionary. But the obvious is going to change, over the years (whatever is obvious now won't be obvious later, and what seems obscure now will in some cases become more and more obvious). That's the weird, impossible balance. I'd love to have something be obvious and subtle, politically. Who knows; our desires and fantasies guide us, often, in the most impossible ways. But it's a problem. The public and the obvious and the political are real—they are not the enemies of poetry. But often enough there are poems that crash against those rocks. [....] There isn't a good example. With Ginsberg, "Howl" is a pretty amazing poem, and it's very effective, and it really is something. But with some of those poems right after "Howl," which were very long, it's not very easy to sustain it. And "Wichita Vortex Sutra," which is another, really important poem, is interesting but I don't know what I think of it. But I think that where Ginsberg says, "I here declare the end of the war," it's powerful, but it's also—well, "So what?" or, "No, I don't think you did manage to end the war." That's where the poem becomes self-congratulatory. That's the end of effective political poetry.

So, it's a hard question. And those are the hardest poems to write. And there's so much wrong that is so completely obvious, that it's hard to know what to do, how to get it to act, to be active on the page.

-Bob Perelman, from A Discussion: Poetry And Discipline, a discussion held at the Mantis Workshop on November 18, 2005.

And remember, news from the Vrzhu Research Bureau . . . tomorrow.

Tuesday Sports Roundup

TODAY'S TOP STORY:  ROBERTS' KIMNAMA REVIEWED BY STEVEN ALLEN MAY!

And below the fold . . .

1. From a review of A Life of Picasso, Volume III, The Triumphant Years:

[Picasso] turned objects into people and vice versa, but never, in the manner of the surrealists, reduced women to machines.

COMMENT: ...unlike the automobile industry.

1.1

Question: Do you think the poetry written by Americans during the last ten years shows any line of development (progressions)?

Wallace Stevens: The older poets have to be considered as individuals; the younger poets, whom it is easier to see as a group, lack a leader. After all, the fury of poetry always comes from a the presence of a madman or two and, at the moment, all the madmen are  politicians.

-Wallace Stevens, 20th Century Verse, September - October 19382.

2. A while back, we put out an all points for the Latin word (or equivalent) for 'blog." Recently, an informal member of the Vrzhu Research Bureau Irregulars (little did she suspect), Latin scholar Jane Brinley, was able to assist us.

Ms. Brinley writes:

. . . about the Latin for blog. I came across an article that suggested blogis which would decline like this:

blogis        bloges
blogis        blogium
blogi         blogibus
blogem        bloges
bloge         blogibus

The second conjugation verb proposed would have principle parts as follows: blogeo, blogere, blogevi, blogetus.

. . .and Ms. B also researches the back translation of "Love me, love my blog."

If that's a command/imperative it would be ama me, ama blogem meum. You can fool with the word order eg: me ama, ama blogem meum or ama me blogem meum ama. If the command is addressed to multiple people it would be amata me, amata blogem meum. Same word order variants work.

Thank you, Jane Brinley.  Excellent work.

COMMENT: in the accompanying figure note the use of the stylus to keystroke this Roman laptop circa 29 BCE. We have come so far.

3. A poetry doping scandal reported on at the blog of Charles Berstein:

Doping Scandal Rocks Poetry
by Mike Freakman

    July 30, New York (AHP2 News Service) – The poetry world has been rocked by recent revelations that several of the most prestigious national poetry contest winners in 2005 and 2006 were written with the aid of performance-enhancing drugs.

    “Over the past decade, poetry contests have emphasized our openness to all participants, with the promise that each manuscript is judged on its merits along,” said Guadalupe Maximino Glumstein, the Chancellor of the International Poetry Contests Federation (IPCF). “Doping is a huge step backward in our efforts, since it gives an unfair competitive advantage to those who are willing to do anything, including risk long-term damage to their bodies and minds, in order to write the best poem.”

    The IPCF advocates testing for performance-enhancing drugs as a prerequisite for national book publications, slam competitions, as well a poetry contests. Poets that violate IPCF rules would be ineligible for prizes or anthologies for penalty periods of one year for first offenders to eternity for repeat offenders. Poets that comply with IPCF guidelines get a sticker to affix to all their publications certifying their poems as doping-free.

    “Unless we want poetry to sink back into the margins of society, we must assure readers that poets produce their work with their own sweat and imagination. When we teach a poem to a young person in a school setting, to inspire and instruct, we need to be able to say that anyone can aspire to write a poem as good as this. We can’t afford to send a message that doping is necessary to write the best poems. We have to have an even playing field.”

    Several leading poets were asked to comment on the scandal but refused to talk on the record, for fear of provoking IPCF investigations of their conduct. Unlike the use of doping in baseball, track, and cycling, poets often use poetry-performance-enhancing drugs to cause temporary physical and mental impairment or paralysis, in order to hyperactivate their imaginative capacities. The practice has been shown to cause a number of long-term physical and mental maladies.

    But 11-year old Daisy Threadwhistle of Incontrobrogliaria, New Jersey, was eager to speak on the record. Ms. Threadwhistle said she was very disappointed when a poem from her school reader was removed when its author tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. “ ‘The Moon Is My Revenge, Venus My Soldier of Midnight’ ” was my favorite poem this year. I feel cheated. I don’t think I want to read any more poems.”

    In early 2006, IPCF introduced a battery of blood and psychological tests to detect poetic doping. An IPCF study group is now investigating whether the use of certain computer programs and search engines also should be banned from poetry.

3. The illustrious Ms. Jill Dybka has put up a worthy and nifty donation request at her blog (to which you should be a regular visitor or visitrix), the Poetry Hut.  It says:

Public service announcement:

Seeking poets who might have an extra copy of their chapbook or book they'd be willing to donate to a lucky student. Each week, during my 8-week undergraduate poetry class, there will be a drawing to see who wins the book a poet has been generous enough to donate. The winner will be responsible for reading your book, reviewing it, and selecting a favorite poem to read to the class the following week. If you like, contact information and book price should be included so that others in the class can buy your book. Students will be STRONGLY encouraged to buy the books of poets who, after all, were kind enough to contribute a book to their education. If you're willing, please send your book (autographed would be nice) and contact and price details to:

Jeff Winke
Upper Iowa University - Milwaukee Center
620 S 76th St.
Milwaukee, WI 53214

4. M. Mark Wallace, a valued member of the DC innovative poetry community, and since decamped to Carlsbad, CA, has some v. interesting questions on his blog that I urge you to take a look at and respond to as appropriate, to wit, and I quote:

While you’re actually writing a poem, how conscious are you of the history of poetry? Are you constantly thinking about how your poem will relate to the poems that have come before, or do you not think about that at all? Are you somewhere in between?

5. At FreeRice.com, you can donate 10 grains of rice by choosing the right answer to a vocabulary question. The rice is distributed by United Nations’ World Food Programme. It was created by John Breen, a computer programmer who also created The Hunger Site.

The rice is paid for by the advertisers whose name you see on the bottom of the screen.  As of November Seventeenth, 2,457,120,420 grains of rice were given away.  By the way, one cup of rice contains about 1,000 grains.

6. Finally, please tune in Thursday for a VERY IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT from the Vrzhu Research Bureau.

Limpwrist seeks submissions

Poet Dustin Brookshire is still seeking quality submissions for the inaugural issue of Limpwrist, a new online lit mag with a queer sensibility, but not just for the 'mos. He's already scored an interview with Laure-Anne Bosselaar and new poems from Dara Wier. Good company to be in, so get those submissions in ASAP. You can check out the under construction website for submission guidelines at this link. Submmissions can be made via email. Hooray!

The Art of the Interview ( No. 2 of a series)

Robert Bly vs. New York Quarterly

Interviewer: Well, do you think that a poet should familiarize himself with numerous rhetorical devices such as oxymoron, anastrophe, synecdoche, and so forth in order to perfect the craft of his poetry?

Robert Bly: Read that sentence again.

Interviewer: Well, do you think that a poet should familiarize himself with numerous rhetorical devices such as oxymoron, anastrophe, synecdoche, and so forth in order to perfect the craft of his poetry?

Robert Bly: All those words are horribly boring when you read them to me. The sound of them—they’re all Greekish. Isn’t it odd that we haven’t developed Anglo-Saxon words? Words with senses in them that would describe these things? Do you follow me? We’re not satisfied with the Greek word for pig for example. We get our own word for pig. We have our own word for house. We think houses are important. It’s odd that these words you mention exist only in Greek form. I don’t think that to us, even to you, they are very important.

Interviewer: I think you will find many of those devices used in modern poetry and they enhance the poetry.

Robert Bly: But remember what T. S. Eliot said: “Well, you know I have never been able to remember the difference between anapestic and trochaic.”

Interviewer: He doesn’t have to remember that.

Robert Bly: If he doesn’t have to remember, who does then?

Interviewer: That’s a little bit different.

Robert Bly: How? How is it different?

Thanksgiving Stuff

Thanksgiving

Peter Klappert

What a day to dismantle a roller-coaster.
Well, they are taking it down--
the tracks are all over the ground
and the ties drawn up. The ticket office
is shut, the calliope covered with tarps.

These workmen move their rides
from town to town, with the weather,
and a day gained dismantling
is a day to them. They are grateful
for the day gained, and for the silence
in a park where only ducks and I remain.

As if against the numb fall sky,
sounds of hammers and crowbars
and the changing voice of one man's oldest son
rebound from pond to light pole and away.
Tomorrow they'll be on their way
to Arkansas, or a place they haven't
been before; today they're making time.

Today they're making time. The doors
of the van are open, the van is dark.
The cars stand there in a line, as if
they are not well or have something
to tell the man who stands on the tail-gate.
This corner of the park is nearly flat.

*    *    *   *    *    *    *

Minnesota Thanksgiving

John Berryman

For that free Grace bringing us past great risks
& thro' great griefs surviving to this feast
sober & still, with the children unborn and born,
among brave friends, Lord, we stand again in debt
and find ourselves in the glad position: Gratitude.

We praise our ancestors who delivered us here
within warm walls all safe, aware of music,
likely toward ample & attractive meat
with whatever accompaniment
Kate in her kind ingenuity has seen fit to devise,

and we hope - across the most strange year to come -
continually to do them and You not sufficient honour
but such as we become able to devise
out of decent or joyful conscience & thanksgiving. Yippee!
   Bless then, as Thou wilt, this wilderness board.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Thanksgiving

Mac Hammond

The man who stands above the bird, his knife
Sharp as a Turkish scimitar, first removes
A thigh and leg, half the support
On which the turkey used to stand. This
Leg and thigh he sets on an extra
Plate. All his weight now on
One leg, he lunges for the wing, the wing
On the same side of the bird from which
He has just removed the leg and thigh.
He frees the wing enough to expose
The breast, the wing not severed but
Collapsed down to the platter. One hand
Holding the fork, piercing the turkey
Anywhere, he now beings to slice the breast,
Afflicted by small pains in his chest,
A kind of heartburn for which there is no
Cure. He serves the hostess breast, her
Own breast rising and falling. And so on,
Till all the guests are served, the turkey
Now a wreck, the carver exhausted, a
Mere carcass of his former self. Everyone
Says thanks to the turkey carver and begins
To eat, thankful for the cold turkey
And the Republic for which it stands.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

The kind of hope I often think about (especially in situations that are particularly hopeless, such as prison) I understand above all as a state of mind, not a state of the world. Either we have hope within us or we don't; it is a dimension of the soul, and it's not essentially dependent on some particular observation of the world or estimate of the situation. Hope is not prognostication. It is an orientation of the spirit, an orientation of the heart; it transcends the world that is immediately experienced, and is anchored somewhere beyond its horizons. I don't think you can explain it as a mere derivative of something here, of some movement, or of some favorable signs in the world. I feel that its deepest roots are in the transcendental, just as the roots of human responsibility are.... The more unpropitious the situation in which we demonstrate hope, the deeper that hope is. Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.

Vaclav Havel

Art of the interview (no. 1 in a series)

Charles Olson vs. The Paris Review

Interviewer:  These are very straight questions

Olson:  Ah, that's what interviews are made of

*    *    *    *    *    *   *    *    *    *

Interviewer:  What is the distinction between your usage of the technique of quotation and that of Pound?

Olson:  To tell you the truth, I think both Pound and Eliot were after something rather different than us who came a little later, like myself, hip hip hip. All that matters is that the thing be the thing of the thing -- a  cool thing which is like a river for the tiger of the river.   To say it in language is like hard as hell. The greatest poetry profile that was made this side or the other side of the Atlantic Ocean is called the anacreontic award and I hereby now make it and it's pre-amanquiantic and it is absolutely way down below Atlantis and it has got no end, no end because it is like the stock of heaven and creation and it hasn't even been booed or had a crown yet, but it exists. And I know where it's playing -- and I know where it is planted and I know where it is and we all do too, and we all know what we're talking about, because it is down on the plantation under the trunk of that large cypress tree in all that goo way down there in that rain swamp...

Bly on political poetry - a daybook entry

Robert Bly on Political Poetry

When a poet succeeds in driving part way inward, he often develops new energy that carries him on through the polished husk of the inner psyche that deflects most citizens or poets. Once inside the psyche, he can speak of inward and political things with the same assurance. We can make a statement then that would not have been accepted in the thirties, namely, that what is needed to write good poems about the outward world is inwardness. The political activists in the literary world are wrong—they try to force political poetry out of poets by pushing them more deeply into events, making them feel guilt if they don’t abandon privacy. But the truth is that the political poem comes out of the deepest privacy.

*    *    *

Some poets try to write political poems impelled by hatred, or fear. But these emotions are heavy, they affect the gravity of the body.  What the poet needs to get up that far and bring back something are great leaps of the imagination.

A true political poem is a quarrel with ourselves, and the rhetoric is as harmful in that sort of poem as in the personal poem. The true political poem does not order us either to take any specific acts: like the personal poem, it moves to deepen awareness.

From Leaping Into Political Poetry (1971)