Sunday, January 23, 2011

The Marriage of Form and Content



Opus consternates – post-
pernicious insertions – per-
haps haphazard in its
Over-elaborated and hazard-
ed (as in a game, homo ludens after all)
construction. The work. Form-
ed, perhaps stylishly, orphaned moment
of effect effortlessly wrought, the genius
– between his laric dancers –
in all manner of ire and in-
dignation against even muses
now, no longer faithful, no, no
longer hewn in the mold of the pro-
phet, the priest, or even the ad-
dict. An older man. Bewarn-
ed of dogs and rags and loose
pussies (as the wise man of Memphis
in his ditty sings). I, too,
want to see scenes (a lararium!)
from my works in mosaic
– or fresco even – adorning the walls
of Pompeii.




1/6/2011
Neapolis




4 comments:

  1. OK, if you're paying attention you'll know that I already posted this on my facebook poetry/performance page but as I'm quite unsure about this one and felt like it would be good for me to throw it up here and to actively solicit some feedback from this community--it's one of three poems that I wrote in Naples on vacation over the winter break, i tried some tricks with form that I'm unsure about, dunno if I get the point accross very well or if it's too personal for pleasurable reading or what. Please, gimmi the business, let's hear what you think. Lee

    ReplyDelete
  2. I felt like this poem was calling for the past but moving toward the future. I don't know if that makes sense, but to me the writer was looking back at a history that is slowly dying and not wanting it to be forgotten.It was a little difficult to find this meaning, but after researching some of the language I found it rewarding. Looking up the word lararium was definitely useful because it seemed to put the poem in perspective for me. It led me to the feeling I get from the poem. I still have some difficulty understanding what it all means, but I don't think that's important. It gives me some space to wonder.

    The poem reads well, I enjoy the sporadic stop and go points in this poem. My favorite being hazard
    ed.
    I think that you should experiment more with this form and see what you get out of it. I find it a little confusing at times, but amusing all the same.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks, Julio. You hit the nail right on the head. We were walking around Pompeii and we came to a Lararium and we read about what it was--and I had been thinking earlier in the day, as we looked at all of the mythological and literary scenes in mosaic back in the museum in Naples, what it would be like to have written a scene in a text and then to see it painted in someone's house--and the poem was born as a meditation on writing and the permanence of stories, families.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm stopping and starting and tripping and backing up with each line. The rhythm and pace is determined by the line breaks and keeps me from going at my own pace. Quite effective. Although I liked the way you direct the flow, I didn't quite understand why until I got to the line about the mosaics, and then I had an "aha" moment. It was there all along in the words "pernicious," "haphazard," "hazard-ed" and "ad-dict" but the mosaic brought it altogether. I'm inclined to think it begs to be read aloud to really feel the broken lines...

    ReplyDelete