Thank you very kindly Abigail. The poem began as a (very appreciative, even reverant) send-up of John Ashberry's poetry, whose long, muscular and elusive lines I am obsessed with — however, I find his philosophical elision Annoying, perhaps even imoral (perhaps simply amoral) and liken its character to much of the unrooted thought and speech that seems to have reached a terminal (in both senses) velocity in the contemporary milieu — so the poem became an exercise in writing a kind of reverse-Ashberry poem (i.e. a poem unabashedly About Something) even while utilizing Ashberry's brilliant and novel associative agility.
Beautiful bit of enjambment. I'm reminded of Tennyson's Ulysses: "There gloom the dark, broad seas" and "The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep/
Moans round with many voices", with the verbalised adjective of the first, and the enjambment of the second changing the part of speech of the end-word
"smoke that renders the sun
a hieroglyphic stand-in for itself"
Just perfect – it simply hangs there in my mind. A terrifyingly beautiful image. Bokashi with bits of kuroku placed carefully underneath.
Marvelous: "There is blood that makes this brain
an island, and ceases only to flow—
it will remain and elegize
the justice of its first unthrown shape"
I love the sounds and images at play here.
I know better than to ask you for any explanations, but I would love to hear any further thoughts you want to share. :)
Thank you very kindly Abigail. The poem began as a (very appreciative, even reverant) send-up of John Ashberry's poetry, whose long, muscular and elusive lines I am obsessed with — however, I find his philosophical elision Annoying, perhaps even imoral (perhaps simply amoral) and liken its character to much of the unrooted thought and speech that seems to have reached a terminal (in both senses) velocity in the contemporary milieu — so the poem became an exercise in writing a kind of reverse-Ashberry poem (i.e. a poem unabashedly About Something) even while utilizing Ashberry's brilliant and novel associative agility.
Thank you for sharing the inspiration, Sam. This is fascinating.
"Waves, as ever, opaque
themselves against endless dunes"
Beautiful bit of enjambment. I'm reminded of Tennyson's Ulysses: "There gloom the dark, broad seas" and "The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep/
Moans round with many voices", with the verbalised adjective of the first, and the enjambment of the second changing the part of speech of the end-word
Thank you for the reading Barsley : I will be investigating these resonances with relish.
Love this!