Thursday, September 23, 2004

see, names come up, or I stumble on a book, and then I'm keen to read. thus reading a little of Drafts (1-38), Toll by Rachel Blau DuPlessis (Wesleyan 2001). I know I read the 1st poem in the series long ago in Temblor (which must be the handsomest mag ever (peace Leland Hickman)). the poem locates itself outside the Olson/Pound historical stance. its focus is more like the word or letter, in an inward mystery way. I would call it an exploration, a word I usually hate in this context but I think here is appropriate. her motivation perhaps similar to Zukofsky in ways, going smaller (in a quantum way) than sentence and, um, 'meaning', to syllable and letter. Grenier heads there. it'the work is a little intellectual in a dry way, like a professor's exercise. like maybe the work of professoring kinda slops over the boundaries into the writing, but that's really just a quibble. poets as professors do got to watch that, tho. the thingieness of writing gets objectified. I (non-professor) can do that too, of course, but professors got more opportunity. word to the wise, Rachel.

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