...and finally Fitterman read

a day of... well it began with me thinking the clocks changed today, and I was all set to spring back, except my computer that changes automatically decided to spring forward. that caused a slight unsettling of the day, right from the start. canny readers of this blog will note that your correspondent was under the impression that last sunday was Palm Sunday. which would make today Easter. I convinced Beth of this fact, and we planned a nice Easter brunch for the 3 of us. it wasn't till this morning that I was alerted to the possibility that Easter wouldn't arrive for 2 more weeks. well yeah, maybe for those not involved with the Bramhall Orthodox Church. so anyway, things looked ripe for our actually going to a poetry reading today. the Demolicious Series runs monthly readings in the People's Republic of Cambridge. today's honoured readers were Joel Sloman and Robert Fitterman. I met and heard Joel read last year, and I've read the 1st volume of Fitterman's Metropolis. so happy happy. just needed to find he place. Mapquest came thru again, identifying the most circuitous route and adeptly using a code in which right means left. in sooth the Out of the Blue gallery is a block from Mass Ave in Central Square. I mean, like, there should be no prob finding. we parked across the street from Pearl Art Supply, something of a Mecca. the gallery is a small store front. the art on display made me feel um good about my own artistic efforts. I guess I shouldn't say that. the work probably earns the rubric Outsider Art. at least there was something welcoming about the place and the work on display, not snobby. funky would be the word. Demolicious pays next to nothing for use of the room, and that's a kind and positive thing. I paid the cover charge to the person who looked liked he wanted it. he asked me if I'd like to be on the mailing list. I did and wrote my email down. he recognized my name and I calmly replied, you know me? as if: wtf. and he was John Mercuri Dooley, co-curator. I had in fact been on the list, before my email address changed. so. we sat on a sofa in back with another fellow. I saw Christina Strong, Ruth Lepson, Jack Kimball, James Cook, which is to say, local poets who have not moved to NY. yet. Christina seems imminently aimed in that direction, howsomever. several women read open mike, all temperate in time usage. I had thoughts about narrative, that its flow can become too wearing, like water thru a channel. disjunction is a freshness. just a thought. Joel read in, or out of, a sort of nervous calm. his performative energy is tentative yet persistent. I know I'm hovering around paradoxes. I'm trying to describe his comfort in discomfort. he read a couple of works that he described as not translations but improvements. French poems that he has pulled into a different milieu. I didn't mench the cat that made its appearance. it greeted the 3 of us on the sofa but was particularly impressed by our sofa mate. who would as soon not have a cat on his lap, but there no gainsaying. the cat twisted into perfect comfort and randomly squeaked in overflow of contentment. the Cook's daughter, a toddler, puttered around at my feet, poking thru a collection of small prints, the which were luckily cellophaned. when she grew bored of that she started to fuss until Beth handed her a cow puppet that was nearby. so anyway. Robert Fitterman had planned to give a talk as well as read but decided to forgo the talk (the topic was appropriation). I believe he gave it initially at the Poetry Project. he read predominantly, if not entirely, from his still ongoing work Metropolis. I have the 1st 15 sections of the work (Sun & Moon, and out of print according to Fitterman). a 2nd volume, I don't know the publisher, offers sections 16-29. the most recent book is Metropolis XXX: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Robert, GASP, makes considerable use of internet searches in his work. he said "I like subjectivity but it dosn't have to be mine". that's pretty good. one hears earnest voices in Fitterman's work, even if they are not "his". poetry isn't opinion, I would like to remind the dunderheads. I assume Mr Kimball will supply a report of this reading that will give Dear Reader a clearer view of the event. I do not capture words auditorially well. I also can't help doodling and writing as I listen, so I won't pretend that I can crit proceedings like a pro. just so you know where I comin from. Fitterman is comfortable with bad puns: "you can't handle Duluth" and quirky advice: "don't expect anything new from the gentle cycle". there's a subtle hilarity in his work, a hilarity that simply seeps into your ken. he read several poems that are combinations, or collisions, of contemporary poets and 70s anthem rock. from the Tim Davis / Steve Miller conjunction: "some people call me the brand name Maurice". I noted from some poem this stark nugget: "Steve you are not alone". and what say such a line as: "a leper might have done the trick"? a terrifically compelling poem was a list of store names, familiar chain store names: KMart, Taco Bell etc. he read slowly, hitting full stop that left us listeners waiting for punchline, but he just read another list (repeating names). there was no pay off. and somehow the entrance of a couple of people (hopefully to the gallery not the reading) as Robert read added to the experience. is this poetry???. damn straight. he was wonderful. the humour hung on a slight mismatching whereby these internet voice meet a poetic intent. of course Robert fits things, but he does so without irony or underline. his reading of store names stolidly ignored the necessity of wrapping things up and punchlining. like I said, read Jack Kimball for a full report. I found the whole event quite comfortable, which is something in parochial ole Boston. let's assume that Brad Pitt, Ben Affleck, Joan Houlihan, Dave Chapelle, Josh Beckett, Lyn Hejinian, gay cowboy movie stars, the entire courageously undispirited George Mason b-ball team, Ashlee Simpson, etc etc all attended. afterwards a small gathering went restaurantwards. a 2 car carvavan found East Boston. this caravan included me n Beth, Christina, Jack, John, Robert and an Andrew whose last name didn't come my way. I don't get out much so this was wowzer. it was a great way to celebrate Bramhall Orthodox Easter. I got Metropolis XXX (Edge Books 2004), which I can't wait to read. I could write more here, if I weren't so tired, but mebbe you get the idea...