Asymmetries
2011; University of Oklahoma; Volume: 85; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/wlt.2011.0134
ISSN1945-8134
Autores Tópico(s)Linguistics and language evolution
ResumoMap theentire poemlinebyline.In other words, respectthelinebreaks andpreserve thesyntactical integrity ofthepoemitself, theprosodie relationships. Thisisbackground-check information, as ifthepoem andplacewereapplying fora position inYourCentralIntelligence Agency, a Department ofYourInterior . Maketencopiesofthepoemyouarelearning byheart. Getoutyourmarkers, yourpencils, your scribbling ideas. Perhapsstartwiththelow-hanging fruit,the rhymes at theendofthelines,thelastwords,the asymmetrical shadows. In Roethke's "TheWaking," there is onemore goingthango. There is sleep butno sleeping. Hearbutnohearing. Taking butnotake.Learn butnolearning. Howwillyoumake theaudible visible? Review, butdon'tcopy,whatrhythms Broodthaers addstoseeMallarmé. Noteinline2of DylanThomas's DoNotGoGently into That Good Night. Saying ageshapesthemouth hotly, like biting on hotpeppers.Sayoldand themouth volcanoesas it is forced to curlout intothe syllables. Theshapethemouth makesinreadingthepoemalwaysdancesthewordsunless mumbling around. MEASURE for MEASURE: is a relation ofchange.(1) Thereis anEskimo custom ofletting anangry personwalka straight linetoconquertheir anger spatially, planting a stick inthegroundwhen their angerrunsout.Thestake"bearswitness tothestrength orlength oftherage"(Rebecca Solnit, A History ofWalking). (2) Inhisperformancepiecethe Eoser /the Winner, artist Fran- çois Alysattachesan end ofhis sweaterto something (a fence, a rock, a telephone pole,a lover'sheart).He walksthecityuntilhisentiresweateris unraveled;his map entangles withthecity,body,urbanfurniture, snags, people,machines. (3) TheManhattan skyline. Up untilthearrival ofinnovations infloating structural foundations in the1960s,thetops ofskyscrapers inadvertently servedas a measureand map ofthegeologicalbedrocks beneaththecity . Thebuilding's foundations had toreachbedrock andso themoreoutofreach thebedrock, thelowerthetopsofthebuildings .InManhattan, inlookingatskyonecan seeundertheearth. Every walkis a dancewithplace.Become conscious ofitandyouarestarting tomeasure. Asymmetries PhilipMetres after Spencer Tunick Longing tograspthefamiliar, names against theanonymous appendages & nakedflesh, a nippletheeye couldnuzzle,tohidein darkislandsofhair, I nearthephoto as ifthebodyerotic couldshieldagainst thecamera's scalpel. Initsdistance, thebodies without faces linea riverbank, shade intosomedarker shadow, obeying thedesire ofgravity. I'mthinking ofIraq,howthey layout eachdisinterred nestoffemurs & ribs onseparate sackcloths, trying topunctuate therun-on sentence ofoppression & unfettered blood.All'sasymmetry. After making love, onceyousaidevery face, split inhalf, fit soprecariously, socomically, wespent thenext half -hour shading onesideofourfaces inthemirror, then theother. Thisworld iscentaur: halfdream, half nightmare. Wandering thegallery, wedrift ontoanimagined balcony & gapeatthetraffic ofbodiesjamming thecrossroads, im -mobile sculpture of purefact, dangling odd-angled & earth -bound us. PhilipMetresistheauthor ofnumerous books,including the verse collection ToSee theEarth(2008), Come Together: Imagine Peace (2008), BehindtheLines:WarResistance Poetryon theAmericanHomefront since 1941 (2007), and Catalogue ofComedie Novelties:Selected Poems ofLev Rubinstein(2004). His workhas appeared inBestAmerican Poetryand InclinedtoSpeak: Contemporary ArabAmerican Poetry.He livesand teaches inCleveland. January -February 2011 i43 ...
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