Downtown Revitalization
therapy for the rescued
handouts and a reconnection
to the river, assessments
of who is here and why
the heights harbour such
tax relief
the car no longer keyed
conversations begin on George St.
where none were before
it begins partly in a fourplex
on Spruce where awareness
is assembled on corkboard
it begins with that early contradiction:
love for the violent place,
the men who left, the women
who took over
like millworkers and treeplanters
eyeing one another at
Second Cup—a culpability
and an invitation over—
the first question being
‘what’s going on out there?’
Walking with Ken
down Victoria, or up the hill
through crescents to Central, the powers
tilted away from speech,
each of us looking at the poem
before it is and then
rethinking why
Cranbrook Hill by the Dakelh name
and the cutbanks surround
the cupped hands of the city
taking and giving
while Ken speaks of outside, Blackwater
where the mountains are reflected
into uncertainty and systems
begin to inform the masses
I would not want to be
anywhere else but walking
with Ken, thinking about how
to stay and not betray
—if we were on a lake
it would be in a strong, well-made
canoe unlike the one
I leave in the yard unwritten
Poem the Pizza Guy
older now, cognizant of commerce
base and superstructure service
the Poem of back then
rebellious against the sure thing
in everything and why not buy
a big goddamn
university degree, the canon
and all those myths out of fashion
now, Poem’s kids eat plain
cheese with multigrain crust
a different kind of economy, love
the shifts are similar, the structure
of directed apathy or panic, the mandatory
sequel, the media spin on feelings
Poem remembers the bird lady at the door
placing old coins in his palm
one at a time, slowly
reciting the full price intensely
focused hunger
“measures of wealth, well-being . . . “
begins to say something standing at
the corner of ethics and art
but the playoffs are on, jobs
are being cut, there is no time to think
we might be not possible
Linh Dinh from the NY Times
"Confronted by a torrent of bad news from our capsized economy, many people anticipate at least the kind of unrest that has already broken out in many countries, but we are so docile, really. Some people I know speak of heading for the hills and stocking up on canned food, potable water, guns and slugs — the bunker mentality. But instead of fleeing one another, like we’ve already done for half a century or so, shouldn’t we figure out how to be closer in every sense? Why not shorten distances and trim all excess from our lives?
"More Americans are experiencing poverty by the day, and I’m certainly not making light of destitution, but it doesn’t seem to me that increasing consumption — “growth” — is the answer. My ambition was to become an artist, before I switched to something even more practical, poetry, but one need not be a bohemian to value activities that reward the mind and spirit.
"Smaller portions are in order. Simplicity is O.K. It’s time to slim down.
__________________
Linh Dinh is the author of four books of poems and two short story collections, including his most recent, Blood and Soap. His novel, “Love Like Hate,” will be published in 2010 by Seven Stories Press.
We Dream Backward: A Glosa
the standing address, naked and constitutional
mirrored or thinking of one—one—
self many times: the thick air, re mind
divided between affiliations/mind
an ecology
independence a vitamin
or waterway erosion
the force of dissatisfaction turned
lovewords and systembreaking
and breath
such an address’s
mediation is the subject—classrooms waver—
20th Century bodies are new and
old—the text of skin, skin of
text’s bones, bones of one’s own senses coursed (“all” and
“you” Fr.) into Main St. discourses
with rules, miscreants, war . . .
if there is a narrative it is recurring and
repressive; if there is a poetic it is
non-industrial food and an expenditure
meaning/gender: in it
doing nothing worthwhile
for me, the body is a metaphor of energy, intensity
The Liberal Poem
the social is a line
out front or in the book that changed
the way words looked but now
Poem finds his home in an ethical
moment—here and there—love and generosity tented
against the wind and mobile like
strange associations
camped outside the headquarters of
who and how long the murmurs
of mythical men who believe, truly believe
and hurl epitaphs from large passing vehicles and Poem
wonders about that too while
ducking and continuing to prepare a
small meal
you see Poem doesn’t want his way to hold
sway and won’t try to convince you of what
anything means anything
this, Poem supposes
is the frightening part
“influence” stands surveying, a uniformed
part, part potential, part in-
security, a role that has something to do with fear
something to do with death
if there is no outside and inside
when then does Poem end?
this is a start
The Uses of Poem
diversion glides randomly close to
Poem stationed near the door of sense
in case he must leave quickly
a concentric gyre spins in the language
of the strange room we’ve built to house
questions—
an aversion of conformity in
motion once the speeches are over
Poem reads the quiet as acquiescence
is disquieted, shuffles to the bar
Poem meant to say something about desire or
faith but understands these ideas don’t work anymore, gears
ground down and toxins leaking from the power
source and Poem gives them to the pawn shop in case
stability is still needed somewhere else
cascades cascades and palliative care chanced
upon by the newer born become tactful in
the ways of tricking hierarchy away from itself
famously, Poem churns down the boulevard hoping
not to find any inspiration in the evening light
such sentiments seem cynical but no,
no, Poem knows the age has turned and
symbols are falling around us everywhere
using leverage is not the mind’s best
Poem Considers Quietude Vs. Post-Avant
and the history of the sign
that got us here, locked
chain-link barriers to the oversky
Poem remembers standing at the top
of some famous building, maybe
the CN Tower, and looking through
one of those quarter binoculars
on the clunky swivel
you can imagine: the competition
for Poem’s attention was multiple
the material word like this one
stands or scans and the moment,
like this one, takes a side
grain or rallies or trees or technique
and any hope of integration is lost
Reader walks up and asks Poem,
“what are you looking at?”
the answer is a matter of
attention, a field of vision
turned down to the small logo
pasted to the binoculars or
up sweeping up all the details
into a vision of the city and why
particle or wave, Poem
supposes, process or
what it gets you
later, Poem answers,
“the commodification of social life”
but it’s a little late
don’t you think
the plunge to the ground
is punctuated by a history of forms
Indices: Fourth Quarter Returns
poetic value creates nutrients from the energy of the sun, a metabolic pathway for advancement of the reading organism as well as the immediate environment
Firefighters could not control the blaze and the poem burned to the ground in minutes. No one was injured but damage is estimated at least 35 cents.
This is not a shopping list for big spending, but rather a call for smart, affordable policy. Global economies will rebound and poetry needs to be ready for when they do. Our competitors will be challenged with issues as diverse as deforestation, competing pressure for frontal lobe use and rising passivity. The market for poetry's proven sustainability will grow enormously. Now the federal government has to follow through.
poetry recall affects literally dozens
whereas individual speakers may respond to the person to whom they are speaking, the media can respond only to the aggregation of whom they believe to be their audience, and poetry can respond only to speakers and media
if the elements are ungrammatical they will create a dissonance that will negate one of the perceptual dimensions
what, exactly, do you want from me
The double bouquet cells in the cerebral cortex increases covert attention and contrast sensitivity
"One cannot speak of a narcissistic disturbance," Lyle Ashton Harris says, "without its most crucial variable: redemptive narcissism, or self-love as a form of resistance from the tyranny of mediocrity and as a sight of solace"
regret, I suppose, the regret of the poem, the necessity, what it is, what it is doing, what it must do
My first shoplift was in a small corner store in Yellowknife with a large Coca-Cola sign out front and a dizzying magazine rack along one wall. My friend Cameron would talk loudly about the video game at the back to distract the guy behind the counter while I stuffed candy bars into my parka pocket. Cameron liked the candy more than I so I let her take most of it home. My mom would have known anyway.
feedforward, lateral and feedback connections to the classical receptive field center and extra-classical receptive field surround primate neurons
any offer of purchase has a fixed timeframe, after which the offer becomes null and void. Do you have a sense of when this poem will end?
poetic value is a mnemonic trick
The sensitivity of neurons to walking sequences versus the degree of articulation in static images creates a strong semantic tension
Microsaccades—the clinamen swerve of oculomotor control, attention, and visual perception—move a stationary stimulus in and out of a neuron's receptive field, thereby producing transient neural responses. Microsaccades might account for much of the response variability to text
her statement hung in the air for a long time, without any cognitive reference, and the state of suspension still exists as I move through every day
According to rumor, Mazra threw a rock into one of the caves, seeking a lost goat. The sound of pottery shattering drew him in, whereupon he discovered ancient jars containing scrolls wrapped in linen
“I now freely and openly attest that the best way to get general readers to start to read poetry is to present them with broadly appealing work, with strong emotional content and a clear narrative line."
The visual phantom illusion: a perceptual product of surface completion depending on brightness and contrast –ah, the absent center of what; this illusion is the primary tool of most administrators (see UNBC a history)
The role of familiarity in the recognition of static and dynamic objects outweighs any reliable scientific identification of a thing’s thingness. I am I because my little dog knows me.
tax breaks or infrastructure spending—let the reader off the hook or push the limits of what text can be
I know what you’re thinking, you’re thinking how much does this wank make in a year and who’s he in cahoots with
poetic value is a resonance energy transfer
poetic value leaps that stone fence down by the cemetery looking for a way to travel across town without seeing exactly where the next turn is and finding inscriptions on sidewalk a useful guide
poetic value dawdles
or when I got caught doodling instead of solving physics problems
‘Rob, the problem is you read every poem like it is a love poem’
the strange suspicion that neoliberalism has something to do with a character’s name in the film The Matrix
I don’t know you tell me
Product This week Last week
Friday, January 16, 2009 2" x 4" $153 $165
2" x 10" $159 $166
Studs $156 $158
“Poetry should astound and frighten, not make you giggle for two seconds”
Because clichéd writing sounds so familiar, people can complete finish whole lines without even reading them. If they don't bother to read your poem, they certainly won't stop to think about it
Ah, one, ah, two, ah one two three boom boom-boom boom-boom, boom boom-boom boom-boom nah nah-nah nah-nah nah nah-nah nah-nah
If you want to check grammar and spelling, make sure that Check Grammar With Spelling is selected in the Spelling and Grammar Menu
poetic value’s page count multiplied by page size and cover stock minus the time it takes to show me the door
“With e-distribution and e-books, writers will soon be able to put this incompetent and often philistine racket behind us. It couldn't happen too soon."
Although bankruptcy adversely affects a person's credit rating, most people going into bankruptcy have such a bad credit rating that nothing will make it worse. In fact, after bankruptcy, a person is a better credit risk because he or she has no debt. Personal bankruptcy is a powerful vehicle for a debtor to get a fresh financial start.
Automaker CEOs hold a wine and cheese gala to celebrate carmaking excellence in Canada.
ecomony shonomy—just bring me another beer
poetry and vampires—both immortal, both sexy, and both blood-sucking; coincidence, I think not.
this venue rental was donated
capitalism begins / when you open your eyes
a cache of images, a store of knowledge, a wealth of experience, the richness of his prose . . .
The Wanting to Write About Poem
became the problem, typing, with Poem
in my head, not wanting to write the poem but
capture the spirit of Poem unmediated
by genre or tricks of form
for example: weather—you win or lose
sometimes Poem doesn’t want to be written about;
she sneers and says “what have you done
for me lately?” and it’s true
why does Poem have to do all the giving?
so the other day I says to Poem I says
“Let’s you and me just take off—
Haida Gwaii or Barkerville—and just
you know, be together without,
you know,
them
okay
