POETICKS

There are a number of current visual poets who do not consider the above poem, one of the most popular visual poems of all-time, highly. So, to continue to be a Prime Annoyer in vispo circles, I’ve taken it upon myself to defend it. On the surface, it is merely a specimen of visual onomatopoeia, or poem whose text says what it looks like–or, if you prefer, poem whose graphic elements show what its text says. I think even those who don’t think much of it would admit that it was clever and effective for its time. I think it may be more.

What I like about it, what I think makes it special, is its worm. I believe its critics fail to appreciate how subtle it is. I doubt a person who has never seen the poem, particularly a person with little or no experience with visual poetry, will find it right off. If he does, it will act as a welcome counter to the boredom generated by all those instances of “apfel.” It will also seem apt. A rather fakey apple has become a real, flawed apple. Or does the poem suddenly concern not an apple but a worm in his home? In any event, it must take on larger symbolic meanings–about decay, the impossibility of perfection, the secretive intrusion of evil, etc. The glossy glibness of the apple makes it possibly a parody of magazine advertising–which is carried out with attractive pictures concealing worms.

Note, too, that the worm does not share the apple’s onomatopoeia–that is, it doesn’t look much like a wiggly thin worm. So it’s breaking with the rest of the poem is all the stronger.

Conclusion: the poem may not be a masterpiece of the first order, but it does not reflect unfavorably on Visual Poetry, as some contend. Indeed, I wish the distance from such a work of most art called “visual poetry” by its makers were considerably less.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 2nd, 2010 at 12:10 AM and is filed under visual poetry, Visual Poetry Specimen. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.