The good news is that my problem is “just” arthritis; the bad news is I felt worse leaving the hospital–in spite of the three prednisones I was given–than I did going to it–on my bike! Seems no matter how bad off I am, I can always ride my bike.
An interesting discussion of “vispo” and visual poetry that includes careful discussions of my poetic practice by Conrad Didiodato is now among this blog’s “Pages” under the category of “Discussions Of Bob Grumman’s Poetry.
I’ll be out of town for the next couple of days, and recovering from the trip the third, so probably won’t post here again until 4 April. I’ll be visiting with Marton Koppany and Clark Lunberry. Should be fun.
I’m off to the hospital. So I may not be posting here for a while, if ever. Pain and difficulty walking, but I have no idea what’s wrong.
Best, to all, Bob
I’ve long been curious how many people make a point of visiting my blog now and then. My guess is ten or twelve. I believe I have a counter somewhere but it only counts hits, so is pretty meaningless. I mean, I may have a whole hundred hits by now, but ninety of them may be one-time hits. Or two-time hits, which is no better. Anyway, my idea here is to have a Page called “Poeticks.com Blog Count” with a counter in it.
My hope is that I can get each of you reading this who comes here now and then to visit it just once to record your presence (anonymously).
Thanks, Bob
In my latest long division poem I divide “death” into “the mind” and get “1″ with a remainder of “motion.” The most important feature is the sub-division product. It’s “ex( )ce” or b( )g,” I’m not yet sure which.
Okay two announcements I made at Spidertangle yesterday:
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS #1
I’ve noticed here and there in my viewings of visio-textual art pieces that I would call visio-musical poems. It struck me just now, after I came on one I really like by Carol Stetser at Andrew Topel’s scriptjr.nl show, that there may be enough of these that feature the musical staff (the five lines used in writing scores–are they called a “staff?” if not, what?) for a pleasant little anthology. I’ve done at least one, John Veiera and Andrew Topel have, too. Others, I’m sure. In any case, if you have any, please consider e.mailing a copy to me. Actually send me, or let me know about, anything visio-musical, although I want the anthology to be staffs or parts of staffs only–that is, unarguably concerned with music. I’m serious about an anthology, probably a small one with payment of five copies to each contributor. Printed by some print-on-demand outfit like Lulu, but probably not Lulu. Color will be fine. I will use every “scored poem” submitted, up to four from a single submitter. I will also post them in a gallery at my blog if I don’t get enough submissions for a book.
Please let me know how the idea strikes you even if you have nothing to submit. ”poetry scores.”
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS #2
Okay, I had a couple of APCs an hour ago, so I’m a shade manic instead of nine-tenths asleep in my galoshes. Result: I’m having these things that seem like ideas to me. The one I think worth posting about is a collection of little essays from Spidertanglers and others who do vispo and related stuff. Their subject would be favorite painters–and why, hopefully with something about the influence of the painter on the writer. Mine is Paul Klee. Like all of you, no doubt, I like a lot of different painters and it’s sort of ridiculous to try to pick out just one, so feel free to mention more than one.
I know: it’s the gossip hound in me that would love to hear back on this, but I should think it’d be fun.
Another possible anthology suggests itself. Poems in homage to visual artists like my own “Mathemaku for Paul Klee,” with an artist’s commentary on background. Don’t think about how little you may want to talk about your work but about how much you have enjoyed reading what others have said about their work. Surely you have!
Tuesday, September 11th, 2012
Below is the link to the 3rd in a series of chapbooks from the publishers of Tip of the Knife. The title of the series is called TipChapKnifeBook. Number 3 presents Bill DiMichele’s Repose and Reconstruction–with a short introduction by me.
http://tipchapknifebook.blogspot.com/2012/09/bill-dimichele.html
Meanwhile, I’ve been half-assedly continuing my attempt to put mine house in order. Yesterday, I spent an hour going through a shallow box of miscellaneous stuff, figuring out what to do with perhaps a fifth of it. But I found some interesting items I thought worth sharing mith my blog’s legions of followers:
This was at the top of a letter from John M. Bennett. It’s by Al Somebody-or-Other. It may have come in the envelope below, which is a typical JMB envelope:
Plus a sticker of John’s:
More great stuff tomorrow, kids–if you behave!
.
Friday, September 7th, 2012
I’m always harping on the importance of a poetry critic’s quoting passages or whole poems by the poets he discusses. This is not revolutionary: it’s taught, I believe, in most college courses on the subject. A critic should also zero in on quoted material at times, too. I sometimes fail to do both myself, so am re-posting to the following excerpt from a poem from Sheer Indefinite, by Skip Fox, in order to say a little about it:
Neither does the world answer but
in mute response. Cold
wind this morning before
dawn, cold
rock in its eye,
frozen
dream in its mind.
.
Tuesday, September 4th, 2012
I’m still so out of it I need to grab work by others to post something here. Ergo, here are a poem (top text) and the first stanza of a poem by Bill DiMichele from his Heart on the Right, which my Runaway Spoon Press published in 1992:
My kind of lyricism. I especially like “one’s a felony, the other a/ cloudburst” (referring to veneration and irreverance?), and the rush “to find diagnosis/ or heir,” which I think has to do with whether the quest mentioned is a sickness to be diagnosed or something that will lead valuably (like irreverance?) to other (living) quests.
.
Monday, September 3rd, 2012
The following are from Capacity X, a chapbook my Runaway Spoon Press published in 1988 of visual poems by Bill DiMichele:
“X” in some 28 variations each making the X more knowably unknown.
.
Sunday, September 2nd, 2012
The two pieces below are from the collection by Bill DiMichele that I agreed to do an intro for (and–as usual–am procrastinating on although I think I know what to say in it). The top piece is the second in a five-frame series called “Repose”; the lower the first of another 5-frame series, this one called, “Reconstruction”:
All the ones in “Repose” are wonderfully restful and should be easy to do a little twirl about, but–except to point out how unreposeful “Reconstruction” is, and that I like it a lot–I don’t yet know what to say about it.
.
Sunday, December 25th, 2011
Here’s something from Bill DiMichele’s latest painting exhibit at the Lindsay Dirkx Brown Gallery in San Ramon, CA. It reminds me a lot of the way I shape my (much lesser) canvasses.
Go here to see more of his works. More will be appearing here.
This is the link to the Cross-Section of a Moment exhibit.
Diary Entry
Saturday, 24 December 2011, 6 P.M. Pretty much a crappy day. I had trouble taking care of my diary entry–until I remember a book of images Geof Huth had sent me that I could steal images from to display. I just finished doing that. I did very little else all day, just a paragraph on my response to Jake Berry’s essay. I did finish the thriller by Tom Clancy I was reading, though. It was about a war–American and Russian against China. Silly stuff but I did enjoy reading about a militarily competent USA, for which I hope my friends in poetry will forgive me.
.
.
I’ve decided I need more time off from my blog. I seem to have less than zero energy, at least for any kind of productive writing or other art-making. Could be gone a week or more, who knows.
My new blog’s homepage, which I hope will allow you a choice of four blogs, is here. It is operational, but the three new blogs have nothing in them yet. I consider it an achievement that I even have it to the stage it is now at.
I’d appreciate it if you would click “here” and then go to any of the three new blogs you think you may bisit again when there’s something at them. That will give me at least a little idea of what kind of nuts come here. Thanks!
A second entry point can be found in my Pages to the right as “Bob Grumman BLOGS.”
Now to celebrate the first day of my Blog-Quartet, below is my latest visual poem, thought of and rendered in full yesterday. Not very original, but it won’t be a stand-alone but the dividend of a long division poem now complete but for the rendering. It uses the notes I had here a few days ago . . . no, almost two weeks ago.
.
Tuesday, April 26th, 2011
.
I’ve decided I need more time off from my blog. I seem to have less than zero energy, at least for any kind of productive writing or other art-making. Could be gone a week or more, who knows.
Thursday, March 31st, 2011
I’ll be out of town for the next couple of days, and recovering from the trip the third, so probably won’t post here again until 4 April. I’ll be visiting with Marton Koppany and Clark Lunberry. Should be fun.
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011
Just a small announcement: if you go here, you’ll find my new agent’s author’s box for my Shakespeare and the Rigidiks. Whitt Brantley is my agent’s name. I had a nice conversation with him on the phone yesterday. Seems energetic and intelligent–and a nice guy. He’s hoping to sound out some publishers soon about doing something with my book. Fingers crossed but I’m afraid I don’t expect much. Which isn’t a vote of non-confidence in Whitt but in the world.
Tuesday, March 29th, 2011
It’s time, I guess, to let everyone know that during April you can view one work daily here from each of the following poets on the days indicated:
1. Eric Zboya
2. Camille Martin
3. Gil McElroy
4. Marton Koppany
5. Matthew Stolte
6. Reed Altemus
7. Satu Kaikkonen
8. mEIKAL aND
9. andrew topel
10. Bob Grumman
11. Helen Hajnoczky
12. Joel Lipman
13. Aileen Beno
14. Vern Frazer
15. Bill DiMichele
16. Chad Lietz
17. Anatol
18. Christine McNair
19. Gary Barwin
20. Pearl Pirie
21. John M. Bennett
22. Marcus McCann
23. Geof Huth
24. John C. Goodman
25. derek beaulieu
26. Megan Zucher
27. Sheila E. Murphy
28. Lily Robert-Foley
29. kevin mcpherson eckhoff
30. Michele Provost.
Yeah, I think the whole idea of National Poetry Month is stupid. The problem, though, is that opportunities to get one’s work in front of others are rare and (too) many of them are connected to National Poetry Month. For instance, the above, and a chance I had locally for an exhibition of my visual poems at a local community college that apparently hasn’t come off, but would only have been possible during National Poetry Month.
Thursday, March 17th, 2011
.
Because I’m one-quarter Irish (due in part to the O’Meara family of County Cork), one of whom came here to fight in the Civil War.
I’m not really back. I just thought of a summa of my thinking about art and science that I thought I should make public in case I drop dead before my vacation from my blog is over.
A verosopher’s duty is to attain as good a systematic understanding of existence as he can, and then express it as clearly as he can, which is by far the harder job. An artist’s duty is to attain as good a systematic understanding of existence as he can, and then express it as unclearly as he can so long as he is just clear enough for his most serious engagents to connect to.
I’m not saying anything I haven’t been saying for fifty years, just saying it better, maybe.
Oh, I have an announcement, too: Jake Berry has been kind enough to use six of my poems to inaugarate the Otherstream Unlimited Blog here. They’ve all been here before, except the last. I happen to consider them all major, even the one at the top, which I rate that high because of its cheerful accessibility. Really, in some ways it’s as good as anything I’ve done.
Okay, only the pair just below the top one are major. (I really can’t understand how I was able to make such terrific poems. They sum up just about everything I’ve managed to master of infraverbal, visual and mathematical poetry over the years.) The others are pretty damned good, though.
Saturday, March 12th, 2011
Maybe it’s only been a few days but I feel like I’ve had to strain to get something into this damned blog every day for weeks. However long it’s been, it’s been more than long enough to convince me I need some offtime from the blog. From life, really. Hmmm, can’t quite literally do that, but I may just take some kind of three- or four-day trip somewhere. Too bad the comic strip museum that was somewhere not far from me closed. That would give me a worthwhile place to go to. Can’t think of any other Florida draw other than Marvin and Ruth’s Miami Archive of visual and concrete poetry, which I haven’t been to since its change-of-address. I could probably find a few other things of interest to visit if I went to it. Meanwhile, though, there’s the visit to Jacksonville in a couple of weeks.
More when my holiday is over, which should be in a week or so.
Saturday, January 29th, 2011
I’ve long been curious how many people make a point of visiting my blog now and then. My guess is ten or twelve. I believe I have a counter somewhere but it only counts hits, so is pretty meaningless. I mean, I may have a whole hundred hits by now, but ninety of them may be one-time hits. Or two-time hits, which is no better. Anyway, my idea here is to have a Page called “Poeticks.com Blog Count” with a counter in it.
My hope is that I can get each of you reading this who comes here now and then to visit it just once to record your presence (anonymously).
Thanks, Bob
Sunday, January 16th, 2011
Go here to see the latest issue of Bill DiMichele’s Tip of the Knife. It has a lot of excellent artwork by Crag Hill, Bill himself, Karl Kempton, Dale Jensen, Peter Ciccariello, Luc Fierens, Christine Tarantino, Iker Spozio, Gary Barwin, and ME–and a prose poem by Harry Polkinhorn as well as interesting essays by Karl, Crag and Dale. I have a mini-essay that was supposed to be fifty words or less but turned out to be 56 words, I don’t know how–except that I no longer seem able to balance my checking account, so probably just miscounted. My poems are a set of four in homage to E. E. Cummings, one for each of the seasons. They are visiomathecryptographic poems! Yow!
Friday, January 14th, 2011
I’m a bit fed up with being accused so often of self-aggrandizement as a specialist in poetics by those against my ideas. Hence, this statement of principles:
My aims as a specialist in poetics are:
1. to give all significant objects of study in the field effective names. If such a name already exists for a given object, fine. If not, I’ll make one up. By “effective name,” I mean one that is as non-judgmental as possible, one that suggests what it means as directly as possible, and one that is as short as possible and reasonably easy to pronounce. Doing all of that is extremely difficult.
2. to give each significant object of study in the field a clear, objective definition that, as much as possible, differentiates it from all like objects, keeping in mind that it will be impossible to do this perfectly because of the borblur problem. Most of the time these definitions will be those of others, but if I find all previous definitions I’ve encountered to be flawed, or find an object undefined, I will make up my own definition–and put it up for critique, always.
3. to place all the significant objects of study in the field into a rationally, objectively designed taxonomy that, as much as possible, shows how those objects interrelate.
4. to build as good a poetics as I can based on the definitions and the taxonomy that result–because poetics is knowledge of poetry, poetry is something of value, and knowledge about something of value is itself valuable.
5. to provide a poetics of value to the world, whether it considers it of value or not, although I would prefer it did. Yes, I would like recognition, but that is extremely secondary to me. It would be almost irrelevant to me if not for the difficulty of getting material support for one’s activities without it.
I am not out to force my ideas on others, just to make them aware of them so their feedback will help me improve the ones needing improvement, and circulate the ones not needing improvement to the good of the field.
Monday, December 27th, 2010
Just can’t get anything done. Today’s excuse was three hours spent on errands, the chief one at Office Depot spending two hours (and almost a hundred dollars) to run off copies of the pages of this year’s only Runaway Spoon Press title, my own 20-page A Preliminary Taxonomy of Poetry. It’s not very good but better than anything else in the field by far. (Is there anything else in the field?) $10 a copy, but free to anyone asking for it who sends me his name and address.
Now, as a special bonus, another of my immortal sayings: A verosopher whom no academic familiar with his work considers a crank is almost certainly a mediocrity. Absolutely nothing new in my point of view there.
Lesson: it’s better to ride your bike than make your doctors and pharmaceuticals richer than they are. Tell them to stick their prednisones up their ass. You probably don’t need them.
Exercise, diet, sleep…all you need, my friend. And, of course, poetry
Happy cycling!
Maybe, Conrad. But I’ve been riding a bike almost every day all my life, and right now I can barely walk, so I don’t think bike-riding will cure me. Also, the x-rays I’ve had pretty convincingly indicate arthritis and pinched nerves and inflammation, which Prednisone has been shown to be effective against sometimes. So I’ll trying it. Then physical therapy which has helped me a lot in the past, or so it seems. We’ll see how it goes. I don’t think the prednisone can hurt, me–and hey, I only paid forty cents for it! Nothing for the hospital visit. Of course tax-payers paid a lot for it, which bothers me, but I’m too impoverished for me to reject it. Besides, most of the tax-payers voted to be taxed, even if they thought others would be taxed but not them.
In any case, thanks for the interest, and support! I’ll let everyone know how things turn out. Right now my pain is worse–but it’s localized in a single spot for the first time, which I take as a good sign. Gotta think positive–not because i can help me mend but because it’ll make me feel better.