for whatever reason (the illogic of enjoyment perhaps) we stayed out past our home time, our dinner time, and our bed time combined, and missed the last train by about three hours, so decided to walk home. It only took five hours.
it was enjoyable to witness a fair portion of tokyo. The convenience store's frequent appearance was a marvellous thing, they have little cans of beer which are always tempting, various canned cocktails, energy drinks, and toilets.
As you can see in the pictures, in the first hour we passed a bike parking place that looked like a nice place to play war when 6 years old, an interesting door with an interesting accompanying wall, and a yellow locomotive.
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There is a Jack Spicer poem that is in the collected books only as a quote at the beginning of Robin Blaser's essay "The Practise of the Outside", which I find an interesting contrast to the walk through tokyo, and because mio took a liking to it and typed it on some paper which she keeps in a secret pouch, I am able to share it with you and ruminate on it as I also say how in the recent past I walked five hours through tokyo. With fifteen cents and that I could get a
subway ride in New York. My heart
Is completely broken. Only an enemy
Could pick up the pieces.
"Fragments of what," the man asked, "what?"
A disordered devotion towards the real
A death note. With fifteen cents and real
Estate I could ride a subway in New York. No
Poet starved. They died of it.
- (from a Spicer notebook, late, 1964)
Things of immediate note:
- "death note" is a now-famous manga, film &tc - I wonder if the phrase is common or inspired by Spicer or is just a co-incidence ?
- I wonder if "A disorded devotion towards the real" is not a fleeting ironic reference to the famous "derangement of the senses" espoused by the rival beats ?
- I wonder if anyone was walking home for five hours and was just opening their door when a plane hit the first tower in new york ?
- The "No/ Poet starved" is referenced in the last Spicer poem in the line "people are starving". What is the significance of his insistence on this image?
- What is the "it" "they died of" ? Is it poetry ?
- I have often thought the homeless must suffer more in a spot where affluence is in every direction, hence the desire to ride the subway.
. . . / but with Spicer we must consider all mentions of New York as a critique of the poetry establishment / simultaneously his despair at not being included.
. ruminate point .
- what do people think of the "enemy" ?
. repeat photo .
- of the interesting door with accompanying wall - I will try to enter it if there is a next time - it is more like an interesting wall with accompanying door -
5 hrs through tokyo . 1 / 3
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p'raps 'towards' the real rather than 'to' the real, as in order to actually arrive at the real one's devotion would need to shuffle itself into some kind of orderishness. the curse of the aspirationally god-like poet chasing starbursts of fleeting ecstasy.
ReplyDeleteThat is an excellent point. Avoiding the humility of a devotion "to" something.
ReplyDeleteAlso a sort of ascerbic distance.
And he knows what he has been avoiding perhaps. But considers it too late.
(not to get into romance/tragedies though)
It is easy to make a wrong move, with almost-full knowledge.
And then you run out of monies.
is 'it' the 'real'? mayhaps
ReplyDeleteas in reality and real estate and food and paying bills and going to work
(water water everywhere)
as to 'an enemy' maybe a friend would know what the pieces are and why they are broken -and so would leave them be, thru fear or kindness?
(all the kings horses)
'fragments of what'the man asked 'what?'
as if he has just found them and puzzled holds them in his hand
with starvation, i immediately think of cultural starvation, but that is me. is jack starved of attention or recognition? nb your comments about newyork
starved of recognition, hence having to face the real?
it is a sad little poem and freezes the moment wonderfully. maybe it is talk of your long walk home but i picture him on the bleak streets of new york, late evening in black and white and rumpled suit, having left some party of writers with publishers which has left him aloof and hopeless
Love the photo of shaft light. Marvellous colour and differentiation.
ReplyDeleteA 5 hour walk through Japan sounds exciting. Is it generally safe over there? Long night walks are the best for rumination.
Maybe he was very very hungry and fused the literal with the metaphorical? There is definite resentment in this poem. Maybe considerations on giving it all up for the picket fence house dream? Or, from this, the realisation that he never, ever could? I like the double use of 'real' (estate and reality). Is he not saying that having a disordered devotion to the real is in itself a death note (knell) for the poet and truth?
everyone has made marvellous points about the poem and deserve rum and hookers.
ReplyDeleteJapan appears to be a hyper-safe nation-state, and this is probably down to mass-conformism. Being a malignant foreigner, I have not been subject to the various educations that make me want to conform, but I appreciate the freedom of walking around and being able to wear a cardigan (for example) or act a bit girly (for example) without the threat of violence with preludes of name calling.
But the locale of "1984" would also seem a safe place, if you did not happen to think too much.
The banks and off licenses are all open plan without the plastic sheer walls and intercoms etc.
All things are blessings chopped up!
eventually I translated that spicer note/poem & it was published
ReplyDelete& noone cared
(obviously!