ekopoetix praktis

I’m stalled in ecopoetics volume 2. I’m not sure if I’ll continue with the project. Maybe. What else is sustainability about?

I liked Humberto Ak’abal, the first poet. Sometime later I found this Mapuche poet on Jerome Rothenberg’s blog. I think this poem is surpassingly beautiful:

Jaime Huenún, “Ceremony of Love”

Last night trees loved each other like Indians: mañio and ulmo, pellin
and hualle, tineo and lingue, node to node they loved…

For me, these poems spoiled thinking, science, prose, edginess, satire/sarcasm, and most of the following poems in ecopoetics 2. Still trying to get back on track.

Skipping mIEKAL aND and Michael Basinski. Despite being visual, which usually interests me. The work of one is spiky ugly and unpleasantly technological. The other is thick black ugly and unpleasantly doodlelike.

Skipping Atkins due to the landscape format. I won’t print out the page and I would have to figure out how to rotate the screen to read this. I don’t like the technology interfering with the transmission.

Skipping Barron due to the exhausting and humiliating contagion of this story. Although containing a pleasant reminder to the shepherd and flock we saw this summer on the hill outside Missoula.

Also skipping Barron, “Field Notes: Cliff Bellies,” due to the uncontrollable aversion I have to the word ‘belly’ in poems.

Skipping Charles Bell, “On Plans for Peace and Radar to the Moon,” not because I dislike the word ‘bell’ (although add a -y to it and I have a problem), but because of the classical references and the old obsessive who-cares of it all. Even though it was written in 1946. If it hadn’t followed the preceding, I might have given this poem more of a chance.

Skipping Bellamy, not because I dislike the word ‘bellamy’ despite its resemblance to ‘belly,’ but because of the weird edginess and prosiness of it, which was spoiled by the k’iche’ and mapuche.

Skipping Berrigan “Trained Meat,” because of the edginess and disgusting meatiness of it and not in the mood.

This is a lot to take, so forget and start fresh maybe again next year with Brennan. Also almost feel I need a hiatus to be able to refresh my ecopoetics with some direct experience rather than reading and thinking.

Is it bad luck to end 2010 with such a cranky post?