overdue cheesecake

A miscellaneous phrase. They come up sometimes. We used to make fun of Gary Brown’s module history. FUNDAMENTAL CHEESE-AHOLIC. I still have Gary Brown’s module history. Somewhere. I can’t put my hands on it that quickly.

The latest issue of Jubilat publishes the “Index of First Lines From An Anthology of New York Poets.” It’s “by” Ron Padgett and David Shapiro. I find it very entertaining, giddily humorous, loaded with synchronicities, and working at the bizarre edge of meaning. Love it. It’s also oddly freeing–you feel like you ought to turn to the poem and dutifully read it, but you can’t because there are no page numbers, and guess what, no poems.

Sample, the last half of the A’s:

As I was walking home just now, from seeing
A stray deer,
Astronaut Jim Lovell
At 14th Street and First Avenue
At last you are tired of being single
At that instant there came a crash more terrific
At the bonfire
At the kitchen table with Mrs. Hartman
At the little window is the tiny hand
Autumn is very wild through
a white sheet of paper

I thought maybe I could use the college alumni magazine to come up with some found poetry. There’s a lot you can do. Such as using the resources at your disposal.

I feel sorry that I made fun of Gary Brown’s module history. I apologize. I never got to know Gary Brown. He seemed wacky, suspect, a little elfin, and possibly ill, but maybe he was just afflicted with poetry (84/12/18 BORN YEARNER).

84/12/03 WHO GETS EATEN AND WHO GETS TO EAT
84/12/03 MATH, ENGLISH, SOCIAL STUDIES, SCIENCE
84/12/04 SAVE THE PROGRAMS
…
84/12/05 ORE OR ARE EAR
84/12/05 NEVER SAY LAST COMPILE AGAIN
84/12/05 DOG IS
…
84/12/07 NIPPLE NIANTIC
84/12/07 NIPPLE NAPALM
84/12/07 LEVER WORKS LTD.
…
84/12/13 NASAL MUCOUS
84/12/13 BLOW N OSE
84/12/13 GO TO GHOST
…
84/12/14 SPHINCTER MIX
84/12/14 NOCTURNAL LOVER
84/12/14 GATOR AID
…
84/12/17 ADD DELETE LOGIC
84/12/18 VIADUCT
84/12/18 A NORMAL ATTRIBUTE
…
84/02/11 ONE FOR GARY (this one by M. TOBIN who took over the program)