I was interested this piece by Bruce Andrews firstly because of the organic shape that the words create, as well as the line drawn around the words that is holding the poem together. No 116 has no particular order of how the words are supposed to be read, yet the line constrains the reader to stay within the organized chaos that is created.
In Index, Erica Baum compiles a list of found words that sound ever so elegant when read out loud. She has found a collection of worlds, alphabetically, and has ordered them in a way that makes so much sense. “Rather than, reasons why, affection, affinity, affirmation, afternoon” and “evening, events, everyday, evidence,” are two of my favorite compilations she has managed to mold together. It is reminiscent of a stream of consciousness.
On the fifth page of Smokes, Craig Dworkin writes “SMOKE mokes” and I was hooked. There is something about repetition that reminds me of smoke and even a breath. Each world said was an honest world said without fear and every line was short, like a smoker’s inhale. As the poem goes on, each world becomes more scattered and each line becomes more spaced out. It’s a story of youth that doesn’t want to end.
After reading This Window Makes Me Feel, I feel so incredibly connected to Robert Fitterman. His writing is a stream of consciousness that is proof that as humans, we all ramble in our heads when we are alone and reflecting. This is one of my favorite pieces I have chosen because of its honestly and its visually stimulating effect that it has on me. Every single line paints a moment that I put myself in. The title alone is beautiful as is. It is a metaphor for a reflection of oneself that every human can relate to.
I was interested in Poems 1-10 by Kenneth Goldsmith and Joan La Barbara because of their combination of visual poetry with sound poetry. It is fascinating how both the visual aspect and the sound aspect could survive as poems wholly on their own. The worlds in the poster-like images created appear in an echo with layers of more opaque worlds on top of others. In the MP3, they are spoken in such a harmony of words that turn into lyrical songs.
Jessica Grim has chosen her words used in Vexed incredibly precisely and it is apparent
through her delicate fragments. I am always attracted to space and gaps between fragments, and that is what first interested me when I began reading Vexed. Each line is a said observation of the world around her as well as her experiences, detailed enough for the reader to imagine in their heads.
Tan Lin’s experimental and technology related approach to poetry is what first pulled me. With a written poem, you typically have the option to read words as fast as you can and in any direction your eyes may dart. The Edge of Summer Cleans Autumn, is much more controlled. The appearing and disappearing list of worlds gives the reader a direction to follow. The word choice that Lin chose is also interesting. The words are almost antonyms of each other, but make so much sense in the rows that they are placed in.
My favorite thing about The Field is it’s overall metaphor for a human of the 21st century. The writings are thoughts after thoughts, just a continuing stream of awareness of oneself. The things listed are activities that many young adults fear they do too much, like streaming the internet or texting on the phone, for example. Just like many other of my chosen writings for Ubu Top Ten, this particular piece is also a compilation of thoughts on self.
What interests me most about Five Kites is it’s interchanging meaning. In the downstream zone, the words read legibly as “I ran across a kite”. In the upstream zone the words are more chaotically arranged. The act of flying a kite is already a tame activity while also being a disorderly activity if the kite flying goes wrong. The placement of these worlds express the joyous feeling of flying a kite, as well as the stressful experience of the kite going in knots and falling to the ground. The sculptured words being placed in a stream is another appealing aspect of it’s own. Playing in the water is a very innocent and childish activity. The dangers of playing in the water, though, can also be dangerous and horrifying.
A lot of the writings I have chosen are incredibly visual and that is why I would like to end with an early anthology of visual poetry, where it began. The idea of a typewriter is already intriguing. It is intriguing in the way that technology has altered. Typing on a typewriter is an incredibly permanent experience. As I’m typing this on a computer, it is the opposite. I can backspace any moment I want to. With that being said, creating a visual with words is even a more powerful gesture. I am so attracted to these visual in Typewriter Poems because of their boldness and their way of making a single typed later create a design of language.
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