Two Thoughts for the Voices

Denver Prediction

I rarely believe something strongly enough to state it as a principle, but I do this, that the line of cities with Denver at the center and with Ft. Collins to the north and Colorado Springs to the south will, in the future, be talked about in the way that we talk about Black Mountain. And I think it’s currently in its heroic phase. Denver is where I would live if I could live anywhere, though Ft. Collins and Colorado Springs would also do.


Letterism Adagia

--Muses only flirt.

--Originality is less important than a good blender.

--The best metaphor is one you’ll never think of.

--There are always other choices that would work, so whatever you’re thinking isn’t the point.

--The term “avant garde” is a publicity stunt.

--Poetry is aware of genitalia, just not yours.

--Because the political situations in the past that created situations from which the art of that time was produced are not the same as our current political situation, we must not think we are them.

--Transubstantiation does not occur in words.

--Everything is always a kind of something else. We must get over it.

--The only possibility there is is somewhere else: X does not mark a spot.

--Messages are permitted. As are voices.

--Entertainment is also permitted as something to distract them with while the work continues.

--Every surface is a surface.

--Passing over in silence is also a form of critical engagement.

--There are two sides to the river, named Sound and Mental Image. We’re in a boat on the river, sitting back to back looking at different banks, trying to describe water.

--Poems are like jokes in that they are always on you.

--Poems are a way of looking at wealth.

--The voices know that there is always someone who will do what you do more cheaply.

--You are not in control.

--All voices lose volume as distance increases.

--Everything you build is between yourself and the voices.

--The voices don’t care what you think of them.

--If you don’t hear the voices you’re sitting in silence.

--If you empty yourself completely, there’s nothing there for the voices to write on.

--An imbalance is contextual.

--There is no unconscious to leap into. It’s just you napping.

--Riding the horns of a bull can become comfortable as well, if you’re built for it, and then stops being dangerous.

--The pure avant garde is an infomercial.

--All conceptions of things are more wrong than right, but they are both wrong and right.

--If everyone agrees something is good, then it’s a failure.

--There are only ever hints.

--Handedness is also a gender.

--Poetry does not relieve back pain unless you’re lying on it just right.

--What good is standing on the diving board if you can’t imagine jumping?

--You can be sincere or not, it makes little difference to the voices.

--Everyone gets something to carry, but not everyone gets to know what it is.

--Your lifestyle and your vocabulary are one.

--Sleight of hand is called magic.

--Any community that upends a poetry community creates a poetry community, and all communities act like communities.

--Very few artists who are successful are successful.

--Art is a sex act.

--Letterism is alphabetical, but in numerical order.

--All manifestos are worth $1.98 each.

--The voices are not interested in dialogue.

--The voices come from the world.

--Poets are part of the world.

--The voices don’t care if you listen.