The Poetry Project Newsletter #205, December 2005/January 2006

FROM THE DIRECTORDear Readers,Upon the river, point me out my courseThat blows from the green fields and fromthe clouds And from the sky: be nothing betterThan a wandering cloud Come fast uponme Such as were not made for me. I cannotmiss my way. I breathe again That burthenof my natural self The heavy weight of manya weary day; Come from a house Shall bemy harbour; promises of human like Aremine in prospect; Now I am free, enfranchis’dand at large. The earth is all beforeme, with a heartAnd the result was elevating thoughtsAmong new objects simplified, arrangedAnd out of what had been, what was, theplace “O’er the blue firmament a radiantwhite,” Was thronged with impregnations,like those wilds That into music touch thepassing wind; Had been inspired, andwalk’d about in dreams, And in Eclipse mymeditations turn’d And unencroached upon,now, seemed brighter far, Though fallenfrom bliss, a solitary, full of caverns, rocksAnd audible seclusions: here also found anelement that pleased her Tried her strength;made it live. Here Neither guilt, nor vice,nor misery forced upon my sight Couldoverthrow my trust in Courage, Tenderness,& Grace. In the tender scenes I most didtake my delight.Thus strangely did I war against myselfWhat then remained in such Eclipse? Whatnight? The wizard instantaneously dissolvesThrough all the habitations of past yearsAnd those to come, and hence an emptiness;& shall continue evermore to make & shallperform to exalt and to refine Inspired,celestial presence ever pure From all thesources of her former strength. Then I said:“And these were mine, Not a deaf echo,merely, of thought, But living sounds. Yea,even the visible universe was scann’d And asby the simple waving of a wand With somethingof a kindred spirit, fell Beneath thedomination of a taste, its animation & itsdeeper sway.”UnsignedW.H. AUDEN TUNAMOLD TO PERFORMAT NEW YEAR’SOur 32nd Annual New Year’s DayMarathon Reading will take place onSunday, January 1st, 2006. Because it fallson a Sunday this year we will start the eventat 3pm, after St. Marks’ weekly Sunday service.As always, we are appealing to thecommunity for donations of books, food andlabor. The Marathon Reading is the PoetryProject’s major fundraising event, and it continuesto take place thanks to the support ofwriters, artists, musicians, publishers andvendors. Oh, and the very upright backboneof the event, volunteers. We need at least 10people an hour to make people wonder“how do they do it, it seems to have organizeditself?” Hum, if my math is correct,that’s more than 100 volunteers total overthe course of the day.Office dialogue:SS: “Corrine who gets volunteers for this,you or me?”CF: “Me.”We’re both new but she somehow knowsmore than I do. We will also be acceptingdonations of food and books to sell. Thebook table is a greatly anticipated part of theevent, a rare bookshop that manifests oneday per year, and we are counting on thegenerosity of poets, publishers and patronsto donate chap books, broadsides, out ofprint classics or any other printed matter ofinterest.I’m especially looking forward to this gatheringof poets and would like to offer somelines from Paul Blackburn (from The ParallelVoyages) as something to think about beforewe meet:“Personally, I affirm two things: / the possibilityof warmth & contact / in the humanrelationship : / as juxtaposed against thematerialistic pig of a technological world”and“the possibility of s o n g / within thatworld: which is like saying ‘yes’ to sunlight.”Remember, the Marathon can’t and won’thappen without your help! If you areinterested in volunteering or making afood or book donation please emailinfo@poetryproject.com or call 212-674-0910.Thank you, friends.Stacy SzymaszekFROM THE EDITORThe off kilter Scottman taking off his kilt, thisdisturbing year has disrobed entirely toreveal a new one underneath. But Russiandollstyle, 2006 should be not entirely unlikeall its predecessors. I’ve skipped ahead to2012 where I’ll be waiting at the end of theMayan calendar for any fellow traveler whoenjoys jogging neck deep in the teleological.In the future, some poets have finally figuredout there is no fame for any of us, only comradeshipamong those who have given upsuch idiotic conceits. But don’t freak out,there are still enough who haven’t to makethings amusing for those who recognizeinvisibility is the precursor to actual experience.For everyone who has tenure there willalways be someone with elevenure to resentif that kind of cattiness is your bag. To sayyour ideas trump all others is the same kindof thinking that pits, say feminists againstgay-rights activists for limited cultural attentionwhich serves the same imperial interestsas Iraq’s Shia fighting the Sunni. To theextent you covet success in a fundamentallymisguided system is the extent that you supportthe system & all its war-mongering. Butwhile the instituational maladies that afflictus may be only very slowly tractable overeons, every moment is rife with absolutetransformation. Cicadas in January andsnow days in June, the meteorologicaldénouement headed at us, are, aside fromharbingers of the end of the world, efficientsymbols of the love thy enemy stored withineach of us. The shared identitiy of all opposites.That & having to edit this newsletter iswhy I missed your reading. I heard it wasgreat. Please assume anything you enjoy inthis issue is inspired by your work, becauseit is.Brendan LorberPROPS TO KATZWe’d like to give Vincent Katz a hearty congratulationsfor having receivedthe National Translation Award. TheAmerican Literary Translators Associationhave recognized his translations ofPropertius, a decade in the making, as “themost valuable contribution to literary translationduring the preceding year.” Odio nostrumpenuriosus Latin , nos gratulor Vincent insuus veneratio!4 DECEMBER 2005/JANUARY 2006