THUGWISE CAT

Tenebrae, in Heller's poetic universe, is the opposite of darkness, despite its original
meaning. Or, rather, it is a probing of the facets of darkness in order to irradiate:
"...exploring underbellies, hidden contours, liberating the undisclosed..." (page 13).
In Heller's conception of the world, what merits illumination most are the obscure, the
arcane, the veiled, the shadow-dwelling...
How this latest articulation of Hinge Theory works goes something like this: Words are
"imported" from other contexts, where they have already established their own legitimacy,
and they serve to embellish their new contexts. The words themselves are infused with
novel dimensions (they "Bloom from their Immersions in Additional Communities"
(page 15) ), and the new context benefits and thrives, as well. Exports, too, exist - those
are the words that "vault" from one territory to another, and become the "Subject
Scrutinized" (page 16). Mining is the final component of this multi-tiered theory, and
yet...shouldn't it be the first? Mining is what occurs when one context/application is
"consulted to enrich" the context "currently being investigated." (page 16).
This whole theory is an exercise in slyly subverting linguistic stagnation: "The
lexiconically Static is a Logos Abuser," Heller proclaims. Lexicons are intrinsically
dynamic, and lexiconic vigor relies on savvy manipulation of diction and syntax, which
in turn affects semantics. Hence, Hinge Theory.
(Honestly, I find the whole theory adorably brilliant - somewhat Dickinsonian in its
quaint but stern intellectuality, and somewhat Seussian in its whimsical erudition. It may
be a reflection of my own poetic ethos that I locate a tenor of humor in it, but I do think
deep down, Heller is also an astute scholar of the absurd.)
The poems themselves can be overwhelming for a first-time reader, situated as they are at
the far end of the experimental spectrum, with all the implications thereof of coldly cubist,
robustly rational but soullessly mechanical. But, as I have already made clear, a patient
reader will see beyond that deceptive surface, and come to bask in the wonderful
wilderness of the Levinson Vernacular. These are not mere modern hieroglyphics. This is
language re-imagined - deconstructed, re-constructed, re-deconstructed, and so forth.
But now, alas, the poems. How does one even choose which poems to zoom in on? From
one perspective, they are a big beautiful tangled mass, in need of careful unraveling. But
that's for mathematical minds. My mind is fueled more by intuition and instinct, so I will
focus on five poems that I believe are emblematic of my own (dubious?) discernment of
Hinge Theory's logos-pathos dichotomy. I won't exactly explicate them, because that's a
daunting exercise if there ever was one - and finally, an unnecessary one, a violation of
their integrity.
We start on page 20: "tenebraed to a Faded Aristocracy." The first part of the poem is a
paragraph that stutters in succinct spurts : "louche carom. souse soliloquy. gongs. curtains.
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