Category Archives: Poetry

Protean Position: Sitting

Posted on February 16, 2013 by Francois Lachance

I admire her self-possession and her imagination and, as the poet stresses, her ability to sit very still. Here are the concluding stanzas to her portrait. We are captivated by her swift transformations. […] First she is an ancient queen … Continue reading →

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Dignity Not Cheap

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Francois Lachance

The poverty of means… Exercises for Ear (The Ferry Press, 1968) Stephen Jonas XII in america the rich are poor & the poor outraged since no peasant tra- dition to lend dig- nity to cheap- ness … the riches of … Continue reading →

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Two Examples of Attunement

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Francois Lachance

Exercises for Ear (The Ferry Press, 1968) Stephen Jonas A fine pitch, an idiom in key: CLXII Lutes we ain’t got but ghee’tars aplenty Sure to send you back to Ovid: XIX Echo, a beautiful nymph loved the woodland sports … Continue reading →

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Terminus Tact

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Francois Lachance

I love how the title page of Exercises for Ear (The Ferry Press, 1968) characterizes its author as “Stephen Jonas / Gentleman”. And it is the touch of the gentle man that concludes the book with a wry aside to … Continue reading →

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Yellow Mellow Waves

Posted on February 10, 2013 by Francois Lachance

I got to see this broadside at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. It was issued by Karyl Klopp’s Pomegranate Press in 1973. It’s a concrete poem by Ronald Johnson. Bright yellow with inventive use of letter forms and negative … Continue reading →

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Read/Red Arrows

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Francois Lachance

Stein’s line has its own Wikipedia entry Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose Ronald Johnson in ARK 60 Fireworks I reconstructs the visual impact by a bit of clever homophony: arose a battleground: rows on rows … Continue reading →

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Cypress

Posted on February 7, 2013 by Francois Lachance

ARK 34, Spire on the Death of L.Z. […] to say then head wedded nail and hammer to the work of vision of the word at hand that is paradise, this is called spine of white cypress roughly cylindrical based … Continue reading →

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Square Composition

Posted on February 6, 2013 by Francois Lachance

The typewriter not only provided space for recording breathings, it has also been an instrument for pattern making. http://homes.chass.utoronto.ca/~lachance/juvenilia/juv16.htm COILED STANZAS Resistance Home Heart Ohm is where the Art is Heart Home Resist Stances A “corner” poem from my Juvenilia … Continue reading →

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More Than Fruit Storage

Posted on February 5, 2013 by Francois Lachance

Charles Olson comparing and contrasting the Maya and Americans in his essay “Human Universe” And when a people are so disposed, it should come as no surprise that, long before any of these accomplishments, the same people did an improvement … Continue reading →

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Palm and Sole

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Francois Lachance

Ronald Johnson ARK (Albuquerque: Living Batch Press, 1996) You are immersed in a sequence of poems, you turn the page and face A hand print. Sends me back to my first imprints. Recording weight and length and even the name … Continue reading →

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