Category Archives: Poetry

Casting the Speculum

Posted on August 5, 2012 by Francois Lachance

At the mention of “Andrew”, the phrase “fishers of men” popped into my head and dragged the rest of the poem into an interpretation where the first catch is the self. The beauty of Titian’s Peter—you’d swear those painted arms … Continue reading →

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Transcendental Orphans

Posted on August 4, 2012 by Francois Lachance

There is a smart aleck joke in the notes to Stephen Scobie’s bpNichol: What History Teaches. First the text block on page 118 that provides the “anchor” for the note in question. But, given the multiplicity of language, this whole … Continue reading →

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Follow the Breath

Posted on August 3, 2012 by Francois Lachance

This little set of verses set as an “exergue” reminds one of the practice of being mindful of breathing. “Will you come?” said the Sun. “Soon,” said the Moon. “How far?” said the Star. “I’m there,” said the Air. A … Continue reading →

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Perspective & Proportion

Posted on August 2, 2012 by Francois Lachance

Mary Cornish from “The Laws of Japanese Painting” in Red Studio If a mountain is ten feet high, the trees should be one foot, the horse one inch, and a man the size of a bean. The image of the … Continue reading →

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Blackboy Utopia

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Francois Lachance

Danez Smith in Don’t Call Us Dead creates a utopian space in which to reinvigorate the Black psyche through an artful homoerotics. He saves the body. The mind bends the body politic to imagine another place and another time beyond … Continue reading →

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Balance and Schadenfreude

Posted on July 31, 2012 by Francois Lachance

A poetic take on predator-prey cycles. “The Hinge of Spring” The jackrabbit is a mild herbivore […] eating the color off everything rampant-height or lower. Rabbits are one of the things coyotes are for. One quick scream, a few quick … Continue reading →

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Lost Locus

Posted on July 22, 2012 by Francois Lachance

Could serve as an epigraphy to a set of psychogeographic instructions. The Drop, that wrestles in the Sea — Forgets her own locality — Opening lines to No. 284 in The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson edited by Thomas H. … Continue reading →

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Segmenting

Posted on July 21, 2012 by Francois Lachance

Towards the end of a poem in three mandala sections (“Tigers”) there is this arresting bit of typographical ingenuity. attempting A few strokes and the “attempting” becomes “tempting”. There are many lines to treat the cascade of words. One is … Continue reading →

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Sound Twins

Posted on July 14, 2012 by Francois Lachance

Robin Blaser sounds like Carl Sandburg. Listen to any of the recordings of Blaser at PennSound. Compare to Carl Sandburg reading from The Windy City [Chicago] from the Caedmon Poetry Collection: A Century of Poets Reading Their Work. Chi-ca-go And … Continue reading →

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The Song Still With You

Posted on July 13, 2012 by Francois Lachance

Dane Swan in A Mingus Lullaby displays a piercing humanity. gess dey scuuured. Cawl de men in da white suites,/tayk me to da pinkhouse on de hill, da funny fawm,/giv’ me a room wit pillows on da wallz, takeway/mi turntable, … Continue reading →

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