Poem about the Effect of Dreams
A dream of murder came to me.
I don’t feel able to recall the details.
Not that I can’t, only my brain is a bone shard.
Beautiful nightmare, why have you dressed me
In the warm silk of your night and laid me to sleep
In the red bed, while my hands are still as milky
As the innocence of my girlhood? The fresh morning
Milk on my cheeks seems to me another aspect
Of the same nightmare in which I murdered the girl --
I don’t want to say – by opening a womb in the sky
Above her head and pushing her, pushing her back inside.
The traffic on Mulberry is rifling backwards this morning.
The soul of the world has left its egg casing to decompress.
Not that this is reality. Not that my bad dreams have so heavy
An effect on the misshaped world, because they don’t. A sharpness
In the water cushion around the interior of my head, a flashing
Blackness that occurs the moment before waking.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Friday, May 1, 2009
The Le Jennifer Interview
The following interview was conducted via telephone.
David Pollock: So, I’ve allowed you to take over my blog. Do you have any thoughts on the matter?
Le Jennifer: I do. Yes. But it’s your blog I’ve taken over. Maybe what’s more interesting are your thoughts.
DP: I’ve allowed you to take it over. I gave you that right, my password, etc. Yes, I have thoughts, but I’m the one conducting the interview. How about this: Why were you so open to taking over my blog? You have a blog of your own.
LJ: I had a blog of my own. Now I have yours.
DP: Right. What was wrong with your blog?
LJ: There is nothing wrong with my blog. Only no one read it.
DP: I read it.
LJ: Well, you apparently have nothing better to do. But I don’t have many friends. Two, to be exact. Your blog is linked on a literary journal page.
DP: Essays & Fictions.
LJ: I’ve read it. I like it. I read one of your stories. It’s interesting, but I don’t know…
DP: You don’t know?
LJ: I didn’t think this interview was about you.
DP: Fair enough. So, you’re pleased with the exposure you’ve been getting.
LJ: Pleased. (Makes noise with mouth.) Sure. I’m elated.
DP: Let’s talk about the blog as a form. A colleague of mine – someone whose opinion I really respect – questioned the blog as a format for poetry. She wondered if maybe the blog – the look of it, entry after entry – didn’t make it difficult to digest. When you have a book, you move from page to page; the pieces aren’t piled on top of one another. Even worse, she wondered if the blog format didn’t make the poems look like internet junk, like most web content.
LJ: Presentation. Is that right? We’re talking about presentation?
DP: Yes.
LJ: Presentation is the least of my worries. You forget, David, I used to work in real estate. One reason I got out of it was so I wouldn’t have to think about presentation. Not only is it boring, it can become offensive.
DP: But artful presentation is different.
LJ: Is it? I don’t think it matters. An idea I’ve pushed on some of my ‘friends’ is this idea of production over presentation.
DP: Could you elaborate?
LJ: Yes. I could.
DP: Could you do it now?
LJ: (Makes a noise with her mouth.) I’m not so much against presentation. It’s publication I don’t like. I don’t like showmanship. I like to write poems. I say ‘like’ as an understatement.
DP: So, you love to write poems?
LJ: I write poems because I am a poet. Sometimes I look in the mirror … Nevermind.
DP: Is it this feeling that you just have to get the poems out there?
LJ: No, it’s this feeling that I write poems. I don’t care if you like them or not. As a matter of fact, I’d rather you not. I’d rather the poems existed. It seems very presumptuous to me that a person, like you with your journal, might read someone’s work and decide if it is worthy or not. When I see something that exists – a lilac, a dog, a cactus, a stone, an automobile – I don’t wonder where it belongs, what worth it has. I know it exists, I consider it part of my world.
DP: Let’s go back a little. You talked about your ‘friends.’ You mean Elliot Le Ginn and Lepor. Is that right?
LJ: Yes. Unfortunately, these are my friends.
DP: I’m a big fan of both those poets. You all knew each other before I was familiar with any of you. I hate to use the word ‘scene,’ but you do, all three of you, seem to share a similar aesthetic.
LJ: How do you mean?
DP: What strikes me most is how you all seem to be playing with confessional tropes. You take the voice of the traditional confessional poet – the experience and the metaphor – and you carry it to the point of the absurd.
LJ: That sounds very learned.
DP: Thank you. Are you consciously confessional? That’s a bad question. What I mean is, who do you read?
LJ: Who I read. I don’t know. Can I tell you about a moment of enlightenment?
DP: Please.
LJ: Okay. Two. The first was when I was an undergraduate in college – I had been an English major before I went into business – and I read a John Berryman poem about boredom. The second was about three and a half years ago when I showed up to the office, and one of my co-workers – her name is Julia – Julia was wearing an obscene amount of makeup that day, and I thought her face was going to fall apart. I swear it was.
DP: That makes sense. Let’s talk about your work.
LJ: If you must.
DP: I would like to talk about your work because I think it’s very good. The poem “Le Jennifer is Not a Religious Woman; However” is one of my favorites. It’s very strange. The image of the angel, it occurs often in your poems. Is there any reason for this that you can state?
LJ: This is why I was hesitant to perform this interview. I don’t think I’m capable of answering a question like that.
DP: Can we instead talk about why you can’t answer that question?
LJ: The same reason I can’t talk about why I use articles the way I do: because it’s proper. Because, in the same way there are rules in grammar, there are also rules in poetry.
DP: I’m not sure I understand you.
LJ: There are angels. I see them. They are a part of my life. I find them poetic. Next.
DP: Let’s talk about your friendship with Elliot Le Ginn and Lepor. How do you know these guys? Were you friends before?
LJ: I have known Elliot since I was in college. We used to party together. I believe he attempted to rape me once. We’ve talked about it since, and it seems that he was drunk on beer and asked if I wanted to ‘try one.’ Elliot has always been an unattractive man, and while I’ve always enjoyed his company because he’s entertaining, I turned him down. He was out of his mind and threw himself on top of me. He woke up the next morning with a broken nose and a profound respect for yours truly.
DP: And Lepor?
LJ: Lepor used to be sexually fascinated with Elliot. They worked that out somehow. I think they try to better one another with their poems. Is it okay if I go now? I have to urinate.
DP: It’s been a pleasure talking to you. I would like to have another interview in the future, so we can talk a bit more about your work.
LJ: David, you need to stop. I have to pee.
David Pollock: So, I’ve allowed you to take over my blog. Do you have any thoughts on the matter?
Le Jennifer: I do. Yes. But it’s your blog I’ve taken over. Maybe what’s more interesting are your thoughts.
DP: I’ve allowed you to take it over. I gave you that right, my password, etc. Yes, I have thoughts, but I’m the one conducting the interview. How about this: Why were you so open to taking over my blog? You have a blog of your own.
LJ: I had a blog of my own. Now I have yours.
DP: Right. What was wrong with your blog?
LJ: There is nothing wrong with my blog. Only no one read it.
DP: I read it.
LJ: Well, you apparently have nothing better to do. But I don’t have many friends. Two, to be exact. Your blog is linked on a literary journal page.
DP: Essays & Fictions.
LJ: I’ve read it. I like it. I read one of your stories. It’s interesting, but I don’t know…
DP: You don’t know?
LJ: I didn’t think this interview was about you.
DP: Fair enough. So, you’re pleased with the exposure you’ve been getting.
LJ: Pleased. (Makes noise with mouth.) Sure. I’m elated.
DP: Let’s talk about the blog as a form. A colleague of mine – someone whose opinion I really respect – questioned the blog as a format for poetry. She wondered if maybe the blog – the look of it, entry after entry – didn’t make it difficult to digest. When you have a book, you move from page to page; the pieces aren’t piled on top of one another. Even worse, she wondered if the blog format didn’t make the poems look like internet junk, like most web content.
LJ: Presentation. Is that right? We’re talking about presentation?
DP: Yes.
LJ: Presentation is the least of my worries. You forget, David, I used to work in real estate. One reason I got out of it was so I wouldn’t have to think about presentation. Not only is it boring, it can become offensive.
DP: But artful presentation is different.
LJ: Is it? I don’t think it matters. An idea I’ve pushed on some of my ‘friends’ is this idea of production over presentation.
DP: Could you elaborate?
LJ: Yes. I could.
DP: Could you do it now?
LJ: (Makes a noise with her mouth.) I’m not so much against presentation. It’s publication I don’t like. I don’t like showmanship. I like to write poems. I say ‘like’ as an understatement.
DP: So, you love to write poems?
LJ: I write poems because I am a poet. Sometimes I look in the mirror … Nevermind.
DP: Is it this feeling that you just have to get the poems out there?
LJ: No, it’s this feeling that I write poems. I don’t care if you like them or not. As a matter of fact, I’d rather you not. I’d rather the poems existed. It seems very presumptuous to me that a person, like you with your journal, might read someone’s work and decide if it is worthy or not. When I see something that exists – a lilac, a dog, a cactus, a stone, an automobile – I don’t wonder where it belongs, what worth it has. I know it exists, I consider it part of my world.
DP: Let’s go back a little. You talked about your ‘friends.’ You mean Elliot Le Ginn and Lepor. Is that right?
LJ: Yes. Unfortunately, these are my friends.
DP: I’m a big fan of both those poets. You all knew each other before I was familiar with any of you. I hate to use the word ‘scene,’ but you do, all three of you, seem to share a similar aesthetic.
LJ: How do you mean?
DP: What strikes me most is how you all seem to be playing with confessional tropes. You take the voice of the traditional confessional poet – the experience and the metaphor – and you carry it to the point of the absurd.
LJ: That sounds very learned.
DP: Thank you. Are you consciously confessional? That’s a bad question. What I mean is, who do you read?
LJ: Who I read. I don’t know. Can I tell you about a moment of enlightenment?
DP: Please.
LJ: Okay. Two. The first was when I was an undergraduate in college – I had been an English major before I went into business – and I read a John Berryman poem about boredom. The second was about three and a half years ago when I showed up to the office, and one of my co-workers – her name is Julia – Julia was wearing an obscene amount of makeup that day, and I thought her face was going to fall apart. I swear it was.
DP: That makes sense. Let’s talk about your work.
LJ: If you must.
DP: I would like to talk about your work because I think it’s very good. The poem “Le Jennifer is Not a Religious Woman; However” is one of my favorites. It’s very strange. The image of the angel, it occurs often in your poems. Is there any reason for this that you can state?
LJ: This is why I was hesitant to perform this interview. I don’t think I’m capable of answering a question like that.
DP: Can we instead talk about why you can’t answer that question?
LJ: The same reason I can’t talk about why I use articles the way I do: because it’s proper. Because, in the same way there are rules in grammar, there are also rules in poetry.
DP: I’m not sure I understand you.
LJ: There are angels. I see them. They are a part of my life. I find them poetic. Next.
DP: Let’s talk about your friendship with Elliot Le Ginn and Lepor. How do you know these guys? Were you friends before?
LJ: I have known Elliot since I was in college. We used to party together. I believe he attempted to rape me once. We’ve talked about it since, and it seems that he was drunk on beer and asked if I wanted to ‘try one.’ Elliot has always been an unattractive man, and while I’ve always enjoyed his company because he’s entertaining, I turned him down. He was out of his mind and threw himself on top of me. He woke up the next morning with a broken nose and a profound respect for yours truly.
DP: And Lepor?
LJ: Lepor used to be sexually fascinated with Elliot. They worked that out somehow. I think they try to better one another with their poems. Is it okay if I go now? I have to urinate.
DP: It’s been a pleasure talking to you. I would like to have another interview in the future, so we can talk a bit more about your work.
LJ: David, you need to stop. I have to pee.
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