The Floating Bear - issue #36 - 1969


STONE TAKE

I have eaten my last pretzel
tongue stings
colleas dying needs water & clipping
I dig
greenthumb people always examine their plants high
plant tell you in fine squeeky vibrations
"I have fungus-- need X03 spray eek."
and you do accordingly

I can hardly believe I'm back in this luminous gray city
can hardly believe the city
poof! it's gone
what a rock
what a magnificent bare rock I sit on now
and miles at sea
like mermaid...

car horn
city recreated by sound
proving Maya just sound vibration
Greeks say movement
maybe same thing
somebody said every object gives off its own sound
I sit here listening to the phone book,
             lamp, typewriter--is this harmony?
glass paperweight has good solid tones

flat planes of roofs in Brooklyn--west side--
            where I stood & saw roofs in snow
John by my side
            Audre's house
flat planes move up & down like these tones
their colors
before the eye

       --Diane Di Prima - click on link - Jacket Magazine 2002 - Interview with David Hadbawnik

Comments

  1. That's a great "Jacket" interview!

    And boy I can relate: the explosive father, codependent mother, the whole sibling noninteraction, &the cousins & relatives you eventually drop as you grow older. How it happens in certain Italian households that the cherished ideal of family can turn into a nightmare is not something that's often talked about. Di Prima's honesty is refreshing. She must have seemed quite odd to her family in those days.

    In Canada Italo-Canadian poets talk about their upbringing quite often: I don't seem to see much of that in American poets (or perhaps I haven't read enough yet)I think I'd like to look at Di Prima a little more closely myself.

    Thanks for posting her poetry, Claudia

    ReplyDelete
  2. Conrad,
    Yes, a great interview!
    I know, Diane Di Prima is a very interesting poet. She is a fearless person.

    ReplyDelete

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