Levin, Curmudgeon?

Can't Stop.

Robocop?

My favorite work experience was a few years ago at my current job, innout. Some big kid came in and ordered a cheeseburger with thirty slices of cheese. And we melted a block of cheese onto his cheeseburger. We all watched as he scarfed this monstrosity in front of his gf. She must have barfed in her mouth several times, within that sitting.

Levine

The man's tone is brilliant and sharp though quite sardonic. He never wastes an opportunity to quip about what people are taking for granted while, introducing imagery that captures the entirety of his message. In What Work Is, he places the reader in a situation that is common, to those familiar with lack of work. (everyone) and forces to look at the possibility that we don't know what work is, or rather what it is to search and not find or wait, knowing that the opportunity is no longer there. Levine is not afraid to jar the reader and grasp their attention, or literally shake the shit of you as you try to come to grips with what he is trying to convey. However, as great of a writer he is, he seams to polar Whitman's kind demeanor in terms of outlying his ideals and beliefs. Levine knows that were all on the same page, but still feels the need to berate us. What an asshole.

In essence, Levine captures the stark reality, often defeatist that sometimes we know but most of the time we don't, yeah i'm sure that doesn't really make sense, bu in comparison to Whitman who frills and weaves beautiful language with ease and simplicity that we are often drawn into this imagery, well, Levine understands that reading work aloud and writing it are to different sciences, that require our attention, and the man has mastered both perhaps, but at the expense of compassion.

Now lets look at Lilacs and What Work Is, and both poets are trying to convey moments that familiar to us both, in ways that are different though effective. What Work Is presents a scenario and addresses the reader, as if presenting observations he has seen while viewing our lives, and though it may not be true, we understand what he is trying to say, that though we contemplate the lives of those that we love, we never step out and greet them or address them, until it is too late. Whitman relies on expansive motifs, that capture mourning, sadness and death, in examples that are enthralling and immediate to us.

book of the dead

Rukeyser's poem, The Book of Dead, contains some beautiful diction and references to the creation of modern america, and references the blood and sweat that was used to keep it together. I found it impersonal. though this might just be be. What i found most moving about Whitman's Lilacs... was that he introduced the personal emotions of turmoil and disappointment he felt at the death of lincoln and allowed us to relate.

Establishing motifs and elaborating on the mourning and gloom of death and those it affects, there was nothing force or implicit. Death is, and we must deal because we have no choice.

In Rukeysers poem, there's a hint of judgement and blame that I felt almost like fingerpointing because of the death of those that worked to establish our industrial society. She brings to light questions about society and construction and death and the values of life. People die because they're made to under certain circumstances and situations which can be easily averted if ppl weren't so greedy and selfish.

And I don't want to here that judgemental shit because me and whitman are mourning the death of our loved ones and we blame no one because shit happens.

Seriously, I feel like death is #death. Trending. Best friend passed away, a childhood friend passed away to heart failure, my gfs cat is dying and we just found her pet rat, trillion dead in her cage. Death happens. And we just have to deal.

Adam and Eve.

There was quite the disaster long ago. Several nations not only destroyed themselves in a nuclear holocaust, but released hazardous chemicals in the air to not only eradicate themselves but their enemies. This was a behavior most unusual of any living organism, as nothing on this earth had reached the climax of advanced technology and science of the homo sapien, and destroyed it self so quick.

Imagine ants dividing themselves, divisible from battalions to platoons to militia men to a (____) crew of random ants. Now imagine those ants killing each other and then themselves. Fucking weird right?

Now after exactly 24 years, a young man who scowered the ruins of his forefathers, stepped onto this healing earth and grabbed a handful of filaments which were all to similar to the locks of his hair though brittle and fibrous and green.

My Specimen Day

I've been obsessed with every detail of my life today because for once I have a perspective that is different and unique. I've been searching for answers in every potted plant and closet. To be fair I'm _________. But whatevs. I'm sure that this is the right way to figure out everything afterall.

Granted, I don't think whitman ever had the opportunity to take advantage of modern pharmaceuticals (I'm sure he would smoked a lot of herb) he wouldn't frown upon it given that it harms no one but himself. And that's pretty righteous. I think.

Michael Mcclure

For some reason, i felt compelled to blog about Michael Mcclure. One of the prolific writers most established from the Beat Movement. (and probably the only one still breathing) Michael Mcclure is a man who seems to emulate Whitman without really knowing him. Now. What i mean by this is that i don't recall reading Mcclure being influenced by Whitman, though he might have, what i particularly noted was the meticulousness[sic] of his craft. Spacing on a typewriter, centering, symmetrical form. He truly exerts control over his craft and in doing so provides not so much a revision, but a metamorphosis and transformation, with poems that preclude interjecting themselves in following poems, weaving motifs and moments together.

I recalled Tran's secret embarrassing situation where poems were duplicated withing an anthology.

Though it was unintentional, it forced readers to confront meanings and desires which readers might overlook on first readings.

And that is perhaps the connection i see between the two. Their fixation on revision and transformation was perhaps compelled by their prophetic vision to make us understand while retaining the beauty of their writing.

Now, i don't believe whitman would ever recite poetry to lions, but then again, whitman didn't have the luxury of psychedelic drugs. :)

Of Lilacs.

The narrative in Whitman's When Lilacs Last in the Door-yard...

is quite sweeping in it's ability to evoke isolation, mourning and sadness. It captures various facets of grief and death and though it stumbles in certain areas to keep me in cue with the tune, i find it magnificent in the manner it captures so many things, a spewing prose of death and gloom.

Scanning through various poems, which i couldn't feel compelled to copy/paste, i found that their were some vague similarities between Whitman's poem, in the manner in which it delves deep into isolation and gloom by increasing detail and emotion within a single motif, though i found Whitman's manner was more effective. The imagery in Lilacs was most powerful in evoking something in me, though the even that occured so recently in history recalls emotions that are more genuine.

Death is different to those who have and have not experienced it.

Stating this. When Lilacs.. captures death in various moments, those that grieve and mourn as well as the passerbyer(sic) And though all these elements are common and still recognized today, the manner in which they are included in the poems i have read are dull and tend stir up political tension, and politics i fear i what ruins most of these poems.

I get it you're middle eastern in a world that hates the middle east. I get it, it was all about money, or it was a government conspiracy. I don't want read about how it was America's fault, that America brought this upon itself.

And that is why i found Whitman's poem so soothing in that it captures, everything, while leaving out everything. It allows the reader to slip in and experience with their emotions devoid of exterior stimulation. None of that political bullshit.

Whitmans Legacy

What fascinated me was the project that considered the original reviews about LoG by some of whitmans contemporaries.

I want to study the contrasts between some of the early reviews with some more modern reviews in an effort to understand how a certain era or consciousness of literary review will percieve a creative work.

As a writer, I want to understand if maybe people will read my work and hate it and possibly recognize it as something more perhaps later. I don't know if I am wording my interest carefully...

I'm thinking about marking up 4 reviews that are negative marking negative and harsh statements with some commentary and comparing them to modern reviews and outlining compliments and statements which remark on whitmans genius.