Chain: Different Languages

154 Pages·1998·85.605 MB·

by  Juliana Spahr, Jena Osman

issue 5 different languages
os>
CHAIN / 5
different languages
editors:
JenaOsman
Juliana Spahr
art editor:
Janet Zweig
contributing editors
or
the Forum on Language Diversity:
AdamAitken • Charles Bernstein' Javant Biarujia
Manuel Brito ' Nicole Bro sard • Norma Cole
Maria Damon ' Dubravka Djuric • C. S. Giscombe
Ray Gonzalez • Georgi Gospodinov • Ernesto Livon Grosman
Lyn Hejinian • Myung Mi Kim • Walter K. Lew
Traviz Ortis • Marjorie Perloff· M. Nourbese Philip
Joan Retallack · Catherine Schieve • Ken Sherwood
Jeffrey Twitchell-Waas • EdwinTorres • CeciliaV icuna
Honolulu, New York, Philadelphia
Chain 5, summer 1998 ED ITORS' NOTES
Chain appears annually. $12 for one issue; $20 for two issues. Please make
checks payable to 'A 'AMts. Send orders to:
Chain
c/o Department ofE nglish
Tertium Quid neither one thing nor the other
University ofHawai'i, Manoa
Tombe des nues de naturalized
1733 Donaghho Road
what transplant to dispel upon
Honolulu, Hawai'i 96822
-Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Dictee
This issue was made possible by support from the NewY ork State Coun- if art is the form ifp erception
cil on the Arts, a Presiden t's Diversity and Equity Initiative Grant and a a way ifs eeing and hearing,
University Research Cour1cil Seed Grant from the University ofHawai'i,
perhaps consciousness,
Manoa, a scholarly research grant from Ursinus College, a Matching Funds
to join and to cut,
For Poetry Grant from' A ' AArts, and generous contributions from sev-
the double movement of the
eral individuals.
wealler
Distributed by:
is the art,
Bernhard DeBoer, Inc.
el con de la continuidad,
113 East Center Street, Nutley, New Jersey 07110 the togetherness ifu nion, allqa.
Small Press Distribution
-Cecilia Vicuna, "Arte Precario"
1341 Seventh Street, Berkeley, California 94702
Poethical poets, whether or not they have themsellles used
Indexed by the Index ofArYlerican Periodical Verse (Lanham,MD: Scarecrow
the "h," enact the complex dynamics that criss-cross through
Press), Annual Bibliography ifE nglish Language and Literature, and the MLA these boundaries. The model is no longer one if city or
Bibliography ifP eriodical Literature. nation states if knowledge each with separate allegiances
and consequences, testy about property rights and owner-
Business Manager: Charles Weigl. ship, but instead the more global patterns ife cology, envi-
Cover Art: Richard Massey. ronmentalism, bio-realism, the complex modelings if the
non-linear sciences, chaos theory. You can see this now with
Special thanks to Robert Creeley and Just Buffalo Literary Center.
more and more poets using multiple languages in their work-
not as quotation, but as lively intersectiol1, conllersation ... .
Copyright © 1998 by (cid:0) (cid:0) (cid:0) (cid:0) (cid:0) Osman,Juliana Spahr, and Janet Zweig.
What better thingfor poets to do right now than to begin
All rights revert back to aothors upon publication ..
in one language and end up in others.
- Joan Retallack, "The PoethicalWager"
ISBN 0-9666-303-00
ISSN 1076-0520
This issue is about conversation.
It is about the many languages that we use. It is about languages
forming through intersection and interference: a life within language that
generates beyond semantic limits.
Some of the writers here use different languages daily, some use CONTENTS
them on a less regular basis, some use them to survive, some use them in
the leisure of the classroom, and some use them knowing only their sounds.
Regardless, we have read the move to write in more than one language as
political, as a move that questions monolingualism and other homogeniz-
ing language controls. This issue argues that an aesthetic space that ac-
RosaAlcala • Untranslateable 7
knowledges the difficulties of communication and respects these difficulties Javant Biarujia • Purges 9
can be an antidote to social spaces that demand "English first."
Marin Bodakov • "Maritza" by ight 13
We have at various times in working on tillS issue felt nervous. Ner-
Bev Braune • Uzlr's Words (or theArcher's Prediction) 14
vous because we often couldn't read all the languages. Or nervous that too
Nicole Brossard • Time Out 16
much work remains in English. Or nervous about appropriation. Or even Avery E. D. Burns • from A Duelling Primer 20
more nervous about proofreading. But the final product calms our nerves Elizabeth Burns • La Muerte 26
because it is so noisy. Warren Burt • A Post-Colonialist Poem on the English Language 28
We started Chain with the desire to gather together ranges of work Catalina Cariaga • The Mercy 32
that challenged standard English as the lingua franca.We wanted to sug- Amy Sara Carroll ' TamarindJor CameronandM 48
gest that an idiolect and a dialect and a pidgin all had the common goal of Frances Chung 51
communication through nonconventional methods, conununication against
Jacques Debrot • Origami Diagrams 58
the standard. The result has been a very talkative book. In every issue of
Dubravka Djuric • Identiteti 61
Chain, we try to print work that is extremely various, so that in dialogue, Stacy Doris 64
the pieces create an active and unpredictable conversation around a spe- Jorge Drag6n • Open Transport #1.3 68
cial topic. In this issue, we see that conversation occurring not only be- Rachel Blau DuPlessis • Draft 36: Cento 69
tween the pieces, but also within the individual works. All standards of Beatriz Freire-Betancor • Todav[a 75
linguistic politesse have been abandoned. Babeljust isn't confusing any-
Karen Garthe and Natasha Saje • ReadingJoraTrain 77
n10re. Diane Glancy • A FieLd book ofTextual Migrations 79
Every issue of Chain has been produced with the help of friends and
Nada Gordon • Absence 85
colleagues. But this issue of Chain has been unusually dependent on help Georgi Gospodinov • Radio-Poem 87
from others.We have relied extensively on twenty-iliree co-editors.W ithout Jenny Gough • " ot" Shelley and Mary's Fair Copy Book 90
their guidance, this issue would not have been such a huge learning expe- Kinllko Hahn • Mother's Mother 94
rience nor would it have been as much fun.We owe everyone that rec- Jane Hammond 96
ommended work or gave us lists of people to contact a huge thanksThree John Havelda • Poems 99
people-Dubravka Djuric, Walter K. Lew, and Cecilia Vicuna-over- Michael Helsem • Ananasa Kareo 101
extended themselves. They deserve special thanks. Jen Hofer • Vehicu,[ar Profile • PeifiLVehicular 103
Finally, this is the first issue that we have produced without the help UrsJaeggi andJohn Kinsella ' from D & G 105
of funding from the State University of New York. For a while, it looked Myung Mi Kim • from Arcana 109
like we nlight have to cease publication altogether. This issue appears Stephanie Hyunjung Kim • from A Letter to My Parents 111
thanks to generous contributions from readers and various grants. We Michael Lano and RobertViking O'Brien ' The Beginning if 113
especially thank those that contributed funds over and beyond the sub-
the ukapu People
scription price.This issue appears because of their generosity.We hope to Zachar Laskewicz • from Zaum: New Music-Theatre inThree 121
continue Chain in tillS manner. Please subscribe. Movements 121
Will Lavender • GlossoLalia 125
Jessie Jane Lewis and Peter Rose • Pressures oj the Text 130 Rosa Alcali
Rogelio Lopez Cuenca • from Home Swept Hole 138
UNTRANSLATABLE
Dennis McCarthy • Fas orma (LawJul the Carpenter's quare) 142
Scott MacLeod ' The Log-Book, Some Figures 145
Jackson Mac Low • Sixesmix: Travesty 1 148
Kevin Magee • from Maquiladora 153
Anna Maria Maiolino 157
M. Mara-Ann • Psychic Landscape 160 como una mano sin deos
Reid Matko • Nun / p, from Lessons in Letters 165
GastonV J. De Mey 170 How can I say things with all these characters so self-righteous
Matt Mullican 172 and independent, how will I delineate my devotion to you, the wom.an
Sawako Nakayasu • English-Japanese Conversions 179 who reads to me every night.T here is need to transform the roses
Susan Smith Nash • ThreeJrom the Guarani 182 of this postcard into my desire to name our unborn child
Marie Orensanz 185 something dark and resistant to snow or a Wy if she emerges
Susan Pensak • '7'.1 / Discovery 188 small, lucent-a sunflower seed in my brown palm. But with my hand's
Kristin Prevallet • The Traniforrnation ifI sis into Mary: an Iconic 190 unsure relation to the pen and barely a sack full of songs I carried
Language Experiment out of barley fields and into a labyrinth of machines
Kit Robinson • FinneticTranslation 194
Mercedes Roffe • Love Poem in Twelve Tongues 196 como un jardln sin la flor
Standard Schaefer • Chapter Nine:T he Corpus Callosum 199
Claudia Schvartz • Avido Don Es La Vida 200 you may never understand my passion. I no longer love
E. Cameron Scott • -Act Over-Anew-- 201 simply the way these misspellings might suggest, for too long
Gail Scott • The Porous Text, or the Ecology ift he Small Subject, 202 love was wet December's call, pulling us to an earth that seemed desperate
Take 21 202 after a summer of spontaneous fires. It was a pair ofleather
Eleni Stecopoulos • Post Modem Greek 207 shoes given to me by a landlord who laughed at the rubber
Meredith Stricker • [against your inner ear], from The Corrosions 210 tied to my feet, saying mira, un tractor humano. Now love
Stephanie Strickland • Gibbous Statement 219 has a proper name-yours-and the smell of your hair
Balint Szombathy • from The Eternal Calendar, 1996-1997 221 untied at night, there must be a way-a word-to draw
GenreTallique (trans.Joan Retallack) 222 the immense preoccupation of your hips below a clothesline
AnneTardos • from Uxudo 228
Edwin Torres • Porto rico N Prague 248 asf esta mi corazon
ChrisTysh • from AnAcoustic Room 252
Jose-Miguel Ullan • Almario 254 tilting with the upward stretch of each arm, an entire book documenting
MichaelVagnetti • Limited Lexicons/Changed Notes 256 the various resting places of your white slip: thrown over a chair, hanging
Anne Waldman • Practices ift he Night 259 damp on the back of the door, pressing against your belly
MarkWallace • from BoysAtThe Guns 262 as it grows larger. And as I descend south to hold the face
Gabrielle Welford • Empty Vee/ Azure Lie Kit 266 of my dying father, I am sorry he too could not do more
Xu Bing 275 than pronounce his daily requirements, learning only to unwind
Daniel Zimmerman ' Depart/Per/Report 283 his fist or foot at a helpless object, misery being a blank space
Where to Look Next ... 285 without definition, a textless page that burns white.
Calls forWork 298 Sometimes in pain I turn to numbers
7
Javant Biarujia
des de el d(a que no le veo
PURGES
needlessly measure windowpanes or door frames, create formulas
for the restructuring of the kitchen cabinets, how many years to payoff
the mortgageYou have seen my quiet practice with knife-sharpened
pencil, the way I unfold a small notebook in the kitchen
and carefully form rounded digits, dignified as the heads
BAQAIN PURGES
of horses, put them back to back or in columns, let them
build on top of each other strong as lovers untamed- math
Vedea colui chef u nobil crealo
being the only tool that was handed to me unmarked, shining,
pitt. ch'altra creatura,giu DAI cielo,
so that I would know how many kilos of harvested olives
folgoreggiando scender, DA ['un lato.
marked the border between hungry and less hungry. - DANTE Purg., XII, 25-27
<Natareudi avi syulaten.» "I have mislaid my documentation."
No.722 CORDOBA. Vcltareudi avi syulaten. I have mislaid my documentatioll.
Patio tipico cordobes Ai marnui Gellet So said the Idiot
sait-quoi, sasi ,..,--".,-----::--:----:-:--.,-----:::--------, Seer of Algeri um
Cour typique de Cordoue qaini eSl11abiaris tutto rider I'oriente, with a certain
Typical Cordovan court aher Aljeria i Pesci ch'eranno in sua s Genet-sait-quoi.
. d t
yenda.Vego, VO IS l a man es ra, e pUO Pmeirshlaaipds iint wtraasn sla-
antareudiyo ai
veqomaqaizetten. polo, e vidi quattro stell tion. Perhaps the
Vego, peicyit ab e mai fuor ch'a 10 prima death of the
gehanaVego, r pareva 'I ciel di lor fiam manuscript. Perhaps
The poelll perhaps is not in speech, nor in ti,e earth, 110r on ma[r]maJei (nuni an indivi[duaJ] (the
paper, but ill the crossing and the uniolt of the three i," a place assesqixasti entr"ional vedovo sito, indivisible duality)
that is 1I0t. yabnuqa) aibes. privato se' di mirar quel choice. Perhaps a
-Cecilia Vicuna Vego, rensa io do loro sguardo fui p sign of
sepirocya pau demediocracy.
[ am in corlstallt strllggle between parI ish and English. Erlglish has been jitova. Du(hu] o me volgendo a I'altro p Whistle camp
predominant acadelllically, bllt panish has been the elllotiollal basis of Illy life. Champ cecer/o before (avant/
[n poetry, it is illlpossible for lIle to separate the two. [ ciften trallslate whatever Karlt, cye rah anbouzida e Mirlas- devant) cant nazissism, un-Minoan to us,
['III writirlg irltO both pal'lish alld English as all illforlllal exercise. The bevaca ye renau jidara il11aJesubatisi. reports from the concentration camps.
subtleties in tone, syntax, word choice, and rhythlll can chal1ge dralllatically, Vegos sasi qaini eSl11abiaris asendi sasi Could the Idiot Seer be none other
and at the sallie tillie, help to clarify some problems in the origilwl. ollletillles butou aisau jagan bes beqa? Sesibounjout than the Magnetic Man? Klaus Ba[r]bie
I prifer the translation, bllt often [ warlt to create a hybrid Ivhich is Illore yas piru tovun e Klaus Ba[r]bie (<<Nu das doU criticity ("Who's in criticity
representative of Illy bi/il'lgllal upbringing. In this poem- based all a postcard sesibounjout ganien?»). UZIA MARNU here?"). AND NOW A WORD FROM
Illy father wrote to Illy 1II0ther I'learly thirty years ago--I begall by trallslating a RESIA YE ANANGUYARISA ... OUR SPONSORS: Thejacq//es Derrida
few simple words he had Illritten her, but soon decided that the trallSlatiol'l was Nunieni saqir xas raiga ye Cantata della Sage-Difyillg Crenre--from manufactur-
really in the redness of the il'lk m'ld in the smell of the card, ill what I kllew oflllY Spem/anza yoyole »yamajudougi cu yas ing Cum Scent. Attent[atJisllle is the
father and his own relatiomhip to the world. And what Imlgllage is really j'acwse DaDa«. (Ku]wait-'n'-see policy of the East. It's
available for all of that? The Ellglish-for now- takes the place of that IQ/l- Attent[at]isllle asendi moudi argangara all a matter of hitl-or-rniss[tety]:
gllage. yas [qu]ta Vezir ye leingaqa. Beqa nu HISTORY IS A CRIME AGAINST
saqir vayole raut e Kraut: yoyole HUMANITY.
.NALIOYEXATTENVAYOLE
YAMAJITOVI LIPARAI».
9
8
Darqantan sicurdi beit veqisa haunta
nintat e »piyoi oumas •. Darqantan The guards carved up others' assets on
sicurdi daroyeu licyi eher ayoti jalan. the Night of the Long Knives, carved
Darqantan sicurdi ayoi seuzo raxit segio hunkerbones for their delectation,
e garuh.Ayoi oumas e Claidheamhmor carved their initials on skin. They
uma murandanda ujion moulou- morned their parsing with a hermeneu-
marcyari mumoudicyan 17a mas tic c1aidheamhmor only Proposition 17
mesyoyestadiyo. Yoyevinidi ayoi yeyi could legitimate. They fired their
ayan . seminal engines.
• Ha anvas vayiqida epiqquna e "We do serve lobster Maldoror. May I
Rorl11aldo. Ni annai mumoudidi abi e Lo suggest Nerval gas No.5 for the
Schwa nel Seing e usaiban?» Vego, nuri accompaniment?"
rensa, nuri rensa brallt, nuri rensa Perhaps a sign, selah, sigla or sigil-a
desgeh i nuri rensa sarqu- nuri Gnothi gr/O/hi seau/on on the lintel-will
Seauton nllyole airaxitqa sungato es extinguish all contracts with the
jareuguno-uza peicyitti beqi zi significant Other on the run. The
seloqiya gasta nuni veqis dayole buta ilir master-builders know, perhaps
nu mepa yansyenatta. Vego, nuni beqi ("Pass!"), but they are not blowjobbing Sgou darraula laur.
darpemisya yorou syida (»PAMEU!.); anyone; in puris ,w/uralibus, they eat the Mieu, gab! (Mieux que fa) The goldsmith's orifice.
aqouga, rah nu Ruche and retain,
Let's go!
ptouun om. Mas ejjiuqnuig a scende virtu che m'aiuta itno piat rIi veeds , tao gtahred en dove ad orezza, poco si d (Better than that)
udi, beqa 10 a vederti e a udirti. point of madness. ambo Ie mani in su I'er
yoibandi piaccia gradir 10 sua venut They go so much soavemente 'I mio maestr
harizzon busai, a cercando, ch'e Sl cora, against the grain ond'io, che fui accorto di
oher Saint /ves,
chi per lei vita rifiuta. that their ryetings porsi ver lui Ie guance lag
imalesubatti
are considered an
nuri qayenqa ai, che non ti fu per lei "aeolypile" of vi mi fece tutto discovert
yole aher nuni 10 morte, ove lasciasti graphemes. quel color che I'inferno m
ye jame das ch'al gran dl sara Sl chiar Opsomaniacs have Venimmo poi in sui lito
siropuocyi selas on Ii editti etterni per no relished jewfish on che mai non vide navicar s
gasta sicuriaru.
Yosehabdajuni sti vive e Minos me non I Sryaeli negveerr sminacrein ated mo, che di tornar sia pos
airebaupurati
his generic
yole ansancyabdi ayoi meluaxigara e structures (the genre of the novel no
marnu »Aiolou Pylai. ama uzo raxia. longer satisfies; the Pulitzidae inhabit
L'Apres-midi du toe tudieu.
Tou reb euda jame vas pevadi isdia e the body of the shaggy cynic).
Morone Lobrax aisya aqe Salinger
memausidi ayoi reti yorovat syasyalatu Dog turd afternoon,
(nuni reta ete eher yoyexa piyo syau rah
das biya besisda; vou e Pulitzidae vas
moudi darpeu usyudollgisa layicyi).
Uzia, ye jame ye Esperal"to das jehan
yegou; aqouga vego, beqa yoiruqda e
syi scyoubri livargun, scyoubriti syare
Now Esperanto's spawn possess the aura
nouqa, zivos e Scyucyesk. of an arcanum; yet perhaps they are
10 11
merely orographics, graphic oral sex, Marin Bodakov
graphite Urals. "MARITZA" BY NIGHT
qain > qaindi, s.q.r. uzelltti s. ibisu e
ebicu sescyu ava: yoyole uzeutti s.
123456789')- •
moudiru spahi neviliratti s.
see, v. t. to perceive by the sense seated
qain > qaini, q.h. uzeus liban,jerousyi;
in the eye: to perceive mentally: to
hebdisi: uzeus judouga: qebinocyi, dy. understand wEHllllI1. K C.n;,IL3U
ibidir moudir: uzeu nuri ilir puno
silly, ad). harmless, simple, humble:
baqain > [III as] baqaindi, s.q.r. mas witless, foolish: defenseless, feeble:
mell1ebdi S.: senseless
amall1unatti
di che sdegno Ii orgomenti purge, v.t. to nRa O'KrTHBM't!
saqir cyirai iher:
purify: to remove
mas rapandi s. ye remo non vuol, ne oltro
impurities from: to
lIZ0 vontia i tova oli sue, tro liti Sl lontoni. clear of undesirable
asieristi [cyari
di come I'ho dritte verso i elements or
tm'l.: baqaindi
ndo I'oere con I'etterne p persons [Eng. only:
aidelllat,
to clarify: to clear
all1idovatti on si muton come mortol
from accusation: to
aidell1at uher , come piu e piu verso n
expiate: to evacuate,
nouqa: I divino, piu chioro (cid:0) (cid:0) (cid:0) (cid:0) (cid:0) (cid:0) as the bowels]
baqainsyadi, mas
he I'occhio do presso nol
bisodi s.lt.
chinoil giuso; e quei sen
rapani ai ebica, ai
yerista (spahi ai
asebica, ai asierista) e. p.]
Vego aiveyo marnui, aibasu e esoscyll
(ba]qaini, uza aniorovidi tevabaqi "Maritza" by Night is the impri",t of my little green typewriter. "Maritza"
bubten renbeqqara nunieni yoyole is ,lOthhlg else but its name, which is also a name of a river. O'le night without
Perhaps one day, with diligence and
»vatarelldi avi syulaten«. electricity 1 crossed all the keys with Illy forcifillger. J did it consecutiveiy,jrolll
di.I.Iy chance, we'U be able to construct
top to bottom, very slowly and carcifidly. I didn't War/t to lIIiss allY sigll,for I
the axiomatic absence of this "I have
lIIake Illy living by thelll, dOll't I?That is hOlll the printed page got sOllie seme,
mislaid my documentation".
if you take to pieces my "Maritza" by Night, then lIIix all the fragmellts up
alld relllove the lll1necessary, you may discover by chalice the poelll J hadll't
writtell that flight. It is still in my heart, but it had missed the right tillle a/ld
From "Purges," a pataphysical itlterpretation ofEperons by Jacques Derrida, place, Othenvise all this is a clumsy joke betweetl varia/lt and invaria/lt, be-
written. i'l the author's private language, Tcmeraic, with E,lglish trallslatioll. tween me and solitude.
12 13
The weave of notes reared against the sky. -signs from Ullr's book
Bev Braune
(untranslateable): from the
Letters stood missing- stalking night-silk stairs.
ULLR'S WORDS captain's journal
The sigils marched upon each other,
(OR THE ARCHER'S PREDICTION)
grafting in flight one arrow from two.
\!
e
Then, with stone-fixed stare, The Archer said: p D 0
'From pools of night the Wolf will ride -transliteration of letters
from (cid:0) (cid:0)(cid:0)(cid:0)(cid:0)(cid:0) book, from right
and, born of fire, the Warg will breathe
to left & from the top: "I,"
from the epic poem Sku/vaoi UzJr, Book 1, Part 2: Dagazar, the captain where Loki hides in mist-rent caverns.' "G," a reverse "F"?," ";
each, perhaps, the first letter
of a Norse fleet stranded in 1051 on an island off the northern coast of a line
Warg-Norse for"Wolf"
of South America, leaves the bed of his Cherokee-captive lover on a
L6ki-Utgarilr-16ki, giant
stormy night for the cliffs that look towards his homeland, Rogaland, Warnr (Central Asian) Over-
lord, whose territory cov-
only to find waiting there, The Archer, Uur
ered part of the island at the
time of Dagazar's arrival
there
The Book ofB rokenW ords Ullr-meaning "glory" or
"brilliance"; the Norse god
associated with archery and
The skr;:eling's saddle- the Sheraki's mount- invoked for protection in
battle The epic poem "Skulvaoi Uljr"is a language map which narrates the "legend"
riding my tongue, I straddled storms
Rogaland-southern Nor- oJ"the real evidence" oj Illy exploration oj the terrain oj the poetic imagination
for Howling Garmr- the Hound of Cliffs, way aI'ld the trollblesome natllre oj rlilership over that territory. Historical lacuna:
skrreling-indian; meaning
the face of cloud-sea carving Rogaland. "screecher" provide spaces where unexpected realities are mapped to create their own au-
Sheraki-the Cherokee thenticity (in much the same way in which we validate those indeterminate
indians of south-east North spaces betweerz oHrselves and a work oja rt when we give value to our experience
From Wod's war cry, from the rasp of wind America encountered by
with the creative work in that relational space). In these spaces I chart the
Spanish explorer Hernando
climbing Lyr's Fjord grew Uur's stride;
de Soto in 1540 "wrap" oj the object stratum, the "logic" oj casting each so!md-image irl a
on his feathered helm, Hel's bloody gash, Gannr-the name of the bay role, how each image looks back and ahead oj its propositions as it reveals arid
on which Dagazar's fleet was
on his coat of rings, Garmr's carve of stone. creates itself-as irl "Ullr's IMlrds. "
shipwrecked; in Norse my-
thology, the giant hound that
would bring about the end To delllorlstrate the proximity/distance oj the terrain as a touchstone Jor the
In The Archer's grip, no finder's point of the rule of the House of
exploration, it is sigrlifrcarlt Jor me that the worlds oj the poem should occupy
but a cloak ofleaves, night-reared signs- (thOeo iAnsni)a tic King Wod[an] a real or credible place. As such, we open the books oJSkulvaoi Ulfr via the
a book of steps pressed in storm-haste-- helm-helmet hand oj a late 15th cerztury translator and the history oj Spanish arId Vikirlg
a hail ofletters, light-strung sigils. He/-the caves beneath the expansion across the Atlantic; the epic's inllIlediate larldscapes oCCllrring within
island; Land of Ice and Death
the context oj a fictional history placed betweerz the mid-11th centllry and
in Norse mythology
finder's point-line of sight begirznirzg oj the 16th century. "Ullr's IMlrds" is built on the multi-layers oj
I askedThe Bowman: 'What could bring you
used by archers co "find" alliterative poetry and periphrasis with illustratiol'/S "eviderlcing" the larlguage
to a place like this, where the ground breaks their target oj sO!/rld-images, presented irl the epic as composed oj Nonvegian-Swedish
Tyr-shield sign [ i]; Norse
champions of Tyr, mocks victory-oaths god of war; the letter "T" in nmic scripts, Old Norse and the basisJor Cherokee wrillerz syllabary recorded by
and seals Hel's cave with Garmr's grip?' the Elder Germanic runic equoya (George Guess 1760-1843), altho!lgh Cherokee traditional history
alphabet would date the existerzce oj the syllabary much earlier than when it came into
acknowledged use around 1821.
Tight-lipped 0Ur slipped his fingers
across the book of broken words-
the double wave of the sign-cut page; L-JW
but Garmr's growl made more sense. I
\
14 15
Nicole Brossard or ici la mort n' est pas une image
mais un pont
TIME OUT
entre la theorie
du chaos et la realite virtuelle dreaming the faraway of humanity
you thumble on sparkling eyes
nevertheless you summarize
about skin and soft arguments
no chatting in the morning
I am not a smile
only stories standing still
-Sylvia Plath
in front of the window
programming the image
of you and me rowing in eternity
Le vent qui nous touche les flancs
i
la finesse de nos yeux savants
l'aurore exposee au vent
or les villes si on en reve sont
afin que nos yeux repetent
notre ailleurs de memoire
l' ouverture au monde
l' extreme difficulte d' ordonner
jadis rever etait fluide
nos messages
d'un seul angle du desir on accedait
et I'horizon reelame par nos yeux
au corps multiple
en fixant I'horizon
still you believe an image
set in the early morning
today touch and again you touch
can set fire can fly
same screen your silent flesh
and you won't spoil the poem
meme chaise, meme chair on the same chair
with mud and tragedy
des yeux c'est toucher cruising eternity among letters
the soft rolling dimension
l'abime seulement, l'abime encore
of truth as it curves around
Ie continu sans fin
that smile of yours
de toucher la ele
you will not spoil eternity
d'un autre monde
with a scream
screening time and meaning
you will not borrow a human face
from the past until
tu aimes parler en faisant synthese
she comes along
dans ta langue
de l'utopie et du voyage
dis-moi si tes yeux ont memoire
dans Ie silence de ta chambre in your silent room dark
si l'idee que les hommes sont nombreux
of vertebrae and offuture
a
sans condom dans les villes montrer
tu crois que rever est un horizon united on a sharp piece of mirror
leur membre et leurs entrailles
un futur de vertebres et de lucidite images bridge
pensant que l' Amerique est un symbole
reunis dans la glace between fractals and virtual reality
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