Artist.   Track.    Cd title.   Source
anne sexton.  after the operation.  poetry speaks.  sourcebooks

gertrude stein.  she bowed to her brother.  poetry speaks.  sourcebooks

hoa nguyen.  no sleep.  FELIX series.

jayne cortez.  chano pozo.  poetry in motion.

lee ann brown.  nascent toolbox.  segue reading series.

matt dalby.  vetch.  fight.

muriel rukeyser.  night feeding.  poetry speaks.  sourcebooks

paul austerlitz.  high modes.  double take.  innova

peter gizzi.  revival.  pennsound.

philip levine.  peace.  hear me.

pierre joris.  a calm vademecum dose.  close listening.  pennsound

piers plowright.  radio radio. martin spinelli.  2003.

robert frost.  the onset.  voice of the poet. random house audio.

rodney koeneke.  chary of gary.  segue reading series.  pennsound

rusty russell.  specific gravity.  a jungle of roses.

serbo croatia.  alex hamburger.  sound poetry today.

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Sequencing poems for each 60-minute Wordsalad program has always been fun, and today is no different. My guiding principle was a mesostic.

You know that, in an acrostic, the first letter of each line of text spells out a word or series of words: You scan down the lines and a phrase appears. I sequenced today’s Wordsalad program using a mesostic, where the phrase in question appears not at the beginning of a line, but in the middle. To compose a mesostic, you choose a word or phrase, then read through a text, looking for words containing the letter you seek, in strict sequence. Then you transcribe the word containing that letter.

Today I chose the word poetry. My ‘text’ was the spines of my shelved poetry CDs. They’re arranged by poets’ last names, and compilations follow separately. To begin, I selected the first CD beginning with the letter P–in my case, Paul Austerlitz. The second CD had to have the letter O as the second letter–Robert Frost. The third had to have the letter E as the third letter, and so forth. Here’s how things fell out:

Paul austerlitz
rObert frost
leE ann brown
rusTy russell
poetRy speaks 1
poetrY speaks 2

Poetry speaks 3
pOetry in motion
piErs plowright
matT dalby
pierRe joris
rodneY koeneke

Philip levine
hOa nguyen
poEsia Sonora
flaTus vocal trio
peteR gizzi
melodY sumner carnahan

The next step was to choose individual tracks. That was guided (a little loosely) by searching for poem titles including the letter in question. It will be interesting to see what, if any, difference appears as the program unfolds in real time. I have not yet heard the entire program as sequenced.

artist.  track.  cd title.  source

ed roberson. day and night don’t organize anything; et al for A.L.  FELIX series.  private recording

flatus vocal trio.  Nana; sintaxis.   ubu.com

greg djanikian.  brief history of border crossings.  kelly writers house.  pennsound

jane ormerod.  hello i’m johnny cash.  recreational vehicles on fire.  www.janeormerod.com

k silem mohammad.  dusty the oncologist; poems about trees.  FELIX series.  private recording

kathryn mockler.  cross eyed.  kathrynmockler.blogspot.com.

kathy acker.  face to face with death; outside the law which is language.  redoing childhood. ubu.com.

majena mafe.  lovelovelove song.  that unsound.

timothy yu.  this is the era.  FELIX series.  private recording

Music
hanah jon taylor artet.  selections.  madison performance august ‘09.  private recording

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Artist.  Track.  Cd title.   source

amanda stewart.  happily ever onward.  i / t selected poems.  split records

ed roberson.  eclogue.  FELIX series.  private recording

greg djanikian.  in the city of languages alexandria.  kelly writers house.  pennsound

jane ormerod.  Saboteur; termites.  youtube.

kathryn mockler.  wedding reception.  the reluctant narrator.

kathy acker.  president bush.  redoing childhood. ubu.com

Öyvind fahlström.  O F eavesdrops.  the holy thorsten nilsson.  ubu.com

timothy yu.  from Bestiary; drive.  FELIX series.  private recording

k. silem mohammad.  rocking the sprint campus.  FELIX series.  private recording

sheila chandra.  speaking in tongues.  moonsung.  real world

Music: selections from Blood Money. Blood Brotherhood. Killerpimp.

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artist.  track.  cd title.  source.

allen ginsberg.  lines written at night.  the lion for real. mouth almighty

anne waldman.  empty space.  poetry in motion.

charles bukowski.  report on the consumption of myself.  solid citizen.  chinaski

denise levertov.  her sadness.  poetry speaks v 3.  sourcebooks

diane di prima.  my poem.  poetry in motion.

diane wakowski.  i have learned to live w my face.  century of recorded poetry v 4.  rhino word beat

gary snyder.  why i take good care of my mac.  century of recorded poetry v 3.  rhino word beat

gregory corso.  hair.  die on me.  paris – KOCH

gwendolyn brooks.  kitchenette building.  poetry speaks v 3.  sourcebooks

k silem mohammad.  mr watery eyes.  SUNY Buffalo 2003.  pennsound

kenneth patchen.  i went to the city.  with chamber jazz sextet.  cadence

lawrence ferlinghetti.  allen ginsberg dying.  live @ poetry center chicago.

marge piercy.  right to life.  century of recorded poetry v 3.  rhino word beat

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It’s the 1960s again on today’s program: We’ll hear the voices of Anne Waldman, Diane DiPrima, Denise Levertov, Gregory Corso, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Kenneth Patchen, Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, Charles Bukowski, Jack Kerouac, and others.  1 pm Central, www.wsum.org.

I have not attended the u. of pennsylvania and have not enjoyed the privilege of attending classes with charles bernstein. but you know what? Bernstein has been one of my most valuable and appreciated teachers over the past 5 years or so. How? because of his poetry, his radio programs, his books of essays and criticism, his conference appearances, his blog (which, yes, promotes his own work, but to a much larger degree promotes the work of others), and because of his work with Al Filreis, producing the audio content on Pennsound. I met Charles at a conference last year sponsored by the Academy of American Poets and the guy’s passion and counter-establishment perspective will always be attractive to me.

artist.   track.   CD title. source

Leslie Scalapino: floating series, bum series, walking by. kenning 12. SPD books

Will Alexander. a national day in Bangladesh. kenning 12. SPD Books

Charles Bernstein. A defense of poetry. kenning 12. SPD Books

TS Eliot. The love song of j. alfred prufrock. poetry speaks. Sourcebooks

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Thursday’s #wordsalad will feature a recording of T.S. Eliot reading his ‘Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock.‘

We’ll also hear selections from Leslie Scalapino’s sequence, Way.

Program #134

artist.   track.    cd title.   source

amanda stewart.  first verb.  i/t selected poems.

christian bök.  mushroom clouds.  audiatur.

david moss.  africa.  moss tales.

dirk huelstrunk.  Arbeit;  Nie.  gruenrekorder

isabeela beumer.  zobwohl.  sind wir jetzt da.

jaap blonk.  zamongi grin.  poesia sonora hoje.

jackson mac low & anne tardos.  free gatha 1 & 2.  doings.  granary books

john m bennett.  d ool burn chime.  La M Al. Luna Bisonte

kenneth gaburo.  maladetto.  maladetto / antiphony 8.

maja ratkje.  chipmunk party; joy.  voice.

majena mafe.  R U O K.  that unsound.

phil minton.  universal drainage.  a doughnut in one hand.  FMP

Music

joan la barbara.  selections.    voice is the original instrument. Lovely Music.

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