Cutting words:
so warm at first & then
such a chill
*
The fewer the words
the more sensibility
surrounds them
*
Every word is a clearing
that grows
out
*
The absence of language
is not silence
but wilderness
*
If you want a sacred text
use a branding iron
*
Only through poems
can I get all
the way naked
*
Time
is my
eraser
*
Notes: These are not haiku. They are simply poem-like things short enough to fit on my back if shaved with a small razor. To enact these properly, I would need at least one assistant, possibly two — one to cut the words, the other to record the process on video. A time-lapse photo sequence of the words growing in and disappearing each time would probably also form part of the final video document. Maybe someday when I am a proper silverback.
(UPDATE 2/5/12) See the photographic response by Rachel Rawlins, “Buddleia.”
OTHER POSTS IN THE SERIES
- Dog Logic
- The Colors of Noise
- Crossing Wales
- Memo from the CEO of Little Prince, Inc.
- Poems to be shaved into the hair of the author’s back
- Desideratum
- Capture
- Living in Analog
- Organ Meats: A Primer
- Walking Weather
- Beach Glass
- Tree Without Birds
- Hermit
- The Captain’s Reverses
- Pets
- Exchange
- Heart
- Digital
- The Fullness of Time
- Pandora
- Reading the Icelandic Sagas
- Hit the Lights
- Vagina Dialogue
- Helmsman
- Old Norse Family Values
- On Hold
- Heels
- Looking for the Reader
- The conversation continues: two videopoems
Only in poems
Am I naked.
Fewer characters which, given the medium, might be a necessary constraint.
Gro-back
Word farm
What might you do with the clippings? They would be the more enduring record of the poem.
Love
Lasts
Six weeks
Assuming that’s about how long it takes to grow out :-)
Warm words
Cold heart
That would have to be a chest job.
I’m almost (well, given the other difficulties it would bring, not really) sad I don’t have back hair myself.
Thanks, Rachel. These are great! You’re probably right about the length.
Silence vs wilderness. Much to think about indeed.