June 16, 2017 – wikipoem

Wikipedia Poem, No. 510

Processed with VSCO with b4 preset — “How about an oak leaf / if you had to be a leaf?” James Schuyler

c
short
sea suicid
ahis bed wie he
cha them all n euticals
dhis long hr i spoke bsentminde
of pharma lying on a cigaretthe day afe
point—heuicidal ornd the rooith this lth this
looke with cd he was drette and t with charalled
him t to the ces at someke with chchelsea
where tth charles at some pll whetherr
the all whethabsentmind took themea
absentmid the roomat some po
up the das bed withs
suicidalent to
theis
long
haefinitely arette
anded him he a lot of p
to the chrles i wend he was d suicidal
went to tim he was they had aim he was
ing on his installedals does asuicidal os definitetminded
hechelsea wh charles iint—he toodid what aint—he
tooe they hadlready ins with charentminded
ady instalte and theinstalled t up the dor
absentmsentmindedhis long h i spoke
wr absentmient to thedefinitelyette
and tthe chelse charles isuicidal
ohelsea wheay after iely
smokint of pharmwent
to thentminded
they had aes
i went hem
all whg
hair’s
wheady
instay on
a lotroom went
suicidal helsea whewhat
anyboy up the point—he f
pharmacem went up r it’s suig
a cigareed he was all wheth smoking
atminded hee and dainstalled he took thinded
he wtely smokiroom went ere they hoint—he toe
was lyin point—he ceuticals the day afe was
defii went to what anybthem all w does
at s absentmin had alreae took the’s
suicidasuicidal o went up tll
whetherether it’sefinitely
some poind he was
with this hairhad
alread or
absentd
he was
d the room
all whetheirtook
them l whether nded
he wath this lois long hadoes
at soes i went em all wheitely smokrmaceuticawas
lying ot of pharbsentmindeg hair had alrea
day afterlled him hroke with che took
tht’s suicidlong hairat some po
hair and the rabsentmindhey
had alme point—hefinitely
ely smokininitely smok
them albed with t
day aftere with
chabody
on
a
lying on
hll whethertook
them icidal or a lot
of em all whehim he
waspoke with hat anybodthis
long ea where ty installerles
i wenntminded hspoke
withdy on a loicidal
or i went to
himinded
already
italled
he
wlready
insly smokingll
whetherd
what
fly
hi
i

Everett: “I remember loving Lewis Carroll from an early age, and not just “Through the Looking-Glass” and “Alice” but the syllogisms and a book on logic. And then I remember quite well, early on, reading something I thought I shouldn’t be reading, Maugham’s “Of Human Bondage”, which I got from my father’s shelf. I think I was nine. It was fun because I didn’t think I was supposed to read it. As I look back, I think that it’s reading, probably even more than writing, that I find important. Reading is subversive because you necessarily do it by yourself. Which is why books scare people like Donald Trump. What’s interesting to me is that the poor people who identify with Donald Trump, they think of themselves as unlucky rich people. If things had just gone differently, they would be rich, too. The system has worked against them. It’s the same reason people play the lottery. Overnight you could wake up rich, and that’s an exciting thing. What you can’t do overnight is become educated. That requires a lot of work, so that’s not a goal. It’s something to fear. But that’s exactly why I find books so important. I don’t care what people read. If they read anything, then they might read something else. I just want to participate in making a different culture. I’m thinking of that line of Walt Whitman’s—”Produce great Persons, the rest follows.” It sounds flip when you just say it, but it’s true. That’s not to say that people are bad, but I want a readership that wants to read things because the work is difficult, not because it’s only fun. I want the fun to be in figuring it out. That’s what reading is all about, and to me writing is really just an extension of reading. But there, enough of my soapbox.”

Read the entire interview in The Paris Review.

Day: June 16, 2017

Did You Mean Más o Menos?

Wikipedia Poem, No. 510

from Percival Everett in “The Art of Fiction No. 235”