in the american tree Silliman in the american tree Second Edition, with a new Afterword by Ron Silliman The “Language Poets” have extended the Pound-Williams (or perhaps the Pound-Williams- in the americanlanguage tree realism poetry Zukofsky-Stein) tradition in American writing into new and unexpected territories. In the process, these poets have established themselves as the most rigorous and the most radically experi- mental avant-garde on the current literary scene. This anthology offers the most substantial col- lection of work by the Language Poets now available, along with 130 pages of theoretic statements by poets included in the anthology. As such, In the American Tree does for a new generation of American poets what Don Allen’s The New American Poetry did for an earlier generation. The poets represented include Robert Grenier, Barrett Watten, Lyn Hejinian, Bob Perelman, Michael Palmer, Michael Davidson, Clark Coolidge, Charles Bernstein, Hannah Weiner, Bruce Andrews, Susan Howe, Fanny Howe, Bernadette Mayer, Ray DiPalma, and many others. “For millennia, poets have had to make their own way and the world that goes with it. The genius of these various writers and the consummate clartiy with which they are presented here make very clear again that not only is this the road now crucial for all poetry, it’s literally where we are going.” –Robert Creeley “This historic anthology brings into long-needed focus the only serious and concerted movement in American literature of the past two decades. It will be indispensible to anyone with interest in writ- ing’s present and hope for writing’s future.” –Peter Schjeldahl “Provocative in its critique and antidote, this collection invites the curious writer/reader to question all assumptions regarding generally agreed upon values of poetic language practices. Unexpected plea- sures may surprise unacknowledged complacency.” –Kathleen Fraser ron silliman has published books, including this one. His work has been included in the Anthology of Modern Ameri can Poetry (Oxford, ), Poems for the Millennium (University of California, ), Postmodern American Poetry (Norton, ), and From the Other Side of the Century (Sun & Moon, ). Silliman has received fellowships and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the California Arts Council and the Pew Fellowships in the Arts. Paradise (Burning Deck, ) won the Poetry Center Book Award. National Poetry Foundation ISBN 0-943373-51-4 University of Maine 5752 Neville Hall, Room 400 Orono, ME 04469-5752 ì<(sk*o$=dhdfbf< +^-Ä-U-Ä- National Poetry Edited by Ron Silliman http://www.ume.maine.edu/~npf/ Foundation Tree File 1++ 12/5/01 12:19 PM Page i in the american tree Tree File 1++ 12/5/01 12:19 PM Page ii Tree File 1++ 12/5/01 12:19 PM Page iii in the american tree language realism poetry Edited by Ron Silliman the national poetry foundation orono, maine 2002 Tree File 1++ 12/5/01 12:19 PM Page iv All new material copyright © 1986, 2002, The National Poetry Foundation. No part of this book may be reproduced, in whole or in part, by any means whatsoever, whether photomechanical, electronic, or otherwise, without permission in writ- ing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a journal or news- paper. Some of the material in this volume is reprinted by permission of the holders of copyright and publication rights. Acknowledgements will be found on pages 605-07. 06 05 04 03 02 1 2 3 4 5 Published by the National Poetry Foundation, University of Maine, Orono, Maine 04469-5752. Printed in USA. Distributed by University Press of New England, Hanover and London. Design: Jennifer Moxley, Betsy Rose and Michael Alpert. note on the front cover Front cover images of Robert Grenier’s hands inviting you to read (the words ‘hello’ and ‘to you’) are adapted / ‘translated’ from pictures made by photographer Ken Botto and Grenier outside in Bolinas, California in late after- noon. These are slides 2 and 3 of seven-frame work Greeting (‘translation’ of all 7 seeable at Karl Young’s Light & Dust website, address: http://www.thing.net/~grist/l&d/lighthom.htm [Dec. 2000]) which itself attempts to ‘translate’ Great-Horned Owl sounds into American ‘spoken English’ (tiny notebook ‘proper’ in which this stuff is written is ensconced in RG Archive in the Green Library, Stanford University Libraries). –Robert Grenier Back Cover: Photograph of Ron Silliman © Jeff Hurwitz, 1998. The paper used in the publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ansi z39.48-1984 The publication of this book was made possible in part by a grant from the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data In the American tree: language, realism, thought / edited by Ron Silliman. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. isbn 0-943373-51-4 (alk. paper) 1. American poetry—20th century. 2. Language poetry. I. Silliman, Ronald, 1946– PS615.I49 2001 811’.5408--dc21 2001030130 Tree File 1++ 12/5/01 12:19 PM Page v For Larry Eigner & In loving memory of Hannah Weiner Tree File 1++ 12/5/01 12:19 PM Page vi Tree File 1++ 12/5/01 12:19 PM Page vii contents In the American Tree xv Introduction: Language, Realism, Poetry xvii west robert grenier “a long walk” 5 Wintry 5 “snow/blue/eyes” 6 Warm 6 Crossing Ontario 7 Sticky Fingers 9 Striped Canvas 20 A Sequence / 28 Separate Poems from Sentences 21 barrett watten Plasma 27 Position 34 Real Estate 39 Complete Thought 41 lyn hejinian “The inanimate are rocks, desks, bubble,” 50 from My Life 51 from Writing is an Aid to Memory 54 The Green 57 “The erosion of rocks blooms. The world” 61 “pandemonium hews” 62 “Rain on the macadam quaver ticks.” 63 “The tidal throughway from a distance” 64 Tree File 1++ 12/5/01 12:19 PM Page viii bob perelman An Autobiography 65 My One Voice 68 God 69 History 70 Pastoral 72 Oceanography 73 jean day Heavy Clouds Passing Before the Sun 83 Gas 84 Paradise and Lunch 85 from Trencher Letters 86 david melnick from Pcoet 90 from Men in Aida: Book One 94 michael palmer Echo 98 larry price Local Motions 110 kit robinson On the Corner 117 Tribute to Nervous 120 Severance 122 The Separateness of the Fingers in Trance 124 Verdigris 127 Trial de Novo 131 ron silliman from Tjanting 135 Tree File 1++ 12/5/01 12:19 PM Page ix rae armantrout Anti-Short Story 145 Tone 146 You Float 148 Xenophobia 150 Single Most 153 View 155 carla harryman Property 156 alan bernheimer Inside Cheese 166 Amarillo 167 Spinal Guard 174 Wave Train 175 steve benson Echo 178 Narcissus 181 from The Busses 186 Blue Book 42 188 michael davidson Brahms 196 If to Witness 197 Summer Letters 198 The Article on Geneva 200 Scales 202 tom mandel All These Examples 204 Sally 206 Realism 210 Tree File 1++ 12/5/01 12:19 PM Page x david bromige My Poetry 212 stephen rodefer Pretext 223 Words in Works in Russian 224 Codex 233 east clark coolidge from The Maintains 237 from Polaroid 244 from Quartz Hearts 248 from Weathers 256 charles bernstein Part Quake 262 For Love Has Such a Spirit That if It is Portrayed It Dies 269 To Which I Never Wanted 273 The Blue Divide 275 St. McC. 277 The Klupzy Girl 280 hannah weiner from Clairvoyant Journal 285 from Little Books / Indians 288 bruce andrews from Sonnets (Memento Mori) 300 Funnels In 303 Letters 312 from R + B 314 from I Guess Work the Time Up 317 from Confidence Trick 324 Tree File 1++ 12/5/01 12:19 PM Page xi diane ward Pronouncing 325 p. inman from Ocker 331 peter seaton from The Son Master 336 susan howe from Pythagorean Silence 347 lynne dreyer from Ta m o k a 358 from Step Work 363 michael gottlieb from Fourteen Poems 368 from Ninety-Six Tears 370 tina darragh Raymond Chandler’s Sentence 382 tom beckett The Picture Window 388 fanny howe Alsace-Lorraine 391 john mason “Red Fred exhumed the orangepeels.” 395 “Cars, wagons, buses, lunch, all late,” 396 “waiters were singing” 397 “lunge or lurch, which one?” 398 “human beings? i call them human borings” 399 Tree File 1++ 12/5/01 12:19 PM Page xii bernadette mayer from Studying Hunger 400 alan davies “101” 413 Shared Sentences 422 erica hunt Dear Dear 426 Dear 427 Dear 428 james sherry from In Case 429 She’ll Be Comin’ ’Round 435 ray di palma Exile 436 Geo 438 from Planh 441 January Zero 452 ted greenwald from Word of Mouth 455 second front carla harryman Foreword 467 ron silliman, barrett watten, steve benson, lyn hejinian, charles bernstein, & bob perelman For Change 468 jackson mac low “Language-Centered” 473 Tree File 1++ 12/5/01 12:19 PM Page xiii robert grenier On Speech 477 ted greenwald Spoken 479 clark coolidge from A Letter to Paul Metcalf (jan 7, 1972) 481 lyn hejinian Variations: A Return to Words 483 steve benson On Realism 489 lynne dreyer I Started Writing 490 stephen rodefer Preface to Four Lectures 492 david bromige By Visible Truth We Mean the Apprehension of the Absolute Condition of Present Things 495 bruce andrews Misrepresentation 496 robert grenier Notes on Coolidge, Objectives, Zukofsky, Romanticism, And & 504 rae armantrout Why Don’t Women Do Language-Oriented Writing? 518 tina darragh Howe 521 Tree File 1++ 12/5/01 12:19 PM Page xiv kit robinson 7 Days in Another Town 524 clark coolidge from Arrangement 526 susan howe P.