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Ray
DiPalma
From The Ancient Use of Stone
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January 8 Music is restricted to anecdote. “Might as well be walking on the sun.” An intimate reticence, to be recorded and
later read aloud. No evidence—a system
owned—like a by-product. Original time, believe the projection—watch the
fissure spin. I tell you there’s light
for Engaged
in constructing A
series of events: The
scheme from which The
rock is abridged The inexorable merge missing the membrane of
responsibility. “I don’t know,” he said
to the cat. [Only partially visible, 4
PM.] Hangs from the shoulder. The outcome is exposure, standing doubt,
outside the frame. Still,
engaged. Thrown. Take what’s under there out. Nothing misdirected inside the voice. The struggle of alternation. Penetrated or destroyed? Written over again [no change between] written
over again. The wall [the brick] the January 21 [Sic loquitor equus] Vendetta = comes the debt— —in libro etymologico— This friend of a friend . . . tell him for me:
“Omnem volve lapidum.” What do we have for memory? Not merely these remaining words. Contradiction to contradiction to contradiction,
held in suspension at right angles to one another. He asked for depth and received grid upon grid variously angled. That, and breath found at the back of the
throat. Hiddenness placed in an arrangement. On its behalf: the focus just another place
to Whose corners for entropy? Prodigious form? Mine—or
possibly mine. 12:30 AM—A tarantula-sized asterisk and a dog in
the hall. Because of the lifebook they are paving the
jungle road ever deeper. Resolution: Behold the circuit, as wide as the
wrist. Resolution: An extraction. Andantino: The
reminder carefully tapped close to the ear, admirably attentive to a threadbare
topic. Ta tata tatatata ta— January 28 Follow the vein. Dig, clear, and stope it out.
Without story or program notes.
The record written in moumia,
a mix of wax and tallow, on a parchment of The same said and the terms of the saying: hie, kotan, karabi— cold, icy beauty,
simplicity, & austere, monochromatic dryness. ‘He seldom speaks; he loathes conversation, he
spurns news of any kind, he shrinks from strangers . . .’ [Beckford, Alcobaça & Batalha] Souvenirs or splinters, accumulations of data,
selected prejudices—gathering at the core.
My route from Kaf to Kaf. To be entered sideways, but still facing
East. How does it look from in
there? Two Grapes, olives, and figs. Acorns, dried fish, and pomegranates. What part of the past the series dictates writ
small? Descriptive, momentary variables—ko [
] tan The contents of the frame turned to a right
angle against the horizon spadework. The contents of the frame turned at a right
angle across the horizon—each according to An auditor
who never made more than a very brief visit to the systematic—no such thing as
an excellent summary—that being their words— January 30 Ruminative, something very fine to murmur,
but not explain. An aptitude . . . age-old nomadic customs . . . [their]
objects and associated rituals. Wrapped in felt. Allocutions. Tales of traders. The
cryptic mention of attributes. The
thread turned and pulled. Not without
reason. Adjacent strategies. Hallucinatory and skeptical. Some unravelled, some detachable part. February 11 What counts is what’s written down—nothing
to be said until then. They hunt for sentiments to fit into their
vocabulary. [EP] For there are more letters in all languages not
communicated For there are some that have the power of
sentences. O rare
thirteenth of March 1761. For St Paul was caught up into the third
heavens. For there he heard certain words which it was
not possible for him to
understand. For they were constructed by uncommunicated
letters. For they are signs of speech too precious to be
communicated for ever. -Jubilate Agno * FOREST AND CAVE The book is an album not a final set of solutions The real discoveries Are to be found elsewhere What the book exhibits Are the ways to them * [i] In consideration. In despite. [502. “What sentence?”] [ii] Matter Grammar & physics * Totality: a selection from all the intervals. Infinity: the time to make a selection. What might eventually be arrived at? [Via x
to x.] Only particular parts, concentric. * [Apropos January
Zero]: 69.
Isn’t it like this: a phenomenon (specious present) contains time, but
isn’t in time.
It’s form is time, but it has no place in time.
Whereas language unwinds in time. -Philosophical Remarks * Codex—a map of auspicious places—its array Gateway to gateway. Unentered—earning what it says. And abandons. How far does the writ extend in order to
establish a pattern? The length and width of the vein: though misled
by analogies— Undetermined variations scaling the dial— A continuous
transition difficult to negotiate —The reach obtrudes Any part of the straight line that establishes
the curve The mark that distinguishes the materials From the preferred solutions— Launching and overtaking the first context A ligature established and sustained beyond any
formula Something dislodged and turned upside down February 12 Not veneer—heartwood. Descriptive signatures. The purely descriptive spoken at the
demonstrable. Sayable, therefore of
secondary importance. An exclusionary
perspective shaped by what has been brought about and turned to. Savoring a lack of emphasis, while
misunderstanding any progressing aspect of a possibility. Misdirection. As discoverable by . . .
Beyond assent. This will be set
out by what has been set upon. The
aggressions of form. Beyond suggestion
or shared * In a crude box of stone. Ostensives.
Bones. The materials: an observable legacy. The simplest and the most problematic. A portion of distance the water embossed. * Appraisal of validity—and with of. Affirmed only within a portion of its fullness—an
aspect that would enlarge upon what is only partially knowable—then protracted
and retracted throughout what-ever theoretical bias has been established. Once again, not the thought but the thinking,
lost with the sphinx’s tail. * Hypothesizing primary losses and gains Postulating primary losses and gains “I discovered and ventured divers answers; I
distinguished between ages, peoples, degrees of rank among individuals; I
departmentalized my problem; out of my answers there grew new questions,
inquiries, conjectures, probabilities—until at length I had a country of my
own, a soil of my own, an entire discrete, thriving, flourishing world, like -On the Genealogy of Morals * “Poems
should echo and reecho against each other.
They should create resonances.
They cannot live alone any more than we can.” “Things
fit together. We knew that—it is the
principle of magic. Two inconsequential
things can combine together to become a consequence. This is true of poems too.
A poem is never to be judged by itself alone. A poem is never by itself alone.” -Admonitions Put back on the way down the hall —Thus, thus, and so The point of this last remark, etc So many, and several others The same traps February 16 Alternative drafts, partial erasures,
repetitions, and additions—No final form.
What remains is approximate and mutually exclusive. There should ever be only two copies. Dry, cold, moist, or hot— Sanguine, hot and moist, Air Choleric, hot and dry, Fire Melancholy, cold and dry, Earth Phlegmatic, cold and moist, Water [. . . a
learned store of ethical precept culled from many ancient authorities.] Let Nepheg rejoice with Cenchris which is the
spotted serpent. For I bless God in the libraries of the learned
and for all the booksellers in the world. -Jubilate Agno,
Fragment B Sentimental, ill-tempered, and enormous And this distinction— The distractions of great bones, gleaming
blackness, and enormous frowns A permission for death and nothing ornamental February 17 “Leave no widows.” He was the most honest man I ever met; in consequence of which he
was of no use to anyone. [“Vedi, Albero
. . .] By “frame” he meant his body— Ankles, all ankles. Wise and silent, the coldblooded starts
here. Pathetic and bronze, something to
walk past on the way to lunch.
Motioning from deep within a mysterious and noiseless endurance, it remains
a showpiece blocking the aisle no matter where it’s placed. The ms. was lost and pieces were scattered
everywhere. The search for original
pages goes on to this day. Soothing
iotas—something that can be built only from what has been left behind. That degree of intelligence usually missing
from anything rhapsodic. * Veritas
etched on the bi-focal in 7 point type The weed in the dogma Supports the late harvest Menial vigor kept moving To emerge from the smoke Diamonds tumbled With clods of frozen sand February 18 Edge, the only unity. Turned out to stare at the broken
columns. An Ten or fifteen words organized around two or
three marks of punctuation. Else—the other side Else—a point, a large hole * Sentences in ink Sentences in light Red wheels beneath the track across the mirror At the edge of the field Yellow In which a system of touch is Suspended in copies of yellow A little more of the distance Shadow across shadow What is not in its place What is missing The fidelity of a Motionless egg * THE ROBOT & THE NAKED MAN [25 Years Later] A more aggressive neutrality is expected From the mechanical marvel standing in the
corner Wrapped in white and left on the stairs Everything analyzed by sound Its particle nature in fine amounts named
gathered and hidden Captions on a spool in conversation with and
more receptive to An undetermined science and whatever else might
lie just ahead A symmetry of shadows extends through the ones
it casts Unclear what was lost clear where the loss took
place February 19 “Oaths are the fossils of piety.” -Santayana In an attempt to transcend my limitations I have
thought to create an expressive * MARBLE SHOES ‘I have not brought the message.
I came with the message. I am a part of what is said to have happened.’ * Pauses or deletions in the text: ainos (story) & ainigma “. . . an abstract unity . . .” [Baudelaire]: and the unapproachable distance. “All research on the labyrinth ought properly to
begin with the dance.” [Kerenyi] An inevitable
order in the world Compels silence Not an outcome but a simulacrum Of its rhythm * A PHYSIOLOGIE Divisions by folio increment is shrugged into convention Stock still and lacking the immediate it stretches through the inconspicuous until the undifferentiated and meditative appear Supple and resistant and as attentive as unheard amark on the erasable floor What thought would you give to the thought you would give— disputing abstractions non plus modes under foot in ruling out the perfected space around
anything attached— divining the obstinate and axial * POEM Blindfolded and consoled he stood beside the blackened cabinet where the monument had occurred—the moon, barbed wire, buttons of limestone, dirt, and
ice— succinct and equidistant Another cigarette another whiskey in extremis explained the private leagues and fathoms of
dent— Amnesia and a footprint over the sigh co-opt the nightly report invite concern for a spotless record Had it been colder, had it been thicker it might have worked better February 23 L’autre jour, facing the rectangle painted
in red and silver . . . During the
course of the day a man arrived from X—bringing with him several small clay
tablets, papyri, and inscribed parchments.
These he had wrapped in linen and hidden among his undergarments. Some months later I heard he contracted
fever and died at Aleppo. As I seem to
remember. Even
now the upheavals of the Thirty Years War continue to drive me from place to
place. But these journeys provide many
documents; and their fame spreads through The
fifth edition (I have no way of knowing whether it is the most recent) has The
icon’s enormous gaze fits into a small silver spoon. Eyes, forehead, cheekbones, and the mouth. All distinctly gathered within the bowl of a
tiny silver [Here the manuscript breaks off.] As I seem to remember. March 10 Home life with tea leaves and a dog. Where bowls of blossoms and stacks of books
meet the blue and green mountains and every conversation begins “I’ve been
meaning to tell you.” A fragile, ingratiating
life. Its occulted goal a minor
achievement. Interests
at the center of any enterprise invariably concern privilege, not the
elimination of contradictions. Lithe in
its effort.. The of that departs from
the or. Latent and retractable it
motions, prompted by depth, to become a vacant symmetry. Black, timid, and sour. The stinking breath of a welcoming
conscience confirms a morose expertise.
Any apprehending rules and contradictions dissolve in a carpet of
vapors. March 11 IRONY'S EAVESDROP Recording a disaffection with self-surveillance on a semantic level it functions in the same way
again and again As expression it lacks any other strategic
primacy March 14 [Maze and frieze motifs] Before the river tributaries and before the backroads that ran along them
were formed Where powerful alliances were made and uncertain transitions The wind stops 15 centuries old A shadow hiding us with increasing reluctance from the moonlight March 26 ORTHOGRAPHY Scoured, iconic, and unduly gracious I must return to all these developments and not to the familiarity of a shelter hidden just beyond the stand of trees— a single room lit with an oil lamp and furnished with a wooden chair and a zinc-top table With the assumption of this stance it has become difficult to miss the
deceptiveness of the source and the changes that have emerged as readily as photographic evidence Singled out, fallen short of the realities, the question has arisen of how this happens— its ontology realized only in terms of
detachment metamorphosis emerges only in contradiction— regret, nostalgia, or loss become a gesture for
that limit April 1 1 At a right angle to the heaped boundary As far forward as the strategy and the light will allow This is the tongue of the weave 2 A circumspection of movements dissolving in aptitude— errata usurping any call of judgement Larger than further away smaller than nearer at hand The execution of the circle 3 The mark refuses the ambiguity of its own grace Shrewdly intricate it relinquishes the signs and numbers of mishap and abiding calm Cherished asperities and undisturbed
counterfeits 4 Four black keys and three white for the edge aside and the divagations of the
thaw Eye-deep in a record to be set straight the custom of strong opinion is mistaken for a
warning An axis untangles no roots 5 A mirage in the distance for emphasis April 3 All the texts of pilgrimage maintained the
valid designations. A self-interrupting
apologia comprising brief exclamations and anonymous voices full of
responsibility and foreboding—inserted and over-inked, minus the mysteries of
exposure. The almost perfect answer,
heard farthest from. * ISLAND LIFE: DAY TO DAY The sun’s a floating stone. No? Sepia pre-lit, ochre lit—off on—on off— Probative work, where the light opens on the
edge of the rain. Right foot down, left foot still in the
air—where is the boundary? Zu Fuß,
still advancing still unraveling how many years the river has been flowing Across the realigned fragments of territory. Horse and bird, grass, food, and pearls all for
transaction, My little darkening flock has its day set aside
in the Almanac Joie, Badly printed on cheap paper—white, almost at
the risk of transparency. Exhausted by anticipation, I took out a knife, A cutting board, and the remains of a ten day
old loaf of bread. I was going to make something for the birds. April 5 [Notes for THE RAVINE] Carried at the point of balance Nullified by the weight of the book The diagonal moon Shapes touching the glass Poison under the floor The tiles one by one All the expected places With a 3 hour head start Secrecy as a solution to the problem A bowl full of nails Curious beyond intimacy Working in silence No longer limited to extorting The plain of the marginal Horizontal relationships In fragments Quasimathematical Surveillance and its spectators Minimal equivalence attaining solution Delivery not conversion Particular controls Isolations and system drift Working forward of the light Across the corners Blunting the anticipation of the angle Compelled by knots and waves Steep acoustics A duplicate direction without repeating This next is the dead and this prime is the end A reed and an oblong stone Else unedited unelse read April 10 Only at the solstice would they tell us what
they believe they can leave behind; not as a justification but as a way of
saying—adding that though now dissociated, all is meant to be found again in
the same versions at a much later date; however, in quite different contexts
and produced exactly as they had been 400 years ago, but whose original models
had been hidden at least a further 300 hundred years prior. * To move about is to define Things to do generating things to say generating
things to be done Convictions to be extricated and identified As though the measured were no longer among the
discarded Or return
confused with about to enter Where were the words that left a certain smell
on the hands That made the ears sensitive and eased The pressure on the eyes Blank glass scrolls Their scratches filled with ink A music of smoke and anise The stolen name fills an entire page A compendium of assimilated errors Rounded by calm Decaying arabesques Enumerations of a mongrel detachment [1998] ___ Copyright
©2006 by Ray DiPalma Ray DiPalma is
the author of numerous books of poetry and art, including Numbers and
Tempers: Selected Early Poems, Raik, Provocations, The Jukebox of Memnon, Observatory
Gardens. He lives in New York City, where he also teaches. |