Good news to report: Exhibit C by Jane Nakagawa and Eye-sensing by David Jaffin have been published and are on the way to SPD and Dan. Great news is that Yoko Danno’s retelling of the Kojiki can be found at SPD and in Maruzen books, Japan.

It’s great to have my voice back after a brief checking out of the website. More news coming.

What we’re reading at the moment:

Overtime–Poems by Philip Whalen.
Pieces of a Song–Diane di Prima
Poetics of the Pretext; Reading Lautreamont–Roland-Francois Lack
Elementary Morality–Poems by Raymond Queneau–Translated by Ahadada’s own Philip Terry! Congrats!
Sabbatai Sevi; The Mystical Messiah–Gershom Scholem.

In the midst of a ho-hum week, I was really pleased to find Andrew Gallix’s consideration of Spam Lit on the Guardian Bookblog with a mention of your humble correspondent as the first framer of this neologism way back in 2002. Check out his article “Spam Lit: the silver lining of junk mail?” Here’s the link: http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/07/spam_poetry.html. Jesse

Just wanted to mention a series of dynamic pen and ink drawings with watercolor highlights done by this German contemporary of August Macke in 1912. His work is filled with the angular, splintered gestures of the Rhenish Expressionists, yet there is a writerly quality to what he does that places him firmly within the vispo spectrum. Imagiine Kandinsky’s early abstractions held within the boundary of the human form reduced to the merest sign and kanted at a 75 degree angle. Worth a look and certainly an influence on what I’m up to. Jesse

Just a note on a great exhibition of visual art coming up by good guy Wordsalad man Paul Baker of far-away Madison, Wisconsin.

Moroccan Montages:
Merging Muses

Photographs by Paul Baker
Adapted by artist Linda Endlich

July 13 – Sept. 29, 2008

Opening Reception
July 20, 5 – 7 pm

Gallery SB
Steep & Brew
544 State Street
Madison, WI 53703

For more information: endlich@tds.net

We’re in the process of planning volumes by Jonathan Monroe of Cornell University (prose poems), and the di Prima collection TimeBomb. “City of Water” by Robert Thompson, a collaborative Ahadada Books and Situations Press edition is nearing completion. Jess

Ahadada Books is pleased to announce that Jane Nakagawa’s collection of experimental poetry Exhibit C will be officially released by Ahadada Books in September. It’s a great collection of crisp, cracklingly intelligent writing. More on this soon. Jesse

A great thank you to everyone! I can even sense that those who did not respond were too full of emotion to do so: I more than most realize that sentiment sometimes acts as a crazy glue to the seat of the pants while an invisible bar rockets repeatedly through the left cheek and out the top of the skull in an explosion of the fuggy black-powder of lugubricity.

Be that as it may, Mr. Schwartz’s poem and other sentiments were printed on scraps of Chinese Hell Money and burnt in a steel brazier in the park (to the accompaniment of Beethoven’s 9the “Ode to Joy”), so that the smoke could wend its way to Braincap in Elysium.

While staring up through these clouded light receptors called my eyes, I believe I saw a flash of a piscine tail among the clouds signalling “all is well.”

Let us hope so,

Jesse

to say the sorrow past the joy of knowing a creature whom we love and live
with

I am sorry, Jess, and think of you now

sheila [Murphy]

From: Joseph Duemer
Subject: Re: The Passing of Braincap

Jesse, I must have fish-consciousness because my politics exactly match that
of Braincap, whom I feel I know through your loving description.

jd

Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:05:46 -0400
From: Frederick Pollack
Subject: Re: The Passing of Braincap

Ave atque vale, Braincap, ave atque vale.

Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2008 10:08:00 +0100
From: Patrick McManus
Subject: Re: The Passing of Braincap

Sounds like he had a good fishlife exposing him to GW Bush (did you
translate him into Japanese -but could count as cruelty-shame he missed the
results of the election
Us and our pets
Best wishes Patrick

Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:38:37 +0100
From: David Bircumshaw
Subject: Re: The Passing of Braincap

i sympathise on your loss, jesse. Of course, when the braincap goes,
it becomes like Swift, dying like a tree, from the top down. If only
those twittering song-birds, obsessed with their territorial markings,
realised, in their tiny minds, that a tree dies from its roots up.

Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:00:20 +0200
From: Anny Ballardini
Subject: Re: The Passing of Braincap

Truely heartbroken,

may the thought of his new existence (freer in spirit) help you, your
family, (and me) in this moment,

Anny

Date: Fri, 27 Jun 28th, 2008

The Passing of Braincap

As Braincap wound a way

through waters, I imagine

a following of a weave, we

cannot hope to flow, one

going among news-cycles

that really change, but do

not change. I wonder

about what and how this

fish pursued. There is no

explanation. So hard for

any of us to see. We look

through glass and water

as Briancap looked

through glass and water

and we get lost. Tragedies

happen– so many people

are destroyed; celebrations

happen– some people are

consecrated; and Braincap

swims and learns and ages.

Nothing Braincap could do

would stop time’s watery

unfolding. None of us ever

wish to let go of the weave.

–Gerald Schwartz

We really like this, but must apologize because this blogging system does not allow us to reproduce the stepped lines of each stanza.

Hi Jesse -

As it happens I wrote 2 fish poems just recently:

Poisson

le poisson la position le ptombeau
la partition le pointilon la puration
le pourquoi la pmaison le ptomaine
la pancarte le pantalon la page
le pense-bête la pénurie le pédéraste
la paine le poulpe la portête
la portet le pulp la pane
le pederaste la penury le pens-beet
la page le pant-along la pancake
le ptomaine la maze le porkrot
la puration le point thong la partition
le tumble la position le poison

Fish Fish

fish fish poison poison hand hand it it
hand hand wet wet went went hor hor
went went lug lug pry pry hook hook
pry pry dance dance dunce dunce he he
dunce dunce chug chug dry dry sea sea
dry dry ant ant peel peel new new
peel peel bore bore blew blew sat sat
blew blew fed fed gunk gunk nit nit
gunk gunk sky sky rash rash blood blood
rash rash drop drop pile pile drool drool
pile pile bone bone shoe shoe gut gut
shoe shoe lunk lunk eat eat sent sent
eat eat eye eye egg egg fin fin
egg egg glottal glottal fish fish glue glue

Dr. John M. Bennett
__________________________________________