Charles Bernstein Poem

Bernstein's style is perhaps a little to close to my own preferred mode of writing poetry for me to be posting it. I mean, if I can write like that, why not post my own? Point taken. So instead of posting this as a way of submerging my own voice, I will post it as a memo to myself: Trust your own voice and write your own poems. I'll set it to recur everyday at 3:00 -- pm I guess. In the meantime I'll go ahead and share "Gertude and Ludwig's Bogus Adventure." Sure, he's doing pop culture free association. But it's the kind that moves forward with each phrase or sound or idea (all are equal) linking to what came before while pushing forward. This is actually what Ornette Coleman did with his innovative approach to jazz improvisation. By ditching the chord changes he was liberated from the need to keep circling back as each chorus comes around. So the improvisation isn't illogical, as critics suggested. No it's perfectly logical, but it just keeps playfully extending out instead of resolving based on a predetermined pattern. I encountered Bernstein in the most recent edition of Provincetown Arts, but I pilfered this from the Poetry Foundation website.

for Gabriele Mintz

As Billy goes higher all the balloons

Get marooned on the other side of the

Lunar landscape. The module’s broke—

It seems like for an eternity, but who’s

Counting—and Sally’s joined the Moonies

So we don’t see so much of her anyhow.

Notorious novelty—I’d settle for a good

Cup of Chase & Sand-borne—though when

The strings are broken on the guitar

You can always use it as a coffee table.

Vienna was cold at that time of year.

The sachertorte tasted sweet but the memory

burned in the colon. Get a grip, get a grip, before

The Grippe gets you. Glad to see the picture

Of ink—the pitcher that pours before

Throwing the Ball, with never a catcher in sight.

Never a catcher but sometimes a catch, or

A clinch or a clutch or a spoon—never a

Catcher but plenty o’flack, ’till we meet

On this side of the tune.