It took me almost two years to write Post Moxie. The process included brief periods of time when I thought I was done writing, and then out of nowhere I would write a few more stanzas. About six months after I had decided it was completely finished, I started writing these long, thin, punctuation-less poems that eventually evolved into square punctuation-less poems. Basically they look like Post Moxie stanzas but without punctuation. They are also far less interesting. I'm starting to think that I can't write in lines anymore after writing prose blocks for so long. I'm willing to accept this, but it's a difficult thing for a poet to accept. Then today I started reading Tomaz Salamun, whom I haven't read for a long time. His are the kind of the poems I want to write. I wish it was as easy as just deciding this. But I'm going to keep him at the back of my mind as I write. Or maybe envision him holding my hand as I write. Starting something new feels weird, even though I've been starting something new for over a year now. Here is a poem of his that I love:
Pity
On the subject of god briefly
he never said very much
never said rosemary
never said peace-loving
if there were ants in the corners
the ants stayed in the corners
for example dust
wherever it falls
down or to the side
or the existence of roots
all that god solves expertly
at times he says Archaic
but nobody budges
nobody wakes up
really nobody wakes up
at times he says we kill
those who bring flowers
and he buys light-colored paper
I bought light-colored paper
he says we killed those who brought flowers
and he commands the little boat to sail the sea
the trees to bend
something to fall so it creaks
you're the light of the world
no hiding place even in the mountains
