(Soma)tic Poetry Ritual Response To
Art of Its Own Making
for the Pulitzer Foundation
for the Pulitzer Foundation
Thinking
within strict limits is stifling.
--Christian Bök
(Soma)tic poetry rituals provide a window into the creative
viability of everything around us, initiating an extreme present. Documentary notes are not important; in fact
the movements we make inside the ritual inform the way the notes come out of us,
no need for exacting detail. Take notes
as fast as you can, faster than you can think about what you are writing. Later type the notes into a single document,
print it out then carry it around to extract lines and words to shape your poem. Approach your chosen work of art, thinking
about the safest way to remove it from its mount on the wall or floor. What tools do you imagine needing? Stop to take more notes. You will live with it hidden in your attic or
as a lover under the covers next to you.
How will it feel seeing this coveted object each day? Take notes.
Create a password for your hidden art by first choosing an
ancient god or goddess. What is your favorite home appliance? Think of the
nights you turn them all on to sit and listen in the dark for the most pleasing
of the chorus. Combine the god to the
appliance, like Jupiter Egg Beater. Take
notes. Go into a stall in one of the
museum restrooms and write the password onto your naked flesh. Take notes.
Write it again harder, then harder.
Take more notes. Walk up to a stranger
and say the password. Just say it. How do they react? Take more notes.
