“The first steps to distinction usually come from doing what others cannot—in sports with technique, in art with form. The fundamental negative rule is transcending easy moves, whether with one’s body or with words. Obvious sentiments or clichés are finally no more acceptable than dribbling directly at the basket. There is a hint of such development in Matthew Rydell’s text “Panorama” on p. 127 of the Streams 8 anthology (1994), where a skinny vertical text becomes a counterpoint to more extended horizontal lines. “
In the same volume, Zenzilé Green concluded her poem, Selfless (on pages 128-30), with these lines:
The poetry flows
from my eyes
an unbearable monsoon.
Unstoppable
overwhelming pressure.
So I plaster on
a feelingless mouth
of burgundy matte
and freeze the sadness
with foundation #6.
Hardened mascara
dark lines under my eyes
covered completely
by Korean sunglasses
a mask of effortless cold
made more effective by life.
Streams 8
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