For him the avant garde myth of origins was
like the Wiccan one--it symbolically represents
a basic orientation that is correct, without
being literally true. Interestingly, all the
other poetry factions share the same myth (only
the names are changed), which is Romanticism's
--a triumphant movement if there ever was one--
that can only conceive of itself in terms of
the underdog. The rare few poets i know who
have pursued careerist goals, via the university
system or else the slam network--have not really
had to compromise their integrity, as in the myth.
What actually happened, it seems to me, is they
chose their totems already, & either system was
able to accommodate them: these were personal,
not ideological networks. Likewise, publishing.
But what confuses people is when you do not
subscribe to literary totemism per se--you will
only be perceived in terms of your fit to the
existing paradigms. Perhaps it is just as well
to proclaim oneself under the totem of the
trickster.

The poem in the air, the poem on the page:
motile & sessile forms of life.

Listening to: The First Philadelphia Computer
Music Festival.