( via / me )

"That never happened."

Pound had an immense effect on 20c poetry but wrote very few good poems himself ("Mauberley" is the best one). I had a copy of the Cantos for a long time & liked to try to squirrel away good lines whenever i could find them but in truth, this was not a joyful task & eventually i sold the book. I think into the 21c he can still be considered as a key link in the emerging Alliterative Revival, but now that the force of Imagism has been absorbed into mainstream practice, most of his reputation belongs to early 20c literary history. The part that people only want to talk about anymore, his rotten politics (&/or mental illness?)--now that we know so much about the other 20c "greats"--really has to be placed in the context of 20c fascism & not in our present desire to cancel or connect him with current events. I can easily imagine a new canon that bypasses him altogether.

"In 2024, 398 new pieces of anti-trans legislation across 43 states were introduced, and 274 were carried over from 2023. 613 of those bills failed, 50 passed."

If i could sleep, i'd sleep through four foul years,
cicada-like siesta underground.
I'd rest until this rain of maggots clears
   --if i could sleep.

But why stop there, when spared of sight & sound
of Rapist Cheetoh, i could hold my tears
& sloom until no trace remains around...

Here we are still, though: pierced with vicious fears
& barely able to dream we might rebound.
I'd stay awake to spike their cruel careers--
   if i could sleep.

Ain't that a mood.