Dennis Garvey
Duchy
1 August 2012anenome of anenome in ford datura talking about dransfield as travelling ghost, saying pitcherthislotta urbanmythnamedroppin circa72 sydney (man!) finishplayinbackamoon
coogee (man!) jokthere ghostsmokinardath (man!) incorner (man!) zeitgeistdoorsmore
open byjimtheman (man!) mostofus writeread poetry (man!) soireeinvitein darlinghurst (man!) friendofrienpad (man!) backafrench’stavern diamondogbox bowieparachute in (man!) ceilindimlit candleincensedark side o’moon morphin (man!) genegeniehostdressplayinsitar readindransfiel (man!) stop pass on lhs read stop pass on lhs someone readpassinreadpassinreadpassinreadsinbillowingsmoke Halt! Who goes there? Ghos … (man!)
Dransfiel!! Walkininsittingdownan JACKPOT (man!) i read …my own stuff (man!) reachininjacketpocket anslidinonhisbook tofootend
dransfielsays ‘taste’ (man!)
‘can’t call ‘em drug poems’ (man!) – ‘mere modernist tosh’ (man!) – And I pass history on left hand side where life on mars starts over
We liked the style and the humour is refreshing, but Jackpot exercise aside, haven’t you sold the enfant terrible of Oz Lit short here, Dennis? Surely there’s more to Dransfield and his oeuvre than the avowed drug poems and the drug-fuelled counter-culture of the day?
definitely in the style of Abraham Lincoln Gillespie!
nice to see
i’m pleased to see everyone knows who A.L.G. is! means we are well read indeed!
pete
thanks, pete! link, eh? i’ll send my stuff to transition in future
a note of criticism – that’s what we like to see – monday night: cheers to all bunburying at the parade – and thanks for the dorothy dixer – you’re right of course about my shortsheeting of the dransfield bed – but remaining in character…
yadidndigtmytakeon thepavan (man!) thesourmeaningless…backstreetone (man!) thensaddleup foradoublejackpot!! (man!) bytrippinthro theOtherpavan… (man!)
corditepermittin (man!)
Duchy 2: Stories for the road
cobargo here we come …
ford datura cruising outback roads
anenome of anenome in back seat
laid back anemone in front this time
jetted hair slipstreaming in the wind
ragaling us with the Other pavan…
one absurd drama I’ll never forget is
wandering the holy roman empire
migrating through its baltic heartland
dining in nissan huts in fascist latvia
eating piragi baked in butter and blood
turning a blind eye to old blighty
gazing lovingly longingly at byzantium
before sliding into town in a loaded FX
bang! bang-bang-bang! bang!
shadowy figures in shadowy outskirts
dark outliers and liars never really there
spying duchy’s castle spire a mile off
courland banners setting hearts aflutter
drawbridge down and pulling up
bang! bang-bang-bang! bang!
(announcing we’re there –
take more than the dead to wake him)
parking beneath ivy covered arcades
entering through hall keeps and buttery
climbing a dark mural to the great chamber
finding abelard sleeping there
sitting up as usual
(scared of the devil stopping his breath)
pulling louvers letting life in
seeing sun streaming in roomfuls
god particles suspended in bardic air
diaphanous day poems lingering there
awaiting entry to daily notebook
teaspoon and lighter on bedsit chair
shaking him till blighty’s pouring out
in gasping choking fits of catarrh
waking always to see his bright star
unsummoned
mirrored in meurtrière
abelard descending, reciting, singing
playing a mean guitar
on that stairway from heaven…
or as anenome of anenome said
itwasafuckngas (man!)
while dozing off to a snoring dream
doubtless of some héloïse
the one, the many, the manifold
the lost and the despoiled
there among ghost gums, ghostly hills
ghost towns and ghosts of times past
Spot on Dennis…have you got a copy of THE SYNTACTIC REVOLUTION published by Out Of London Press about 205
pages probably close to the complete including early student stuff and some letters to Bob Brown and Sam Putnam
a preface and essay by Richard Milazzo… i got my copy around Sept 1987…via Richard Kostelanetz after he let me know
direct payments to Out Of London Press would go awol!! originally the book was to come out through Something Else Press
…adding to that i reckon Bob Brown ought to be resurrected too! heh? a readie here and a readie there!
pete
Dennis…you could always try my mag ETZ
pete
Thanks again, Pete. Your ETZ mag I’ve not seen but will try, definitely. The dizzying SYNTACTIC REV I put away as part of a Joycean / Our Exagimination salad many moons ago and had forgotten until you raised its spectre here, or was that me? Confusion reigns. I appreciate your interest and the interest created by your skilful reading / comments.
Dennis….ETZ is available from Collected Works or cheaper directly through me
e-mail me for details
spenvis@hotmail.com
cordite why were the 2 submission with a lot of info regarding this discussion i made
with varied references about local writers who have a neologistic bent not placed up on
this discussion board!