Henry Saul Zolinsky - Will Power (1921)

Forgotten Poems #31

—: Will Power :—

 
I would rather grind my teeth to powder,
I would rather tread barefoot on thin, sharp stones,
I would rather let the blood of my veins freeze to red ice, 
And the muscles of my legs stiffen to cold stone,
           Than be drawn by the warm breath
           Of transient things. 

I would rather—
But . . . yet . . .
I am being drawn . . . I am being drawn . . . 
 

Zolinsky, Henry Saul (1901-2001)

P: Poetry (1921+), etc.

“Lives in New York; although only seventeen, has already been newsboy, bell-boy, office-boy, electrician, shoe-salesman and ad-solicitor; and who hopes to become a student again some day and finish his interrupted course at college.” (Poetry, 1921) Later included in the 'Objectivist' issue of Poetry (Dec. 1931), edited by Louis Zukofsky, and featuring work by William Carlos Williams, Charles Reznikoff, George Oppen, Carl Rakosi, Martha Champion, et al.

Worked at Samuel Roth’s bookstore in the late-1920s, known for publishing and distributing banned books. When the warehouse was raided in 1929 copies of John Cleland’s Fanny Hill (1748), James Joyce’s Ulysses (1922), and D.H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover (1928) were found—all considered pornographic by state law—and Zolinsky and Roth’s brother Max, did jail time for their involvement.

            For Henry Saul Zolinsky
                     by Dick Whyte

            flesh stripped
      from bone
      we glimmer for a moment
      and then return—

      to the belly of time
            brimming with elemental
                  laughter,

            (in every direction)

                  all things taste of
            forever


                            xoxo
                              dw
 

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