My First Poetry Book Vol. 1: Very Short Poems (2000-2001)

Vespers #4: And Some Paintings!

Untitled [ink on wood] (2002)

 
       as the cat
                from next door
                sleeps
                calmly, candle
       wax collecting
                on paper
 

  
       i taste of red wine,
       at least
       that's what you
       told me
  

 
           how much i
       would like
           to say
        i was full
                           with
              joy
 

  
       lit a cigarette
       and it went out
       resting
       on a bottle,
       empty

 
       clear
       still
       clear
       sky
 

 
       the accordion
       next door
       I can't hear
       properly
 

 
       ducks on the
       water
       make silence
       impossible
 

 
       steetlamps
                cascade
                the walls
       are just
                lit by
                them
 

 
       nobody sees:

       a tree crying
       over
       powerlines
 

The Forest [ink on 35mm slide-film] (2002)

Sometime in late-2001 or early-2002, I decided to compile some of the poetry I had lying around into a book, which I called Poems: 1999-2001. I must have finished it in February of 2002, cause that’s when the dedication in the front is dated to. I used a manual typewriter to type them up, and Erica Lowe, my partner at the time, did illustrations for it (see Vol. 2). I made the final books on a photocopier at work, bound them with pink ribbon, and hawked them at ‘zine fests and the occasional art market. I think I sold a dozen copies or so over the next few years, before it quietly went out of print.

I was surprised to look back and find this set of focused miniatures scattered throughout the book. I would love to know what I was reading? And where the idea for these poems came from? I hadn’t started reading tanka by this point, though they certainly feel tanka-influenced. Perhaps Larry Eigner had something to do with it? I remember getting his collection Water / Places / A Time (1983) around that time, and falling for it hard;

 
              small world of stars
                   by Larry Eigner

       A bird flies under
               leaves close
          in the heavy day-long rain
             still keeping up
                the roofs glistening
 

The Forest (2002) is conceptually similar to my early films, being a series of ‘direct’ or ‘cameraless’ photographs—made by applying ink directly to the film-stock, bypassing the camera—undoubtedly inspired by the work of Man Ray and Len Lye (among others). Exhibited once in the group-show Projections, curated by Tim Wyborn, at Enjoy Gallery; “The projectors all blew up on the opening night, and one of them refused to stay in sequence during the exhibition, but I didn't really mind. In fact, I appreciate this because it made the audience more aware of the technology… Projections on walls is a simple idea, but when it comes to actually making it happen, it's a real bastard. So seeing as the exhibition series was supposed to be about curative acts, I felt that it was good to expose the public to the mechanics of the exhibition.” (Dec. 2002)

Vespers

Poems by Dick Whyte, and other miscellanea. Explore the archive . . .