 |
| Geoffrey Gatza |
Geoffrey Gatza "Three Poems"
Publisher: The Poetry Collection of the
University Libraries of the University of Buffalo
Reviewed by Ari Appel
“Three Poems,” published by The
Poetry Collection of the University Libraries of the University of
Buffalo, is a pamphlet of three poems by Geoffrey Gatza from his most
recent book, A Dog Lost in the Brick City. The
pamphlet is an excellent example of what poetry can be in its
least inhibited form, when using language becomes painting with pens,
paper, and word processing. It is an experimental force rather than a
typical poetry collection.
The cover of the pamphlet introduces
us to the author's use of font colors other than black, an innovation
that seems to have so much potential once the unwritten rule of using
black has been broken. In a world in which printers can print pages
in color, why should a poet, someone who uses language in its most
raw and ultimate form, not experiment with the possibilities that
color printing technology has to offer? It seems that this use of
color deserves attention and incorporation into more works. The
titles of the three poems in the pamphlet, "What Is Done Cannot
Be Undone," "Draw Up My Prisoned Spirit To Thy Soul,"
and "The Truth Is Rarely Pure and Never Simple," come
together in a colorful circle of red, blue, yellow, black, green, and
purple, with the end of the text meeting the beginning so the titles
continue on infinitely. The cover demonstrates that Gatza has
something unique to offer.
The inside of the pamphlet does not
fail to deliver on the level of creativity promised by the cover.
Each poem is composed of the words of its own title written
thirty-nine times in three thirteen-line stanzas. Each line contains
all the words of the title, with the first and last line of each
stanza occurring in the exact order of the title, and the rest of the
lines occurring in another order. The three stanzas of each poem are
all exactly the same. The order of the words within each line in the
lines that do not occur in the same order as the title may have a
strict order such that the poem occurs according to a logical rule
rather than the creative choice of the author; in other words, the
author may have created a rule and structured these poems according
to the rule. The colors, the formal nature of the poems, and the
repetition within the poems are reminiscent of artist Bruce Nauman's
neon displays like “One Hundred Live and Die.” Reading the poems
is hypnotizing and magical. Effects like “The Truth Is Rarely Pure
And Never Simple / Is Rarely The Truth And Pure Simple Never” toy
with the meaning of the first line due to the orders of the words in
the next, generating semantic possibilities latent in the words
themselves and their formal arrangement rather than in authorial
intent. The poems in this short pamphlet are very cool and make a
good plug for both the pamphlet series and the author's book.
What I like most about “Three Poems”
is that the poems are simultaneously highly formal and highly
innovative. While most poetry that is formal reverts to old
traditions, while innovation is seen to occur in free verse, this
poetry makes its mark through formal innovations, by experimenting
with the tools available to the poet. “Three Poems” innovates by
using these tools in a new, yet highly structured way.
No comments:
Post a Comment