SEc VEN PAGESM ISS ING
Transcript of SEc VEN PAGESM ISS ING
copyright © Steve McCa�ery,
fir� edition
Published with the assi�ance of the Canada Council for the Arts andthe Ontario Arts Council
McCa�ery, SteveSeven Pages Missing: the sele�ed Steve McCa�ery
Poems. ---
I.Title.
. ' --..
Contents
from Transitions to the Beast
from BrokenMandala
from ’Ow’s “Waif ”
from Ten Portraits Newton’s Optics Four Elementary Trigonometry Art as a Virtue of the Practical Intellect Newton’s Optics Two Wenima & the Short Rainbow Max Ernst Around
fromDr Sadhu’sMuffins
GeorgeWashington: A Legend Poem for Arthur Cravan from The Redwood Suite from Anamorphoses
from ‘The Savage Piano’,Horse d’Oeuvres
Negative Statement Beethoven Sonnets counting trees: a four act play
from EveryWayOakly
a carafe that is a blind glass a blue coat a method of a cloak a red stamp a box () a seltzer bottle a red hat objects a drawing
water raining cold climate ( ) a time to eat a fire a little called pauline a sound a dog a white hunter this is this dress, aider
Shifters
from IntimateDistortions
Seven Thirteen Sixteen TwentyThree TwentyThree 2 Thirty Six Sixty Sixty Two Sixty Two2 Sixty Nine Ninety Two Ninety Nine One Hundred
from Evoba:The InvestigationsMeditations
from Crown’s Creek
from In EnglandNowThat Spring
Wordsworth: A PerformanceTransform An Ambleside Event Position of Sheep I 186Position of Sheep II 187LoughriggTarn Nutting
Dunmail Raise An Afterthought From:The Prelude Book IV Definitions fromWordsworth Grasmere and Dunmail Raise A Prescription for Art From: ‘To A Butterfly’
The Scenarios
from KnowledgeNever Knew
from Panopticon
from The BlackDebt
from Lag from An Effect of Cellophane
from Theory of Sediment
fromHegel’s Eyes from Clints &Grykes from Theory of Sediment from Breakthrough Nostalgia The Entries
fromModernReading
TheMind of the Frontispiece Feathers and Song Stair from Op Poems Graphetic Study Seven untitled Forecast Poem from Vowel-Grid Sequence Beet AnOrbit of Epsilon The Vasarely Poems
Popular Simulated A�onishment Predicament Five Shifter Four Versions of Pound’s ‘In A Station of the Metro’ ADefence of Rhyme On aTheory of Mayan Signali� Poem
from TheCheat ofWords
Catech(I)ism Serbia mon amour Organized Happiness Writing a SandThinking Prohibition: for David Bromige Critique of Cynical Poesis Motive for Mass InstructionManual BroadTopics from TeachableTexts Envoi Future Indicative Pin Yin
Documents
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
ANote on theDesign
Preface
locates the ontological predicament in a crisis ofchronology. We are too late for God but too early for being. Ifaced a less dauntingpredicament in arriving at the present book,which is too short for a colle�ed but too large for a sele�ed. I’veopted then to think of this gathering as a representative worksand as such have guided the choice of material according torepresentativity, relegating ‘quality’, ‘maturity’, ‘desirability’ andsuch to a secondary consideration.Hence, the paucity of materialfrom The Black Debt and The Cheat of Words and the relativepreponderance of visual texts that for the mo� part have notreceivedwide circulation or discussion.This fir� volume colle�swork from previously published books and chapbooks. VolumeTwo will contain much furtive ephemera that made it into printbut eluded gathering into book form.
It seemed useful to provide in the ‘Documents’ se�ion anumber of brief�atements (many taken from anonymous jacketcopy) on the relevant texts. These, of course, are supplied fordocumentary purposes and don’t necessarily refle� my currentthinking. I’ve also included a number of mediating descriptionsof some of the early material which readers are encouraged toignore.
I chose not to include any collaborative work that hasappeared in book form, hence the absence of material fromLegend and the collaborative sessions of In England Now ThatSpring, with bpNichol. Owing to formatting re�raints, themajority of visual texts have been reduced from their originalpage size of ." x ". I’ve also corre�ed obvious typographicerrors in the originals and tacitly emended some pun�uation.
Louis Zukofsky averred that the te� of a poet is to remaina poet thirty years later. Hopefully the cross-sampling of threedecades of my work in these volumes will provide the evidencefor others to judge.
Steve McCa�eryToronto
O�ober ,
fromTen Portraits: one
like the things you a�ually arelike breathing,you can say
if he was performingon you
like breathingthe things you a�ually
are excited,
you could a� as though you weregetting carried,
like breathingthe things a�ually
you have the mo�as afterwardslike breathing
a�ually on you
driving you crazylike a�ually
breathing the mo�in every way
you thinklike the things youa�ually are
excited
if he was performingyou can say it, even if
like breathinga�ually
a big produ�ionwhether
a�uallylike thrilling
you,petting
wasperforming onyou
30
six
look its wellnot its thatmen wellor like anything
its that same thingthat works for
its well that its menlookits anything well like the samenot that things work
its well as oranything its not forexample foranything
its well that itsanything
men would the samelikethe well not forwellas its anything
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seven
whatever you dont dogo
put being down thatbeing calledlong and depressivedont make whatever youdo
dont put whatbefore wasbecame whatever the yearsand what turned to meput down that being
what into meturns that
what put downdepressive
was longbeforewhat i came
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eight
when i tell himthisthat i dont even knowwhen i told him
to tell me the parti dont know what he meanswhen he gives methat part
what i tell him totold himthe part ofthe things i’lllearn
when i tell totellwhen i told it tothat part i dont knownot expe�ingto tell thisi dont part
when i told himthis even whenhe gives medont tell
when i learn i’llthinkwhen i tell him he givesthat part
what i toldhimthe things tell
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Newton’s Optics Four
order of red end fir�the violet end of other
co-incident,i caused the naked eyethis order
red as orange colours yellow
green in the naked,blue as indigodeep violet chamberin the dark, the red isfalling onthe red end viewing them
violet in degrees,illuminated violetin the eye the imagedisappeared
i viewedless di�ance greater thanless purple more dividedtwo mixed colours indi�in�
the su�ered violet su�erednothing else than red the purplepaper disappeared
in summerwhen i placed the book
beyond the red,the image changedthe blue passed over letters weakenedby the lightthe scattered indigos in colours
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i described the bright clouds nextthe sunthe body of the indigoa beam of light shut slowlyas i shut the beam in clouds.
white di�ance and
refle�ed
doubted di�erenceof rays
as �ill above
i su�er inno alterationas if abovei fell upon a sheet.
and the same proposition or thingthrough that same
and the same spacefor the its
the same its retarded inthe same passagethrough the proposition
and the same thing inits space through the incidence
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and the same space itsperpendicular the samevelocity
and through the same squaresthat take
the same space forthe its
and the same emergencefrom the demon�rationwill be easy asthe same findings will befound to be samemathematician and
the same propositionaround its space the incidence
its same spaceto find the same reader similar
its same eyes to troubleits velocity
the same speed
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ElementaryTrigonometry
The origin related‘perfe�’ figures navigationpassing the line fromBabylon related so-called
‘perfe�’ figures
scope embraces
by the amount of revolution passing from
the ancient peoples of Babylonof Egypt the so-called ‘perfe�’ figures
area of undergone passing
from Babylon greate� value so-called‘perfe�’ figures
successively occupied by passing so-called
measured amount of revolution
religious observances:
the origin the initial line revolvingbe sele�ed the
Babylon or the so-called ‘perfe�’ figures
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origin seen that angles
not Egypt in religious mediumso-called ‘perfe�’
inve�igations carried on throughthe origin called seconds
‘perfe�’ figures
This was dividedarea of undergone passing
origin seconds
circumangle from
Babylon greate� value in the initial line
measured by �ating isamount of revolution in religious called seconds
shortness and convenience its proximitycircle
let a regulartheir lengths be denoted their
extremitiesto so-called ‘perfe�’ figures
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Hence equiangulartherefore
all circles Babylon
Draw any circleseconds
meet the circumference
by therefore con�ant anglehence
Babylon
The symbol to pass
ExpressBabylon so-called ‘perfe�’ figures
Let angle express
call circular measure Babylon henceminutes traverses
yards survival
how long does he take to run a mile?
hence all circles Babylon
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man runs each minutetraverses yards two places
subtends centre henceflywheel
clock is minuteshence navigation all circlesso-called ‘perfe�’ figures hence
sphereThe Earth all Babylon expresses
henceglobe through meridian
angle traced rider when wheel all circles
revolutions in a second The symbol to
cart-wheel diameter to
Babylon
a man runs
greate� path north latitudetethered �ake
hencedefinition.
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In this chapteracute, measured
abbreviated to Sin
hence Babylon acute
the earth all Sin
Babylon expresses verbal form
definitions of
Art as Sin
the earth will gain no freedomabbreviated towrite down sight
hencein value greater HenceBAC
con�ru�ed then make di�erence.
Con�ru� the following:
data sin from following data:abbreviated so-called ‘perfe�’ hence,
the same side of the common manthe wall of a house the ladder
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conne�ing link between
Babylon
meets In chapter produced expresses
Verbal Art as Sin
a ladder is placed with its foot at a di�ance
Find Sin
find navigation
Find the height of windowall circles
hence
write down all ratiosall joined between
find the middle di�ance
all points all
Babylon.
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Art as aVirtue of the Practical Intellect
Two final bring ourTwo final no aliment
its own spark
notits own no particular
On no virtue genuinely developless simultaneous nameless critical
the gifts assumptionlogical laws,
a mon�rosity
Two final
bring out no alimentits own spark
a new departure in the arts for, in my opinion,a nonsensical assumption
Assumption inevitably in�in� aloneinfallibly Twofinal
bring out no aliment
who is bornwith,
in my opinion,
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i am sorry for poets who are no alimentits own spark
a ma�er habitus
Baudelaire wrote, ‘ sy�ems of a colle�ion notrules spiritual
spiritual being no aliment its own spark
of a Dante
intelle� refle�ion by natureis born Everything, in my opiniona nonsensical assumption
originality blossoming general art usefulpoints more �ill sentence and transfiguredno aliment turn
poet reversal of all psychological mon�rosity
earth are
profitable to art the no aliment intelle�
civilized values blossoming, in my opiniongeneral art all psychological mon�rosity
nonsensical assumption
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of refle�ingthe domain of art ?
nonsensical assumption ?
Baudelaire wrote in
‘ sy�ems that prosodies all
psychological mon�rosity
Grandchild
of God nonsensical assumption
a scrutiny within himselftwo final bring out no aliment
its own sparkpsychological mon�rosity
– a new creative continuesno aliment – therefore true
as regardsrefle�ivity
the domain of art ?
mon�rosity ?
nonsensical assumption
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Newton’s OpticsTwo
and in the blue there are some dots were noticedto the whole light and the few and serving thisserved to allow blue for the colours and thenatural bodies in the colours made blue prismsof this proposition i sufficed to turn blue thewhole light would turn blue
in a very dark chamber at a round hole about theblue and turned an inch broad making the shutthe blue window where i placed the glass shutand the prism whereby turning blue it made shutupwards toward the opposite way to turn blueas it shut a coloured form it turned blue theaxis of the prism passing that shut in the glassthe blue end and the one end in a very dark bluewas followed shut at the other end
about this axis turned between the descent andthe ascent of the axis at the two sides the sideturning shut on both sides of the axis i noted thati turned the blue glass shut upon that place inoted the axis between its contrary blueness fellupon the place i described
in the po�ure as the mo� convenient i noted thelight fall in a very dark blue chamber i am notingthe figure and dimensions of the solar image formedas i noted this the glass and the blue shut in theglass formed on the paper the parallel and thesemicircular ending on its side
oblique and axis i turned to form in others i wouldprogress and regress and oblique �ood �ill i �oodat the entrance of the rays the oblique axis of the sunformed by the glass that shut in this po�ure
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