the theory of one thing and its antecedent [2011]

"Theory has nothing whatsoever to do with poetry.

The only thing that matters is how much talent someone

has and how far they're willing to go with it --

the rest of it's largely bullshit, though it's possible

one needs some bullshit in life."

-- Alice Notley

the mythological theory of one historical disconnect 
is good for the distinct ideological awareness of 
the modern American     in that it separates the artist-intellectual 
from his symbolic poverty of character 
and introduces an entirely truthful and irrational deliverance of 
temporal meaning

creation is the disobedience of the supplicant I 
juxtaposed     with the existential necessity for
fetishism to be perceived as
a socioeconomic culture unto itself

the role of ritually achieved intelligence is not to be underestimated 
when assessing the familial patterns of language that persist 
in identifying     the author as difference and the subject as 
contextual product

outside the place in reality where community creates 
the proper conditions for a dissipation of knowledge 
lies a single languishing showcase home 
            and inscribed on its industrial-sized back door is
            the hypothetical word     
            ANTECEDENCE  

(consequently

the same word can now be found tattooed on the back of my left ankle
                                                                                        just below the sock line)