roubaud and brown

brandon brown and i were invited to read and speak in elise ficarra's class at sfsu last night... and it was really great. the class had a lot of interesting and hard questions for us and it was so wonderful to have people engaging/trying to engage with work on that level. it looks like a great class... a lot of energy and creativity and investigation. [and elise is a wonderful teacher.]

but, anyway, i got to hear brandon's MY LIFE AS A LOVER again and i've always loved those crazy sonnets...

slamming heads into rocks, etc


and i just read this poem on my lunch break and decided that brandon [and you] should read it too:


Boulevard Pereire by Jacques Roubaud

between Boulevard Pereire
north side
and Boulevard Pereire
south side
bowers
bulging with red
roses and pink
roses and
white roses
rain down petals wet
with the rain of a Pentecost Monday in June


if I were fifty years younger
they would come down tongues like as of
fire–I would understand all dialects
and would speak to the roses
red roses, pink roses, white roses
in the original tongue.