psychobabble

psychobabble

dual spin plates suspended astagger
gravity wells column roil square

cultivate field of thought
objects within define room more

enclosed space contains preference
affinity, symbiosis of polyglot virii

open pasture to genetic meddlin
edges bleed territory: meaning

seeps sumps intermarry blurry survival
goldi closed, stranger proof deny

pattern of growth swell coffers
spill over, intrude infected ideas

spreading pool propagate species
seed germinate layers, strata

descent stepped into graduation
shoots waver glided ripple

no closure


but of course. I called it open field, and open field is what the poem discusses. We were reading a charles olsen text on geography, body and fields in literature, specifically poetry and poetics. There's a fair bit of pontification going on there, hence, psychobabble. the poem is just my psychobabble on the idea of open field.

psychobabble

with that image I attempt to evoke the idea of two plates spinning, generating a magnetic force opposing that of the earth and creating an effect of antigravity. they're plates so imagine these plates scattered and staggered across the sky, floating fields, also there's a metaphor there on the use of magnetic fields to oppose the natural forces of gravity that holds us all to the ground

dual spin plates suspended astagger

this continues the idea of gravity, the squares float in a roiling gravity well, gravity fights to ground them, but the magnetic forces oppose it,

gravity wells column roil square

on the plates, we cultivate a field of thoughts, of ideas, thinking of field as a conceptual space, in which fields are defined by the thoughts that it contains. if we utter a marxism, we're in the field of marx and marxists. if you know what I mean?

cultivate field of thought

it is what the field contains that defines it, looking at the individual objects that compose fields

objects within define room more

the space that encloses the field holds the preferred ideologies, conceptual trains of thought that consistute the field. these three lines are iterations of the same idea, what makes a field a field; what it contains

enclosed space contains preference

and what it contains is a certain affinity of thought, a symbiosis, or meld of several people's ideas, thought of a glut of ideas, and turned that into polyglot, I'm not sure if it's a word, I can't find its meaning anywhere, but it sounds good, and the sound's the thing, this poem is mean to be read aloud. virii is clear I thought, viruses infecting minds and changing their perspectives, breeding and feeding

affinity, symbiosis of polyglot virii

but what happens if you open a field/pasture? genetic meddling with what defines the field, is to change the field, so if we open the field, new ideas and thoughts are going to come through, discoveries made in one science applied to another in the humanities, by opening the field, we open it to meddling and mutation

open pasture to genetic meddlin

the thought of the field remaining identifiable at its center, but the opened edges of the field are blending, bleeding into the other fields, that point of crossover where meaning arises and situations are fluid

edges bleed territory: meaning

thinking of ideas seeping into sumps within our minds, for us to retrieve with our unconscious mind, intermarrying survival tactics, blurring the edges, it creates a nice little alliteration with the repetition of sounds here, only by joining forces can ideas survive and breed, marry

seeps sumps intermarry blurry survival

this is a reference to the proofreading job that I did for penguin, and which prevented me from doing my A4 on time, which is why I wrote this poem during my class instead of doing something else before it. I got to class, found out what the topic was, and then made notes, writing the poem in the last ten minutes of the class. The book I was proofing was called Closed, Stranger, by Kate De Goldi

goldi closed, stranger proof deny

if the opening of the field is successful, ideas are bound to mutate, breed, spread and spill over the confinements of the original field, swelling coffers, and I mean coffers here in the sense of a strong, enclosed space, like a strongbox or the dry boxes used for underwater construction, if they can be swelled against the pressure of the outside mass . . .

pattern of growth swell coffers

and spill over, breaking into other fields, infected ideas, concepts intruding

spill over, intrude infected ideas

and spreading, a spread is propagation, procreation, more and more people click onto it, the survival of the species is strong, also liked the image of a pool of water spreading, that skin on the water inching along the ground . . .

spreading pool propagate species

seeds of thought germinate layers of the mind, strata, a visual image of the layers within, being fertilised by the conceptual seed

seed germinate layers, strata

a descent from that level of thought, in graduated steps, also a graduation as an accomplisment, and descent as return, a swoop from far heights

descent stepped into graduation

and to calm the consciousness after such a series of abstract images, a soothing line about shoots, rice shoots maybe, wavering in a ripple gliding across the surface,

shoots waver glided ripple

but there can be no closure, no resolution, no end of definition when it comes to open field, for that is the nature of open field.

no closure




16 / 08 / 1999