Wednesday, December 09, 2009

What's buried behind Lufkin's diner?



This is Charles Olson reading his poem "The Librarian" in 1966 (hat tip Ron Silliman). The rhythm of this performance is so compelling, especially the way the caesuras are articulated and those insistent lines at the end ("Where is Bristow? When does 1A get me home? I am caught in Gloucester. What's buried behind Lufkin's diner? Who is Frank Moore?") are intoned as if they are the most urgent matters in the universe. Some poems need to be heard to be believed.

2 comments:

Kraig Grady said...

Olsen's piece on projective verse
http://www.angelfire.com/poetry/jarnot/olson.html
is the best concept for musical composition i have ever read. A return to 'inner necessity'.

Miguel Frasconi said...

Holy crap, that's amazing!
Thank you for posting it.