pantoum's Diaryland Diary

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THE FINAL USELESSNESS OF WORDS

Joy Harjo wrote, in Bird (her homage to Charlie Parker) that

All poets
understand the final uselessness of words. We are chords to

other chords to other chords, if we're lucky, to melody. The moon
is brighter than anything I can see when I come out of the theater,

than music, than memory of music, or any mere poem.

I am eating words today. Chomp. And feeling as if I need to isolate myself more (but am trying not to think about this so I can concentrate on my editing).

Worked on my twelve-hundred-page freelance manuscript for a while and then, wisely, switched to the smaller three-hundred-page manuscript.

I am fortunate to be paid to edit books that I would read anyway, and fortunate that so many academic presses call me when they publish poetry, too).

5:06 p.m. - 2005-03-25

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