ROBERT CREELEY: THE CREATIVE


Although one could argue that Sparrow was essentially advertising for Black Sparrow Press, the format and concept were spectacular. Thin pamphlets, this one printed by Noel Young, appeared monthly, presenting poetry, fiction, essays criticism, etc. by a single-author. This copy sold for 50 cents, March, 1973. I never write in books, and find other people's marginalia an endless distraction, but I've held on to this copy, at least until I stumble on a replacement. The previous owner highlighted this in red ink:


"It is the need to enter what we loosely call the vision, to be one with the Imago Mundi, that image of the world that we each of us carry within us as possibility itself. What can we say otherwise? Peace, brother. It's going to be alright. It's soon over and it won't hurt."


In addition to "The Creative," the pamphlet contains the poem, "For My Mother: Genevieve Jules Creeley." You can listen to Bob read the poem and the story behind it at PennSound as I heard it for the first time at a reading I organized for him in Vermont in 1998.
KS

0 comments:

Post a Comment