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On The Corner To Off The Corner
With a title inspired by the eponymous Miles Davis album, on the corner to off the corner was typeset in Avant-Garde by Douglas Messerli and published in 1981 as the tenth volume in the contemporary literature series from Sun & Moon (College Park, Maryland). Printed offset by Paul Trimble with assitance from Kevin Osborn. Elongated 5 x 7 and 7/16 inch format. Saddle-stapled. Tan cardstock covers with light sage endpapers.
- GenresPoetry
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 20, 2022
"A" was for "ox"
The first oxygen conversion occurred as an incline, a
sharp bend as in "wrench". The elements surrounding
it were strong, physically violent ones - wreck, wrestle,
wretch - with the exception of "wren". The next major
activity was "wrinkle", again related to "wrench" with
the addition of "wind". Wrist action proceeded from
there - wrist-lock, wrist-pin, wrist-shot, wrist wrestle,
wristy - preparing us "motor-wise" to write: write our
own ticket, write-down and write-in.
"vetchling" to "Vicar of Wakefield" for "B"
Add "(t)s" to "lowland" and prevent escape or intrusion.
Add "d" to get along without help, "tra" to cut an opening
in bone, "nian" to form a legendary band of warriors, "ik"
to call a pale-fawn fox, "I" to cultivate aromatic seeds,
and "gek" to plant them in Greece.
"oilfish" to "old chap" for "C"
Performing military service for the king and bearing a child
have a common medieval root. The progression to this point
is first academic, then technical. Textbooks give way
to textiles which lead to T-formations and T-groups.
We pause to add "th" and proceed through Mediterranean
anemia, deep seas, Greek muses, pesticides, young shoots
and the instinctual desire for death. It is there that
we find "thane" to be followed by all manner of "thanks",
including the "thank-you-ma'am" - a ridge built across a
road so rain will roll off.
"elaborative" to "Eleatic" for "D"
"Egg" and "oxygen" both contain "edge", with egg's edge
located at "share" and oxygen's at "shear". The distance
doubles from one to the other along this line: shar et
vb farme atim domin numer iz cti porta acio torti
him sho SHAG low ME L dou sha tio HE min ears cou
ock metim semb dj
"bounded" to "bower" for "E"
"Bo" is a sound bordering on :bourgeois" and fronting
for "bow wow" and "box" before the "o" in boy. The
movement between can be described either as sluggish
or patient, depending on one's bent. From sidepiece to
horsehairs, bells to vulgar, fin to front, head to hollow,
weather edge to alley, capsule to saw, nephron to spar,
the action continues alternating left to right accompanied
by the chant: "1 stick 2 head 3 hair 4 frog 5 screw."
"luteous" to "lymph" for "F"
long lim canaden merly
bean Lyon of name i
loose to lyein Vega d
FLorisa a Cal cis
Southern Asia and the phi
of white flowers & whi
ern lim constellation be
and Hercules contai
"periodic system" to "perlite" for "G"
The expressions "investment of bone", "urn of mosses"
and "nuet of round" take their positions as observers
by encircling a mound. Walking about, they possess an
access to the elements occurring there in much the same
way permafrost prefigures falling by passing large stones
through the entire thickness of walls.
"match point" to "matrix" for "H"
For "math" to fall between "maternal" and "matinee",
"peace" and some sort of stretching action combine to
release precision. For example: "recline", taken as
a straight line, ends as "a low spreading, freely branching
Chinese tree with lanceolate leaves, sessile usually
pink flowers borne on the naked twig in early spring,
and a fruit which is a single-seeded drupe of hard
endocarp, pulpy white or yellow mesocarp and thin
downy epicarp."
"Tancred" to "tantalite" for "I"
A tree trunk is something "pressed together" and so
is money, weighed. Both produce softly graded shadows
by repeated small touches (resembling freckles), or
use "for" to become appendages capable of passing implements
through substances with circular movements.
"Oran" to "ordain" for "J"
The prefix for "Ceylon trail" promises "main orange"
after orbits. Flashback to "front orange" where
diversities _______ a satellite then skip to "hair order"
chorus, again an orbit. Down eleven, ordination is
opposed to satellite, a shape end circular a in "organized
vision". LEVEL also leads to a circle - "plants Ireland" -
two below "beverage", one below "prehistoric". Finally,
island make "part importance" fleshy by adding "a" to
orbit as orangey united to surrounding fulcrums "celestial" -
Orkney, five up, Orkney.
"coloration" to "columnar" for "K"
At the cornice, a small particle of gold in a miner's
pan; at the frieze, seed used as a source of oil;
at the architrave, cabbage mashed with potato; at the
capital, corms of the meadow saffron; at the shaft,
a light meal allowed on fast days; at the base, hocks
well under the body; and at the pedestal, a small collar
pierced to receive the inner end of a balance spring.
"octodecillionth" to "odontogeny" for "L"
"Odd" is related to the point of a sword and has an
out-of-the-way location as a single leaflet at the tip
of the petiole. Used as a fragment, this position
becomes a euphemism for God, the outside dimension reading:
c: i oo n oi c nie bg t. i-E) a- v-
d: si woro h liafau o
e: fr c
f: ig ao
g: te pa c R;
a: a cm t gl.
b: i io e u
c: e ug
"Armenian" to "arose" for "M"
1. helmet - isometric pentrose
2. gorget - distal row of tarsal bones
3. shoulder piece - erect spathe spandex
4. pallette - conical sac
5. breastplate - refuse coal screenings
6. brassard - points of attachment for the spat
7. elbow piece - perigee stele
8. skirt of tasses - teleost sea breams
9. tuilee - olivine stimuli
10. gauntlet - cage birds with lime and salts
11. cuisse - rugose nutlets
12. knee piece - perche apolune
13. jambeau - concentric shelly
14. sabaton - flagella dogbone
Read the full text here: eclipsearchive.org
The first oxygen conversion occurred as an incline, a
sharp bend as in "wrench". The elements surrounding
it were strong, physically violent ones - wreck, wrestle,
wretch - with the exception of "wren". The next major
activity was "wrinkle", again related to "wrench" with
the addition of "wind". Wrist action proceeded from
there - wrist-lock, wrist-pin, wrist-shot, wrist wrestle,
wristy - preparing us "motor-wise" to write: write our
own ticket, write-down and write-in.
"vetchling" to "Vicar of Wakefield" for "B"
Add "(t)s" to "lowland" and prevent escape or intrusion.
Add "d" to get along without help, "tra" to cut an opening
in bone, "nian" to form a legendary band of warriors, "ik"
to call a pale-fawn fox, "I" to cultivate aromatic seeds,
and "gek" to plant them in Greece.
"oilfish" to "old chap" for "C"
Performing military service for the king and bearing a child
have a common medieval root. The progression to this point
is first academic, then technical. Textbooks give way
to textiles which lead to T-formations and T-groups.
We pause to add "th" and proceed through Mediterranean
anemia, deep seas, Greek muses, pesticides, young shoots
and the instinctual desire for death. It is there that
we find "thane" to be followed by all manner of "thanks",
including the "thank-you-ma'am" - a ridge built across a
road so rain will roll off.
"elaborative" to "Eleatic" for "D"
"Egg" and "oxygen" both contain "edge", with egg's edge
located at "share" and oxygen's at "shear". The distance
doubles from one to the other along this line: shar et
vb farme atim domin numer iz cti porta acio torti
him sho SHAG low ME L dou sha tio HE min ears cou
ock metim semb dj
"bounded" to "bower" for "E"
"Bo" is a sound bordering on :bourgeois" and fronting
for "bow wow" and "box" before the "o" in boy. The
movement between can be described either as sluggish
or patient, depending on one's bent. From sidepiece to
horsehairs, bells to vulgar, fin to front, head to hollow,
weather edge to alley, capsule to saw, nephron to spar,
the action continues alternating left to right accompanied
by the chant: "1 stick 2 head 3 hair 4 frog 5 screw."
"luteous" to "lymph" for "F"
lynch - strip of unplowed land
marking the boundary
between two fields
long lim canaden merly
bean Lyon of name i
loose to lyein Vega d
FLorisa a Cal cis
Southern Asia and the phi
of white flowers & whi
ern lim constellation be
and Hercules contai
"periodic system" to "perlite" for "G"
The expressions "investment of bone", "urn of mosses"
and "nuet of round" take their positions as observers
by encircling a mound. Walking about, they possess an
access to the elements occurring there in much the same
way permafrost prefigures falling by passing large stones
through the entire thickness of walls.
"match point" to "matrix" for "H"
For "math" to fall between "maternal" and "matinee",
"peace" and some sort of stretching action combine to
release precision. For example: "recline", taken as
a straight line, ends as "a low spreading, freely branching
Chinese tree with lanceolate leaves, sessile usually
pink flowers borne on the naked twig in early spring,
and a fruit which is a single-seeded drupe of hard
endocarp, pulpy white or yellow mesocarp and thin
downy epicarp."
"Tancred" to "tantalite" for "I"
A tree trunk is something "pressed together" and so
is money, weighed. Both produce softly graded shadows
by repeated small touches (resembling freckles), or
use "for" to become appendages capable of passing implements
through substances with circular movements.
"Oran" to "ordain" for "J"
orchestration = "he raves"
The prefix for "Ceylon trail" promises "main orange"
after orbits. Flashback to "front orange" where
diversities _______ a satellite then skip to "hair order"
chorus, again an orbit. Down eleven, ordination is
opposed to satellite, a shape end circular a in "organized
vision". LEVEL also leads to a circle - "plants Ireland" -
two below "beverage", one below "prehistoric". Finally,
island make "part importance" fleshy by adding "a" to
orbit as orangey united to surrounding fulcrums "celestial" -
Orkney, five up, Orkney.
"coloration" to "columnar" for "K"
At the cornice, a small particle of gold in a miner's
pan; at the frieze, seed used as a source of oil;
at the architrave, cabbage mashed with potato; at the
capital, corms of the meadow saffron; at the shaft,
a light meal allowed on fast days; at the base, hocks
well under the body; and at the pedestal, a small collar
pierced to receive the inner end of a balance spring.
"octodecillionth" to "odontogeny" for "L"
"Odd" is related to the point of a sword and has an
out-of-the-way location as a single leaflet at the tip
of the petiole. Used as a fragment, this position
becomes a euphemism for God, the outside dimension reading:
c: i oo n oi c nie bg t. i-E) a- v-
d: si woro h liafau o
e: fr c
f: ig ao
g: te pa c R;
a: a cm t gl.
b: i io e u
c: e ug
"Armenian" to "arose" for "M"
Relationship of "hip" to "cube"
1. helmet - isometric pentrose
2. gorget - distal row of tarsal bones
3. shoulder piece - erect spathe spandex
4. pallette - conical sac
5. breastplate - refuse coal screenings
6. brassard - points of attachment for the spat
7. elbow piece - perigee stele
8. skirt of tasses - teleost sea breams
9. tuilee - olivine stimuli
10. gauntlet - cage birds with lime and salts
11. cuisse - rugose nutlets
12. knee piece - perche apolune
13. jambeau - concentric shelly
14. sabaton - flagella dogbone
Read the full text here: eclipsearchive.org
April 6, 2008
In the early days of Widemouth Tapes, when Chris Mason, its founder, was still running it, a tape by Tina Darragh was published of stuff like what's in this bk. Darragh wd look at dictionary entries & create poems based on creating relationships between nearby words. It reminds me of a more playful version of Raymond Roussel. Here's an example:
""lamp" to "landgrave" for "O"
"openwork in the head" is flanked by "arrow + loving"
on the left and "track team runner" of the right. Both
lines suggest xylem, igneous rocks, horse latitudes,
planted islands, buff ocelli, airfoils and tuft ambles
as they transmit and receive delicate endings consisting
chiefly of potash feldspar."
I'd like to read more by her b/c my experience w/ her work is limited to these dictionary poems, wch I like but wch make me think of her as a one-trick-pony. She's on-line a fair amt, including w/ a wikipedia entry so I reckon her work's much more diverse than my limited experience of it.
""lamp" to "landgrave" for "O"
"openwork in the head" is flanked by "arrow + loving"
on the left and "track team runner" of the right. Both
lines suggest xylem, igneous rocks, horse latitudes,
planted islands, buff ocelli, airfoils and tuft ambles
as they transmit and receive delicate endings consisting
chiefly of potash feldspar."
I'd like to read more by her b/c my experience w/ her work is limited to these dictionary poems, wch I like but wch make me think of her as a one-trick-pony. She's on-line a fair amt, including w/ a wikipedia entry so I reckon her work's much more diverse than my limited experience of it.
September 10, 2007
An exploratory surgery of sorts, Darragh's procedure, simple enough at first glance (vide her explanation in The L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E Book), interrupts lexicographical discoure — its aim at closure, stability, fixity — as it re-reads the page, treating keywords as clues, suggestions for a derive at lyric's limits. The result is a meaning altogether at cross-purposes to definition's drawing of boundaries, its regulation of voice and of tongue.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews