Poetry Pieces (for La Monte Young)
1
Push your body up to a poem
& put the jagged edge flush
against you. Then continue
pushing into the poem. Push
as hard as you can. If your body
goes through the poem, keep
pushing in the same direction
regardless of obstacles & continue
to push as hard as you can whether
your body is stopped against
an object or dividing. The poem
is over when you are too im-
paled to push any longer.
2
Haul a box of nouns & a bucket of
punctuation
onto stage for the microphone to eat
& drink.
The poet may then feed the microphone
or leave it to feast by itself.
If the former, the poem is complete
after the microphone has been fed.
If the latter, the poem is complete
when
the microphone vomits or decides not
to.
3
Hold the poem close to your
chest for a long time. If it
tries to escape, squeeze tighter.
The performance is complete
when the poem is released.
4
Destroy a poem in front of the
audience.
Preferably, use your hands though other
instruments may be clocked as necessary
for tearing the poem or controlling the
fallout.
The poem may be of any length, but it
should
not be associated with another poet.
After the poem is destroyed, the poet
will sit
by cross-legged & observe the
audience; however
the poet should not sit between the
audience
& the poem so as to enable the
audience to enjoy
the destruction, unobstructed. In the
event
the performance is broadcast, the
micro-
phone will be placed inside the poem.
5
Turn a poet (or cloud of poets) loose
in the performance area.
Leave the doors & windows open.
The poem is over
when the poet floats away.
Geoffrey Nilson is a poet, editor, and literary critic who writes and lives as a guest on the unceded traditional territories of the Qayqayt people (New Westminster, BC). His most recent book Light Makes a Ruin was released in September 2022 with Ottawa’s above/ground press. Previously an industrial warehouseman, touring musician, and copywriter, Nilson is currently a PhD student in the Department of English at Simon Fraser University and teaches literature at Vancouver Community College.
