Human
beings do

something, therefore
the world in
general.

–Keith Waldrop,
The Space of Half an Hour

Therefore the importance of particulars, the importance of poetics, of questions, of listening, of seeing…always, and especially in face of the escalated violence and unabashed distortions of the last two years. What follows is a matter of the diligence and attention that must precede any alteration of consciousness and subsequently course. We rely first and foremost on our senses, and then we do something.

Currently, there is no dearth of interesting work and commentary – however visible or not – and there is, in particular, an important journal that emerged in ...., with a second edition currently in production. Enough, edited by Rick London and Leslie Scalapino (O Books, ....) is an editorial project that came into being following September .., .... and the beginning of the .... war on Afghanistan with the specific intention of collecting and presenting writings that responded to these situations by poets from around the world. Enough is that rare and wonderful example of a thematic project that results in a crucial ‘event’ which eloquently fulfills its own editorial
intention. This compelling collection includes contemporary American writers and writers from the Beat generation, the New York School, and Language poetry, as well as British, Palestinian, Iraqi, Israeli poets, and so on. And the scope of the writing presented is a welcome mixture of the inside of each poet’s experience/language versus the outside of cultural and political contexts. We are treated to the many modes and methods of listening/hearing, saying/responding, and above all seeing. For it is clear that the editors are directly enacting their own poetics and politics in assembling this journal, as well as in their own work included in the journal; moreover, they succeed in justifying and validating the assertion that “seeing what’s happening is a form of change,” to use Scalapino’s words. Seeing must be the foundation of the view that “a radical purpose of poetry in critical times is to disrupt the language of consensus…[to invent] new ways of making art [that] reflects the rejection of hegemonic forces in the world,” to use London’s words.

In “Ramallah – January, ....,” included in Enough, Mahmoud Darwish articulates an intricate and complex kind of isolation when he writes:

Under siege, time becomes a location
solidified eternally
Under siege, place becomes a time
abandoned by past and future (..)

Darwish is not only engaged in an act of perception that articulates a state of being, but his characterization of that state as ‘under siege’ locates an alienated and battered Palestinian population. Darwish gestures toward the importance of the editorial project of Enough, and to me, the importance of each of the feature sections of Aufgabe for readers in this country when he says in the beginning of the same poem,

This siege will persist until we teach our enemies
models of our finest poetry (..)

Though mostly it is not our enemies who will pick up these journals, and though the debate regarding our finest poetry, is necessarily endless, the sentiment of these words is nonetheless a most creative and inclusive response to violence and injustice. It says that the most physical and tangible pieces of our existence can be affected by language, can perhaps be positively changed, and further that there must exist in our poetry a vision, an act of perception, that creates the potential for this change.

This issue of Aufgabe presents an array of new American poetry that navigates this territory of (en)vision(ing) – beginning with a lamentation and concluding with a contemplative ‘blind spot.’ Each poem finds its own way through a complex linguistic and political landscape, and the essays/notes/ reviews are further reference points and markers in this landscape. In addition, this issue features introductions to the work of José Pérez-Espino and Myriam Moscona, including images by Bibiana Padilla and excerpts from Hoja Frugal (see inserts) presenting poems by several other Mexican writers. Jen Hofer has done a tireless job of translating, editing and organizing to create an excellent resource for Mexican writing, and has added invaluable material to the discussion of particulars within these pages.

E. Tracy Grinnell
September 8, 2003

Enough
Rick London & Leslie Scalapino, eds.
O Books
ISBN 1-882022-48-3
Available through Small Press Distribution