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We stayed, talked, sat out in the August sun; invited to remain for dinner, corn on the cob, even sharing the pie we brought. Once home from our day, the poem occurred rather quickly, as a direct response to both his writing and the day itself, fifty-two pages wrapping around a reference to his collections of found playing cards he’d arranged into sets, and one of his own touchstones, Louis Zukofsky’s 80 Flowers (1978). As I repeated, the best response to a poem is another poem, responding to a book or even a series of books through the composition of another. Should I have further addressed the killdeer, his token-bird, his bird-totem? Still, once begun is half done; I wanted to explore the country-rhythm of Hall’s ouvre, to see what was possible. I wanted to compose my own pieces through his: clawhammer banjo, found objects, Bobcaygeon, the Rideau Lakes, his ubiquitous killdeer—these were all touchstones. Once home from our day, I worked through the engine of his poems, exploring. One can argue that any poem is a study in form, and writing through and from Hall’s work was a particular kind of entry point into his writing as a whole.
joining the extremes, a nun
table, clawhammer
banjo
what has managed to twist,
to give meaning
or perhaps, require
if only, cant
out of circle
using broken pieces
of dreams & family
, houses
, a museum
of conjoined myth
ad nauseum; kindled
to pass off as truth
, becoming
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