Somatic Exercise: Put on a shirt with a tag backwards and
inside out, so the tag is under your chin. Then put on a pair of pans with a
tag inside out and backwards, with the back pockets on your thighs. Run around
the block like this and try to read the words on either one of the tags. When
you finish the run, write down the words you remember vertically down the page
(if you’ve remember most, you can choose a few). Then, write an acrostic about
the experience using these letters.
A collective of poets, thinkers, and dreamers. This is a collection of our work. "I think we are committed to the idea that study is what you do with other people. It's talking and walking around with other people, working, dancing, suffering, some irreducible convergence of all three." Fred Moten
Thursday, December 22, 2016
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
conrad's somatic exercise #4
Take a red magic marker and draw a 9 on your naked chest. Draw the 9 from the bottom up.
Start the tip of its tail at your naval and sweep UP to have the round circle of its head in the middle
of your breasts. Put on a shirt that conceals the 9 from other eyes. Go out to the corner and quickly
choose a direction. At the next corner choose another direction. Don't think about where you are
going, instead spend the time between corners looking carefully at the world. Finally come to a
complete stop at the 9th corner. Look across the street and focus on four different objects. Draw a
line to connect them, looking carefully at what's inside this square you've just made. What's outside
it? What's half-in? Imagine you string lights to make the square. Imagine its contents at night, dimly
lit. Imagine this square a year from now. Ten years from now. Now go somewhere quickly and
write, run, run to a place where you can write. Suddenly the city, your city, is a place where places
to write come to mind, you must always know those places at all times.
Come for the flavour, stay for the pills
Get your fill
Fill up and ride
Sidle up and make a choice
Talk about something wild
Felt some cold on my blue legs
Can't imagine never seeing it again
It'll all outlive me
Keeping me alive, a sustenance, a market
Of pleasure and pain and necessity
Needs me less than I need it
Next time I come back for you
I'll get another sandwich and watch another merry band
Enjoy whatever it is they do these days
Not the same days, but all days all the same
Happy thoughts, chin up,
Slog your way back through your personal fog
And rely on it, it'll be here the tomorrow after you
Come for the flavour, stay for the pills
Get your fill
Fill up and ride
Sidle up and make a choice
Talk about something wild
Felt some cold on my blue legs
Can't imagine never seeing it again
It'll all outlive me
Keeping me alive, a sustenance, a market
Of pleasure and pain and necessity
Needs me less than I need it
Next time I come back for you
I'll get another sandwich and watch another merry band
Enjoy whatever it is they do these days
Not the same days, but all days all the same
Happy thoughts, chin up,
Slog your way back through your personal fog
And rely on it, it'll be here the tomorrow after you
Karen's Somatic Exercise
Somatic Exercise:
Imagine yourself into the bottom of a ten foot pit. No light, no sound, nothing-- just you and a clean dark pit. It's your pit. It's all for you. Lay down (literally or not, whichever-- if possible, go somewhere you might identify as your ten foot pit) and imagine its full experience-- how does it smell, what does it feel like, are you warm or cold, do you feel safe or afraid down here? Now you're going to write your way out of the pit. Write the things you need to to get out of this place, or to write yourself anywhere else. Write the things you love about your pit and the things you hate about it. Write about your footholds, about the rope connecting you from that bottom to those who love you and want you back. Write about what it's like coming back out. Is it easier to stay down there, in the end, or not? Who knows? Are you ok?
Thanks, everyone, for the semester. Hope you're all well :)
Imagine yourself into the bottom of a ten foot pit. No light, no sound, nothing-- just you and a clean dark pit. It's your pit. It's all for you. Lay down (literally or not, whichever-- if possible, go somewhere you might identify as your ten foot pit) and imagine its full experience-- how does it smell, what does it feel like, are you warm or cold, do you feel safe or afraid down here? Now you're going to write your way out of the pit. Write the things you need to to get out of this place, or to write yourself anywhere else. Write the things you love about your pit and the things you hate about it. Write about your footholds, about the rope connecting you from that bottom to those who love you and want you back. Write about what it's like coming back out. Is it easier to stay down there, in the end, or not? Who knows? Are you ok?
Thanks, everyone, for the semester. Hope you're all well :)
Somatic Exercise
Somatic
Exercise (Conrad)
2.) In your home alone. Take a bucket or basin of
room-temperature water to your front door and strip naked. Put a piece of paper
or thin notepad under the bucket and lay a pen nearby. Stand in the water. Get
used to being naked while standing in water at the front door. Look through the
peephole. Look for a long time at the world out there. Then look above you, and
at the door, the walls, and make note of something you hadn't seen before --
maybe a cobweb or crack in the paint. Every once in a while stretch your arms
over your head stretch as high as you can stretch stretch stretch then relax in
your bucket. If someone knocks or rings the bell it's your good fortune! Look
at them through the peep hole while saying nothing. Maybe have a friend come
over at a certain time to knock and say, "Are you naked in your bucket of
water?" Don't answer, you're a poet, this isn't time for idle chit chat,
besides that you can warn them ahead of time that you won't be answering them.
Stretch, and be quiet. Step out of the bucket and sit your poet ass on the
floor, get the paper from under the bucket and whistle short, loud bursts of
whistle four times. Then write. When you feel the need for more whistles,
pause, whistle, then write some more.
"The Result"
What
a waste of water
Was
there ever such a waster of water
Will
the water waster waste her
Water
once more? Or
Mni?
When
she wants it turns the tap
And
looks at
The
roof ceiling hook—LOOK!
The
ceiling hook she couldn’t hang herself
from but
A
plant could hang there. A plant that needs water.
And
there are three windows where the water evaporates thanks
To
the sun.
And
the ceiling hook hangs nothing, and hangs there kinetically full of potential.
And
the boyfriend walks in on this poet ass, bare-assed and laughs and laughs
And
the poet ass jiggles as the poet laughs.
Let
them think it’s crazy. Stretch out in your bucket and let yourself say fuck it.
My Somatic
Exercise
Go
into your bathroom and clean your tub for this one first. Now.
Go
to your kitchen and fill your biggest cup, glass, or mug with water. Bring that
drinking implement to your bath tub and pour it into the bathtub making sure
that the stopper will stop that precious water from going down the drain. In
whatever you happen to be wearing at the time, get in the tub. Lie down and try
to relax in the small amount of water around you. Let it soak into your clothes
if you’re wearing clothes. Try to wash your hair. Imagine how you would live
your life differently if that amount of water in the tub is the amount of water
you were allotted daily for a month. Write a the first half of a poem about
what you would do during that month, and the second half of the poem about what
you would do the first day of the next month (with access to as much water as
you have access to presently).
turn ear : for rita (in reponse to Rebecca)
how to live with oursleves
& the rest of us
turn ear
near rut
tae tea tu
true tun
ut at ra re
ut na ret
un
art near true
turn ear near
nut near ear
eat ren; an
ear rent
ut true ta
ret en un
tre
tru turnt
tu nature
Rengas
Today, I was asked to be in an educational space where I did not understand the trajectory of the questions, nor the language that was at the center of the lesson. And I was unthreatened; I was safe; I learned.
Safe is a space where I can fall asleep without fear of being reprimanded or made to feel ashame.
There is a generosity in Reuben's way of being that immediately puts people at ease. It makes me wish I had better questions and ways of expressing myself
Sometimes a moment of silence speaks the loudest truth
safe here in the spirit markers and the abnormal normal love directions
His talk on love made me think of the way my granddaughter looked at her mom when she was only a few months old. the expression on her face was indescribable.
I love your image of his talk as a door. A door to history that was untold and voices that were silenced.
I recall the look on my dying father's face, when I told him his wife of 60 years had died. That is what love looks like.
Love is looking for your in the eagles and in the clouds
love is hopeful just like the eagles and it disregards how difficult and hard it can be.
The speaker Reuben opened a door for me to look through. I felt blessed to hear what he had to say; to see what he had to draw. His stories about his life and the life of his grandfather gave me knowledge of events in this area where I live. His explanation of those times clarified the injustice done towards his people.
Lost
I am lost without direction
Four directions
The number of ribs are embedded right here
their ribs pashwa mostos
can a law be composed of ribs?
I don't think a law can be composed
I think you can decompose it
I love the gifts of our grandparents.
I learned that buffalo have sixteen ribs
I thank God that he has given me a long life. A chance to meet different people of this earth (world). To build an understanding of his will and the diversity of this precious world which he has made and put us here to enjoy.
I am encouraged by your faith, and your ability to continue learning
This class is truly an example of living in the now by absorbing each second as if it was your last sip of water.
The people you have met are also grateful to have met you.
The world will meet us all, all we need to do is meet the world.
I really enjoyed learning about the native people and their language they are very special people to me and I believe in them and I know there medicine works and there dream catchers work. They are awesome people.
I agree 100% completely in this presentation
We have certainly learned a lot "? is love"
The learning has not finished
The creative consciousness awaits you, just sit still closing your eyes.
Grandmothers in their directions powering me home.
Grandmothers in their directions
Remembering not remembering
the sounds, the words
That we say when we first come out of our mothers womb
then the last words we say before we die. Getting some air in thats why they call it
Think of this as an opportunity to breath, learn and share.
I learned the word me heo.
very funny person. I never seen in conversation, comedian, and good leader sense of humour. Interesting time with went by pretty fast. I wish he will come back again to learn more about his history.
The learning has not finished. You may learn more on your own.
Be still and know your spirit guide will take you to a learning place
Safe is a space where I can fall asleep without fear of being reprimanded or made to feel ashame.
There is a generosity in Reuben's way of being that immediately puts people at ease. It makes me wish I had better questions and ways of expressing myself
Sometimes a moment of silence speaks the loudest truth
safe here in the spirit markers and the abnormal normal love directions
His talk on love made me think of the way my granddaughter looked at her mom when she was only a few months old. the expression on her face was indescribable.
I love your image of his talk as a door. A door to history that was untold and voices that were silenced.
I recall the look on my dying father's face, when I told him his wife of 60 years had died. That is what love looks like.
Love is looking for your in the eagles and in the clouds
love is hopeful just like the eagles and it disregards how difficult and hard it can be.
The speaker Reuben opened a door for me to look through. I felt blessed to hear what he had to say; to see what he had to draw. His stories about his life and the life of his grandfather gave me knowledge of events in this area where I live. His explanation of those times clarified the injustice done towards his people.
Lost
I am lost without direction
Four directions
The number of ribs are embedded right here
their ribs pashwa mostos
can a law be composed of ribs?
I don't think a law can be composed
I think you can decompose it
I love the gifts of our grandparents.
I learned that buffalo have sixteen ribs
I thank God that he has given me a long life. A chance to meet different people of this earth (world). To build an understanding of his will and the diversity of this precious world which he has made and put us here to enjoy.
I am encouraged by your faith, and your ability to continue learning
This class is truly an example of living in the now by absorbing each second as if it was your last sip of water.
The people you have met are also grateful to have met you.
The world will meet us all, all we need to do is meet the world.
I really enjoyed learning about the native people and their language they are very special people to me and I believe in them and I know there medicine works and there dream catchers work. They are awesome people.
I agree 100% completely in this presentation
We have certainly learned a lot "? is love"
The learning has not finished
The creative consciousness awaits you, just sit still closing your eyes.
Grandmothers in their directions powering me home.
Grandmothers in their directions
Remembering not remembering
the sounds, the words
That we say when we first come out of our mothers womb
then the last words we say before we die. Getting some air in thats why they call it
Think of this as an opportunity to breath, learn and share.
I learned the word me heo.
very funny person. I never seen in conversation, comedian, and good leader sense of humour. Interesting time with went by pretty fast. I wish he will come back again to learn more about his history.
The learning has not finished. You may learn more on your own.
Be still and know your spirit guide will take you to a learning place
Amanda's Somatic Exercises
Conrad
Somatic Exercise Number 1:
Gut
Wrenching
Insatiable
hunger
Not for
food, but for freedom
To escape
the cages
Of the mind
The city
The police
Race
Gender
Economy
What is
freedom? Is writing freedom? is resisting conventional language an act of
freedom? Is not writing, freedom?
Perhaps
there is freedom in community-
When you
replace the Capitalist I, with a Collective We.
When we
come together in love, suffering, messy, chaotic, scary, dancing,
We form
unexpected connective tissues that
Would
surprise some
But mean
everything to us.
I am not
writing.
Amanda's Somatic
Exercise:
Find a
quiet space, and leave your cellphone and electronics in another room.
Turn off
the lights, and lay on the ground.
Close your
eyes.
Clench your
fists extremely tight for ten seconds- then release.
Clench your
abdominal muscles very tightly for ten seconds- then release.
Clench your
feet very tightly for ten seconds- then release.
By this
point you should be feeling relaxed and tranquil.
Now start
to think about the cages in your life. Those that constrain you, or the people
you love.
Realizing
that the peace you felt was manufactured and an illusion in comparison to the
very real issues that plague the world. This should immediately ignite some
tension, but it is important to sit with this tension, because it is
productive.
Remember,
it was all good, it was all fucked.
Write a
poem about what is all fucked
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Late-night somatic inspiration
CHOOSE ONE: grow out or shave off all the hair on your legs, whichever is opposite from your usual practices. (Of course the former option will take a bit more time than the latter.)
How do your legs feel? Are you colder? Warmer? Itchy? Sexy? How does the air feel against your skin? How does it feel moving through this extra layer of YOU?
TAKE OFF YOUR PANTS and go outdoors.
Go for a run. Walk into the wind. Sit in the sun (wear sunscreen!)
GO TO A STORE. Do people look at your legs? Do you get treated differently? Does no one notice?
TELL SOMEONE what you've done. Preferably a stranger.
Write 5 words down describing their reaction. Keep these words on your person.
TRACE these words with your fingertips along your legs, through the layer of hair or across your newly exposed skin.
Write a poem about these words. Your legs. Your life with new legs. Do you also have new eyes?
How do your legs feel? Are you colder? Warmer? Itchy? Sexy? How does the air feel against your skin? How does it feel moving through this extra layer of YOU?
TAKE OFF YOUR PANTS and go outdoors.
Go for a run. Walk into the wind. Sit in the sun (wear sunscreen!)
GO TO A STORE. Do people look at your legs? Do you get treated differently? Does no one notice?
TELL SOMEONE what you've done. Preferably a stranger.
Write 5 words down describing their reaction. Keep these words on your person.
TRACE these words with your fingertips along your legs, through the layer of hair or across your newly exposed skin.
Write a poem about these words. Your legs. Your life with new legs. Do you also have new eyes?
Sunday, December 18, 2016
Context, in Avoidance of Rupture // Language Towards Stone and River
This is poetics as abstraction.
context is what is most important to me - d.b.
This is poetics as abstraction.
What is the context
of active amnesia:
the state. Funded
poetry as erasure.
How do we read
with sensitivity here?
A field of stone
is parking lot;
The invisibility of hills
named fallow ground.
Skies changing with accumulation
of both the potential (read:
capital, read: hotel, read: poetry
on sidewalks) and the effects (read: debris
read: the dialectics of development).
A field of stone is a building site
or a giant fucking hole.
I heard no one
asked any one
about much
especially the network
of old coal shafts
that run beneath the city
and if disrupted
would collapse
the whole
armature.
so much can be passed over
in avoidance of the rupture🔺 - l.r.
Gloria Neapetung
designed the street
sign for Okisikow
way. “during and prior
to treaty making
it would have been the
okihcitawiskewak
who would have
been consulted
regarding the land,
because the authority
and jurisdiction to speak
about the land
resides with the women🔻.” (55)
What life ways
weaved here? What
ruptures suture?
What protocols
attend the denial
of presence - what
laws might honour
its persistence?
I listen here
but I do not pretend
to know.
I stumble
through
language
towards stone
and river.
______________________________
🔻McAdam, Sylvia. Nationhood Interrupted: Revitalizing neyihaw Legal Systems. Purich, 2015
🔺Robertson, Lisa. 3 Summers. Coach House, 2016.
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