The Queerness of it All -- bpNichol

Guest poem sent in by Ajit Narayanan

(Poem #1455) The Queerness of it All frQg pQnd plQp -- bpNichol

There was a reference to bpNichol's interpretations of Basho's haiku
(Poem #23) in a Karl Young commentary that Thomas quoted when he ran
"Landscape I" (Poem #497) ages and ages ago, and that is why, when I came
upon this quirky little poem a few days back without an author name under
it, I guessed that it was possibly by bpNichol. Some fairly strenuous
googling later, I found that this was indeed the case. (Thanks to Minstrels,
I can now identify poets automagically!  Whoo!)

On a more serious note, I think this is one of the best examples of visual
poetry that I have seen. The first thing it reminded me of was an I-Ching
hexagram, an association that is somehow appropriate but not obvious outside
the context of this poem. It is a fine tribute to Nichol's skill that he
makes this association possible -- any improvisation that triggers a new
association is really a work of literature in itself, and bpNichol adds
substantially to Basho's original haiku when he arranges it this way
visually. I think.

As an aside, it is my opinion that when a poet tries to experiment
dramatically with form (like bpNichol or E. E. Cummings often do), an
additionally radical choice of _content_ as well can often confuse the
reader and rend an otherwise brilliant poem somewhat incomprehensible.
Others may disagree, but my own humble opinion is that I probably wouldn't
have been as impressed with this poem if it hadn't been a variant on that
most famous haiku of all time, Basho's 'Old Pond...'. With the possible
exception of Lewis Carroll's masterworks, parodies are nicer when they're
parodies of well-known themes.

This poem also holds a certain amount of personal significance for me,
having gone through five years of college at IIT Madras with the nickname
'Q', as a result of which it is now a name that more people know me by now
than my real one. Hmmm... maybe I'll make this poem the theme song of my
life :).

- AjitQ