Wednesday 27 January 2010

How to pass the long winter nights in Tilling

First choose 12 bookcases. Throw two dice to select one of them.
Use one dice to select a shelf from 1 - 6 (I ignore the bottom
shelf) To choose a book, first throw one dice. That is the number
you will use to multiply the sum of the next three dice; i.e.,
3x(5+4+2)=33. Where there are not enough books on the shelf,
use the first number. Having found the book use the same
method to get the page and again for the line.
Repeat 14 times.

Takes ages so make sure there is enough food and wine in the
house.

Here is a result. I haven't changed the words nor their order but
have broken the lines occasionally in the interests of scansion.


As shall be indicted, shall not be delivered
àguila f eagle (persona perspiaz)
cleverly fitted with wax nose exactly like his own
de conservation et signés par des maitre célèbres.

Coming down from God out of heaven
prepared as a bride before her
caught in an ambiguous and contradictory space
making a wry formal play
"I agree. Its impossible"

The artistic image from the gallery to the street
through interlocking processes of perception
cognition and notation
"There, if one of the humans fail to pass it on -"

Draining the marsh and leaving it dry
with a caked peat-like
locket with a shamrock inside
they were mending.

Tell me also, how can I get home
across the playgrounds of the fish?

I'm charmed by it, especially the last line.
Can't think of a title. Any ideas?

7 comments:

ian said...

upbootr, after the word verification spell for this comment.

vanilla beer said...

nice!

writing and other stuff said...

I think this should be extended into a dark January activity revolving between several abodes whose owners have sufficient books.

Dark January of the damp peat playgrounds.

like that bit about caked peat-like locket

Sam said...

It's a fine method of generating surreal song lyrics, you should send them to Florence(+ her machine) or MGMT and reap in thousands of euros for the royalties.Just trying to be helpful,Sam.

vanilla beer said...

kate,I was thinking we could throw dice to decide which house the bookcase can be found in to commence a group poem but having seen on your blog what you get up to in Limoux at this time of year I'm amazed you might have the time or energy for anything else - Dr in Pink video was an eye opener!!Its much quieter here.

Sian said...

Using the same random-phrase-from-book method, "Let John Nott keep the land". Pleaaaaaaaaaaaase include my folks in the long evening library excavations! they have lots of books, and not ALL Agatha Christie, honest!

vanilla beer said...

Nowt wrong with La Christie, might might a good constraint come to think of it - but the point of these nights is that one is alone and without a social life and that its a boring process that takes ages -though quite fun reading stuff you've forgotten about. If J and T were involved I'd have a social life and the poetry would be redundant. Sigh. Will dream something up though.