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“A persistence of vision which is both rare and essential”—Mary RuefleIn archipelago counterpoint, Marcia Arrieta's poems grow word by word, line by line, into a book that is more, much more, than the sum of the poems. They're the poems of a craftsperson, a builder, a sculptor whose material is the universe & everything that has ever been in it, from "the japanese poet & italian philosopher" through to "wild geese watercolors & mankind." Her poems contain insight, exploration, exposition; blend the concrete with the abstract; posit what might happen when you put A beside not-A or not-even-in-the-Alphabet & then discover if it does.She writes, almost as a credo: there is music within water. imaginary words. imaginary lives. invent. But underpinning that statement is an obvious knowledge & grasp of the principles of mathematics & how the universe relies on them, plus the flavor of journeys through both finite & infinite space & an enumeration of the things that are found there. Magic is always at its strongest when it is underlaid with truth & imagination. As it is here. —Mark YoungMarcia Arrieta’s poetry gathers images, phrases, concepts, and states of being into a poetic collage in which direct sensuous experience is juxtaposed with the purely linguistic and abstract, revealing a tension between the ‘conceptual’ and the poetic image, which she usually draws from nature. Her poems are at once richly visual and thoughtfully engaging….In archipelago counterpoint Arrieta offers vivid and elegant poetic articulations embracing the totality of experience and discovery.—Ingrid SwanbergWith Arrieta’s poetry, we’re left on the edge of understanding how to connect beautiful fragments. Her lyrical poems play with sound, meaning, line break, and form….she searches in archipelago counterpoint for a way to combine the disjunctive with the personal, the tentative direction with the story, and the results are poems that linger evocatively in one’s own words.—William AllegrezzaMarcia Arrieta’s archipelago counterpoint points to language associated with delicate inventiveness—a brand of language providing whispering emblems, musical identities, and clarity of affirmed environment….Precise, reliable appreciation engages the reader and provides context toward a thoughtful devotion to expanding understanding.—Felino A. SorianoWith archipelago counterpoint Marcia Arrieta makes clear her love of language and her uncommon poetic intelligence. Whether referencing string theory or mulling the answers “in the stone gathered from the leucadian shore” (—the site of Sappho’s suicide and of Homer’s Ithaca), her erudition and dexterity of style combine to charm and to reward repeated readings. A sort of tour guide to things writ large, archipelago counterpoint is Arrieta at her best. —Gregory Vincent St. ThomasinoMarcia Arrieta is a poet, artist, and teacher, who has an affinity for islands, books, gardens, and travel. Her first book of poetry triskelion, tiger moth, tangram, thyme was published by Otoliths in 2011, and she is the author of two chapbooks, experimental: (Potes & Poets Press, 2000) and the curve against the linear (Toadlily Press Quartet Series—An Uncommon Accord, 2008). Her work appears in Fourteen Hills, Catch & Release, Cold Mountain Review, Rivet, Ellipsis, Little Red Leaves, So to Speak, 13th Moon, Melusine, Truck, Posit, Ditch, Dusie, Poetry Salzburg Review, Abraxas, and The Last VISPO Anthology. She has an MFA from Vermont College. As a result of grants from Poets & Writers, she has led various poetry/writing workshops in the community. She edits and publishes Indefinite Space, a poetry/art journal—in existence for over twenty-three years, and lives on the canyon in Pasadena, California.Book Information:· Paperback: 104 pages · Binding: Perfect-Bound · Publisher: BlazeVOX [books] · ISBN: 978-1-60964-214-3$16
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archipelago counterpoint
Marcia Arrieta
B L A Z E V O X [ B O O K S ] Buffalo, New York
archipelago counterpoint by Marcia Arrieta Copyright © 2015 Published by BlazeVOX [books] All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without the publisher’s written permission, except for brief quotations in reviews. Printed in the United States of America Interior design and typesetting by Geoffrey Gatza
First Edition ISBN: 978-1-60964-214-3 Library of Congress Control Number: 2015937800 BlazeVOX [books] 131 Euclid Ave Kenmore, NY 14217 [email protected]
publisher of weird little books
BlazeVOX [ books ] blazevox.org
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quest for/adaptive to environment wild domestic like sun bear polar bear and how they grew controlled free modernism in a sewing machine meadow tundra upholster intellects like couches books boundaries to climb trees claws sharp ripping seams tracing patterns cut the edges berries sweet grass insects nourishing warm against the body passages into quilts quiet rivers with salmon existential rosemary threads which cannot be knotted
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intermixed nebulous insurgent you dream your life into invariables tidal friction astronomical friends illegible you plant trees the days are void in conversation you find a postcard— Timeless Auras — collages, sumi paintings, paper sculptures thereafter solemn books become situations at any moment you might disappear intuitive a thread will unravel sword, shield, owl, rose
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to some extent * the letters seem to be disappearing * my feet become the roots of the oak * i am looking for a satisfactory conversation & then a bit of silence * oblique seizures in an attempt for consciousness * the designs are in a shattered clock * bewilder imagine enclaves sober * there are gaps * a strange person made of bags stranded on the freeway encourages me to move on
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the bookcases need cleaning or sometime life is exhausting outlaw document walks stunned embankments cathedrals outside dust exclamation displaced offshore wildfire contingent outline peace nomad existence in the dunes in the castle bridges & windows landscape paintings monasteries abbeys remember astronomy architect holes envision eclectic trees translucent isles rocks winds & calm captured patterns designs thus preventing build the light infinite reconstruct possibilities rethink mountains inside the square cyclical motion the poetics the construction imagination memory
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tenuous the threads clock threads indeterminate language wash the clothes balance the socks the reindeer is tied to a lamppost equalize the perimeter between/around two heads semblance of eagles semblance of pines white blanket in winter extreme the responsibilities green light red light blockades tapestries wander down tranquil equate absence with denial unravel illumination
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reading muraki on a calendar. trying to understand time. * the light comes in slowly. gradually. not always. subtle realization the surreal. dreams. desires. instincts. dramas. survival. * we go shopping for trees. * birds & thoughts. the owl is hidden on the island. * the rim of the world. the street of miracles. the wind tunnel. a wireless grid. * travels within/ travels without. * through the empty corridors. clocks & dragonflies. small drawings of time.
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within the cries of the subway bach. "the elf king." water sprite. how does complication exactly work? could you define your life? remember to plan for your next trip. imagine mountains. gardens. walls lined with books. avoid trifling conversations. know the island & the gyrfalcon. exit to the sea.
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refraction ideal “Refraction of a Spherical Wave at a Plane Surface” Robert E. Wood Physical Optics the container of pink paint is upside down. “Suppose a spherical wave originating at 0 to be refracted at the plane surface AB.” blue waves on canvas. yellow suns. “The evolute of the hyperbola is the caustic of the refracted wave, in this case virtual of course.” the red paintbrush floats. “wave-front.” “radiant point.” concept time. concept space. unconventional.
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letters paper boxes. cabooses. long rides in the night. today rilke appears—his face collaged as a mirror. we discuss the earth in spring. metaphor reflection. short journeys of the soul. abstraction the ordinary quite unordinary. like trees in a meteor shower or old poems found in a book of art.
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walking through content pleasure hidden art words falling water theorems & abstractions zero times two silent configurations analyze dust threshold sun far think something speak internal/external annihilating juxtaposition clouds without moons taste one another conscious to leap disguised sheltered window & light edge dynamic symmetry water balancing terraces & grace rhythm & spirit the twigs the leaves the feathers & stone
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parallel forces & their effect orange butterfly on the plane’s wing. the wind. the waves. old footsteps. the japanese poet & italian philosopher. alleys of glass. alleys of broken books. are the eclipses of the sun & moon the result of shadows? real. inverted. real. virtual. farther away. behind the mirror. bird footsteps. refraction. pebbles. sticks. branches.
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one red blossom/moving clouds i read of intrigue. runes. the clock manual appears. i have no clock. dandelions & winter. the origin of spectra. there are questions i wish to ask you . the answers are unimportant. we play word games. nothing compared to the wind. or the snow even. last time i saw you—you were surrounded by incredibly bright light. perhaps it was because the corridor was dark & deserted. was the apple left in front of my door symbolic? my head has become a daffodil—it is bent by the force of the rain. i have no idea what spectra is. perhaps spectra is a secret, which combines all & nothing. are we an experimental test? you mentioned surreal. i mentioned light. in between there is sculpture & a thousand poems & drawings. the trees bend in wind. “Studies of other spectra by Kayser and Rung, Rydberg and others showed that the lines could be sorted out into overlapping series, … converging to heads on the short wave- length side. Some of the series had a common point of convergence.”* like a ginkgo leaf or snowflake carried in a bird’s mouth…. *from Physical Optics by Robert Wood
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revolution pensive chaos. love. indeterminate. we travel to the andes. einstein speaks of how the starlight bends around the sun. i wind a strand of hair around my finger. you look for a yellow pencil. squares triangles paths — around & through we must travel.
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avalanches & snowdrifts minutes & hours snowflakes where is my golden ratio book? tonight i will go in search of the moon
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continual rationals irrationals poetry space islands iceblink: a glare in the sky over an ice field imagine sun
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a broken pencil. taped. * i read about the string theory & gems from madagascar. there are blue stars pasted here & there. i remember x/y. descartes attempts to speak to me. i do not understand. is cognition necessary? we never speak.
