Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Spot of Frazzle and Then" by Clark Coolidge is a compelling exploration of chaos, transformation, and the surreal nature of consciousness. Through a dense collage of images and ideas, Coolidge crafts a narrative that defies linear progression, opting instead for a more associative and abstract mode of expression. The poem engages with themes of disintegration and reconstitution, weaving together elements of the everyday with the fantastical to create a landscape that is both alien and familiar.

The opening line, "The braincase was loose and the rest saw pie melting," immediately immerses the reader in a scene of dissolution and unreality. The imagery of a "loose" braincase alongside melting pie suggests a breakdown of both physical and mental stability, setting the tone for the poem's exploration of fragmentation and disarray.

The phrase "we'd have to come home to the lineaments of fire" introduces a sense of inevitability and return to elemental forces, implying that amidst chaos, there is a primal, underlying structure or force that beckons. Fire, with its connotations of destruction and renewal, serves as a potent symbol for the transformative processes that the poem explores.

Coolidge's mention of "a lot of squatting included with the sleeping" and "pennants with the clothing closing in" evokes a sense of confinement and the blurring of boundaries between the self and the external world. This blurring is further emphasized by "dimity fudge due to silence in the breccias" and "partial poinsettias they lived on Olive Street," where the ordinary is juxtaposed with the strange, creating a surreal tapestry of existence.

The poem delves into themes of creativity and destruction with lines like "inclined toward wicked pencils we stayed / us jamokes quite worn through and bundled / to blow things up beyond all proportion." Here, the act of creation is linked with explosive force, suggesting that to create is also to destroy and that from destruction, new forms and ideas can emerge.

Coolidge's use of language and imagery, such as "crow in wacky dingle a portion of cheek / dried in detonator the telemetry theater," plays with sound and meaning to evoke a sense of playfulness amidst the chaos. The poem flirts with the idea of communication and miscommunication, where words and phrases both reveal and obscure, leading the reader through a labyrinth of thought and sensation.

As the poem progresses, it grapples with notions of time and history, "now the cheese quarry its more than human wails / present time now added it's long past time / to get the gargoyles to descend a history of pokers." These lines suggest a layering of the present upon the past, where ancient and modern coexist in a continuous cycle of becoming and unbecoming.

The concluding lines, "then someone up near the ceiling he turns and / silence in the Vanguard silence to bring things to / then someone blew it or is this the copper time?" leave the reader with a sense of unresolved tension and ambiguity. The reference to "silence in the Vanguard" may hint at a moment of anticipation or a turning point, where the potential for transformation or revelation hangs in the balance.

"Spot of Frazzle and Then" is a testament to Coolidge's ability to navigate the terrain of the abstract and the surreal, inviting readers into a world where the familiar is dismantled and reassembled in unexpected ways. Through its intricate layering of imagery and ideas, the poem challenges conventional perceptions of reality, time, and identity, offering a space where the act of reading becomes an act of discovery and reinterpretation.

POEM TEXT: http://jacketmagazine.com/13/coolidge-10.html

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