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yourwitchmama · 3 years

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Tarot Meanings: The Wands Suit

Ace of Wands

Upright: New beginnings, good news, physically starting something, creative spark, new initiative, finding new passion, enthusiasm, urgency, accepting a challenge, potential, talent, growth, action, travel, excitement, getting in the game, getting fired up, spontaneity, fun, being bold/daring, fertility, birth, conception, new lease of life Reversed: Delays, disappointing news, stopping something, creative blocks, lack of initiative/ passion/ assertiveness/ energy/ enthusiasm/ motivation/ growth/ action/ spark/ fun, slow, hesitant, missed opportunities, wasted talent/potential, infertility, pregnancy issues, cancelled travel, being too intense, stuck, bored, predictable

Two of Wands

Upright: Two paths, decisions, options, planning, grass is always greener on the other side, emigration suddenly leaving, deciding to stay or go, waiting, anticipation, restlessness, detachment, withdrawal, wanderlust, lack of contentment, business partnerships, co-operation, expansion overseas, overseas travel Reversed: Fear of change, indecisiveness, restricted options, lack of planning, fear of the unknown, staying put, cancelled emigration, deciding not go, being held back, choosing the safest option, self-doubt, disappointment, anti-climax, cancelled or delayed travel, choosing a mundane life, sudden arrival or return

Three of Wands

Upright: Travel, moving abroad, foreign land, foresight, forward planning, moving forward, self-confidence, self-belief, freedom, success, happy with choices/outcome, hard work paying off, experiencing life, spreading your wings, adventure, long distance/ travel romance, fortune favours the brave, overseas trade/expansion, growth Reversed: Returning travels, moving home, lack of foresight/ planning, holding on to the past, haunted by the past, lack of confidence, self-doubt, restriction, failure, disappointed with choices/outcome, frustration, clipped wings, lack of progress/ adventure/growth, failed long distance relationship, failed overseas trade/expansion

Four of Wands

Upright: Happy families, reunion, coming home, celebrations, surprises, parties, weddings, events, feeling welcome, community or family coming together, community spirit, teamwork, success, prosperity, stability, security, laying down roots, pride, self-esteem, being proud of achievements Reversed: Unhappy families, postponed/ cancelled reunion, leaving home, cancelled celebrations/surprises/parties/ weddings/ events, feeling unwelcome, not fitting in, community divided, lack of community spirit, instability, insecurity, uprooting, self-doubt

Five of Wands

Upright: Conflict, fighting, arguments, rows, disagreements, struggle, opposition, battles, aggression, temper, clashing personalities/egos, strikes, chaos, unruliness, being defensive/ territorial, assertive, pent up energy/aggression, lack of control/ cooperation, frustration, irritation, competition, adrenaline, sports, being rough, petty Reversed: Compromise, end of conflict/ row/ struggle, reaching agreements, peace, harmony, battle fatigue, fear of confrontation, shyness, intimidation, suppressed temper, finding solutions, cooperation, control, focus, order, lack of competition, war, looking for an argument, extreme aggression, short fuse

Six of Wands

Upright: Success, victory, winning, having the advantage, triumph, achievement, praise, acclaim, awards, recognition, applause, goodwill, fame, celebrity, fans, well-wishers, supporters, crowds, being in the spotlight, riding high, being a leader, stability, strength, confidence, self-esteem, pride, sharing your victories, campaign trail Reversed: Failure, lack of achievement/recognition/ support/ confidence/ endurance, losing, disadvantage, disgrace, being hunted, ill-will, mob/ pack mentality, treachery, disloyalty, disappointment, broken promises, being a follower, weakness, fame hungry, diva, arrogant, egotistical, pride before a fall, unsuccessful campaign

Seven of Wands

Upright: Standing up for beliefs, fighting your corner, protective, defensive, determined, challenging, opposing, stamina, holding your own, taking high road, maintaining control, territorial, assertive, forceful, relentless, strong will, under attack, blame, harassment, scapegoat, resisting, busy, hectic, demanding Reversed: Folding on your beliefs, giving in/up, admitting defeat, yielding, quitting, surrendering, weakness, being timid, lack of courage/ self-belief/ stamina, failing to defend/ protect, resolution, compromise, scandal/losing moral authority/ control/ power/respect, sharing territory, being overbearing, worn down, burnout, exhausted

Eight of Wands

Upright: Hastiness, speed, progress, movement, action, rushing, exciting times, travel, freedom, vacation, taking off, gaining momentum, ahead, thinking on your feet, sudden action, hard work paying off, results, solutions, energetic, positive, infatuation, obsession, being swept off your feet, jumping in Reversed: Slowness, lack of speed/ movement/ action/ results, slow progress, delayed/ cancelled/ returning from travel or vacation, restriction, bad timing, losing momentum, missed opportunities, late start, unfinished business, lack of energy, negativity, lack of romance, panicked, hysterical, impatient, impulsive, out of control

Nine of Wands

Upright: Ongoing battle, battle weary, fatigue, drained of energy, nearly there, close to success, courage, persistence, perseverance, backbone, learning from past failure, gather your strength, fight your corner, last stand, guarded, wounded, expecting trouble, holding out, not working out as planned, setbacks, strength of will Reversed: Refusing to compromise/ give in, stubborn, rigid, obstinate, last one standing, not learning from past, no fight left, chronic fatigue, stalemate, retreat, withdrawal, falling at the final hurdle, lack of courage/ persistence/ perseverance/ backbone, weakness, dropping your guard, unexpected trouble, giving up, chip on shoulder

Ten of Wands

Upright: Overburdened, overloaded, responsibilities, stress, problems, weight on shoulders, duty, drudgery, obligation, saddled, restricted, burn-out, uphill struggle, taken for granted, taking on too much, delays, struggle, resistance, lost your way, lost focus, major challenges, lack of fun/ spontaneity, keep going, end in sight Reversed: Insurmountable problems, flogging a dead horse, duty-bound, resigned to fate, too much responsibility/ stress, cross too heavy to bear, collapse, breakdown, no stamina, not up to the challenge, working hard but getting nowhere, learning to say no, off-loading, dumping, shirking duties/responsibilities, letting go

Page of Wands

Upright: Good news, swift news, letters, phone calls, word of mouth, fresh, cheerful, childlike, fun playful, active, optimistic, full of energy, bright ideas, new exciting plans, creativity, lovable rogue, charismatic, free-thinking, confident, intelligent, extroverted, fearless, rushing into things, finding your passion Reversed: Hasty, gullible, impatient, lack of energy/ ideas/ creativity/ ambition/ goals/plans, lazy, lethargic pessimistic, spoiled, loud mouth, tantrums, problem/inner child, delinquent, lack of confidence, self-conscious, close-minded, predictable, fearful, boring, procrastinating, failure to act, feeling uninspired, not finding your passion

Knight of Wands

Upright: Being hasty, adventurous, energetic, charming, warm, exciting, fearless, confident, self assured, hero, rebellious, brave, revolutionary, open minded, free spirit, sexy, warm, shameless flirt, hot tempered, travel, moving country, swept off your feet, finishing what you start, success, taking risks Reversed: Arrogant, reckless, hyperactive, daredevil, overly confident, loud, show-off, lack self-discipline/ control, passive, fearful, lack of enthusiasm/ ambition/ purpose, chip on shoulder, violent, abusive, jealous, volatile, extremely aggressive/ hasty, overly competitive, domineering , not finishing what you start, cancelled travel

Queen of Wands

Upright: Energetic, vivacious, strong, courageous, passionate, funny, independent, confident, optimistic, outgoing, assertive, sexy, chaotic, hot tempered, forgetful, efficient, accomplishing many tasks, efficiency, motherhood, fertility, helping others, organizing your life, taking charge Reversed: Pushy, demanding, overbearing, self righteous, busybody, bully, unfriendly, jealous, catty, manipulative, spiteful, vengeful, malicious, liar, deceitful, unfaithful, trouble maker, low confidence/ self esteem/self belief, temperamental, overwhelmed, exhausted, burnt out, fertility issues, bitchy

King of Wands

Upright: Energetic, experience, optimistic, confident, strong, friendly, funny, charming, way with words, fearless, freethinking, motivated, action orientated, proud, passionate, honest, loyal, lenient, dependable, protective, natural born leader, self centered, controlling, hot tempered, taking control, daring to be different

Reversed: Rude, boorish, forceful, bully, dictator, tyrant, impulsive, abusive, nasty, vicious, bitter, weak, unreliable, lack of energy/ experience/ enthusiasm, breaking promises, womanizer, volatile temper, taking a back seat, setting a bad example, afraid to be different, not being proactive, undependable, ineffective, powerless

#tarot #tarot guide #tarot reading #tarot readings #pagan #paganism #witch #witchcraft #witchy #witchblr #tarot cards #major arcana #minor arcana #wands suit #wands #spellcraft #divination #magick #magic

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hopeaterart · 3 years

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Mario Odyssey: Paper Kingdom AU

Or: The AU where I adapt Paper Mario characters into a kingdom in Mario Odyssey because while my brain is small, it has a big mind that keeps thinking up new ideas. This tackles the kingdom’s backstory, it’s travel brochure, why Mario ends up going there, and the frankly ridiculous political context he stumbles into. I might tackle the characters in another post.

Backstory

A long time ago, a creature made out of shadows and thin as paper rose out of an island. Calling itself- or herself- the Shadow Queen, the malevolent spirit could wield the power of seven stars, and her heart was pitch-black and full of chaotic hatred. She reigned over the land with an iron fist, terrified painted shadows at her command.

Until one day, a small faction of her own people turned against, led by four heroes and eight mages. They studied her magic, and turned it against her, folding themselves like paper get close to her and stealing her stars to destroy her body, the eight mages using their magic to separate her heart from her spirit

Enraged, her spirit lashed out, cursing the four heroes into suffering the same fate as her, reduced to spirits enclosed in coffins just as she unleashed the full power of her heart. But before she could turn her wrath on the other rebels, the eight mages sacrificed themselves, turning their souls into pure energy and setting it on the Shadow Queen’s heart, ripping it out and sending both the heart and the soul of the Shadow Queen into a deep sleep.

The only thing left was a prophecy- a warning. If a cruel monster and a gentle maiden marry each other in a farce, the Chaos Heart will rise again. If this happens, the Shadow Queen’s rise is imminent, and she will take over the body of the maiden. The only way to stop her is to find her Seven Stars, and use them to destroy her soul once and for all.

The throne of the Paper Kingdom is left symbolically empty, and the country is ruled by a council.

Travel Brochure

Population: Sparse, but plentiful

Size: Wide

Locals: Shapeshifters

Currency: Paper fortune teller shaped

Industries: Construction, stories

Temperature: Average 73 °F

A craft for the ages

Multi-level: The Paper Kingdom is made of multiple levels carved within the plateau, and all of them have something to offer. From the charming beach town of Rogueport to the looming Castle of Chaos, this place is vibrant and full of carefully crafted layers.

Rich History: The Paper Kingdom’s history is something for the ages: A demon rising out of the earth, her own people standing up against her, a battle ending in tragedy, and a prophecy! And they know it too! Their own history is so rich and captivating, they transformed telling people about it into a spectacle. If you’re ever in the need of someone to give a grandiose speech, a Paper Kingdom storyteller is what you need!

Origami Festival: If you visit the Paper Kingdom during their fall season, you might bear witness to the Origami Festival! While considered unorthodox and dangerous, Shapeshifters recognize origami as an incredibly powerful type of magic, allowing one to become anything their heart wish. As such, they have festivities centered around this concept that lasts a week, where they put up tons of different and incredible origami displays celebrating the concept.

How it fits in the game

For it’s location, it would be a decently sized island between the Luncheon Kingdom and Snow Kingdom, and would be the last place you go to before Bowser’s castle. From above, it would look rectangular, and most of it would be very elevated (think of a plateau, but in the middle of the ocean.) While it would seem small at first glance, the truth is that most of the earth is hollowed out, and there’s a lot of communities that live underground. You would be able to visit the two surface ones (Rogueport at the base of the plateau, and Castle of Chaos (Equivalent to Castle Bleck) on top of it) from the start, and at least one additional area under Castle of Chaos would unlock after the main story.

As for it’s place in the story, a wedding needs an officiant, and Bowser decided to get a storyteller from the Paper Kingdom because they’re known to give quite touching speeches. Bowser was originally planning to make his announcement of his marriage to Peach, take someone by force if he got denied, and leave the kingdom in disarray as punishment for denying him.

So you can imagine his surprise when not one, but two storytellers volunteered to be his officiant: Dimentio, royal jester and local agent of chaos who’s starting to find the current situation in the Paper Kingdom boring because it’s stagnating (albeit because they want to stop the hostilities temporarily for the upcoming Origami Festival), and the Beldam, eldest of the shadow Sirens and actively trying to resurrect the Shadow Queen.

Let’s be clear, here: Neither of them are really interested in Bowser’s marriage, but both are after the power of the Chaos Heart, which has the potential to arise from this union: Dimentio to create even more chaos, and Beldam to harness it’s power and bring the Queen back to life. He picked the storyteller who had actual experience with being an officiant: Dimentio, who officiated multiple noble weddings- and left a fuming Beldam behind. In her rage, she decided to make the King of Koopas not choosing her as an evil marriage officiant everyone else’s problem and promptly started freezing everything in sight.

And that’s where Mario and Cappy come in, looking for Power Moons...

What’s going on?

A few weeks before Bowser shows up, the wedding of Blumiere, the son of an important count, and his human girlfriend Timpani (I don’t know from where she could be, probably New Donk CIty), was happening. However, in part due to a sinister prophecy that foretold the rebirth of the Chaos Heart if a furious monster lord (Blumiere is not human, and he has quite the unstable temperament) and a fair and lovely maiden (Timpani is a bit shy, cares for everything around her, and is nothing but kind) got married, and in part due to being a racist fuck, Blumiere’s father tried to stop the marriage by lethally attacking the bride.

Big mistake.

Blumiere ended up flying into a rage, messily killing his father with his bare hands and the assistance of a surge of magic, and destroyed the wedding venue. He then took Timpani, who was dying, to the origami craftsman, who earned himself a reputation of defying nature’s law by creating Olly and Olivia for an Origami festival, which was. Not planned. He then more or less forced him to heal his bride.

The craftsman was absolutely able to say no: Olly brought to life multiple office supplies and all of them are ready to attack on sight, but he still went and healed up Timpani, albeit altering her physical appearance permanently due to having to heal her up using Origami Magic. Olly does not take his father being threatened into helping someone well, and barges into Castle of Chaos two weeks later and self-proclaim himself king with the assistance of the office supplies, which he dubs his Legion of Stationery, because of a perceived disrespect toward his family.

He is twelve.

Blumiere- who renamed himself Count Bleck following his father’s death- is understandably outraged, and denounces Olly with the support of his companions. Said companions are: his wife lady Timpani whom he (and most of the kingdom) adores, a small bat-like woman and his spokesperson Nastasia, the strong but dimwitted warrior and champion O’Chunks, the robotic but emotional Mimi who works in banking, and local shit-bastard jester Dimentio. This is due to Bleck being a direct descendant of one of the eight mages that sacrificed themselves, and he’s forced to make a claim to the throne to be taken seriously in trying to stop Olly.

He does not want to take the throne.

So now, there’s a twelve years old and a pissed off count who murdered his father in a blind rage fighting over the throne of the Paper Kingdom, neither of them know what they’re going to do next, and no one is happy about this situation. The instability allows a third party to make an appearance and grab for the throne: The X-Nauts, a race of robotic aliens led by the tyrannical Sir Grodus. Their goal? Resurrect the Shadow Queen and use her power to remake the Paper Kingdom, and eventually the planet, in their image.

The good news is that neither Olly nor Bleck want the X-Nauts to succeed. Bleck because he knows they’re planning on resurrecting the Shadow Queen and he does not want that to happen, and Olly because Grodus’ second in command was mean to Olivia once. This means that they are able to put their difference aside, which means there’s still hope an all-out civil war can be avoided.

Speaking of Olivia, poor girl think her brother went evil and wants to reign over the Paper Kingdom like a tyrant. This is understandable, as he’s a irritable twelve years boy with six killing machine at his command and also starting his emo edge lord phase, and she’s a literal ray of sunshine. As such, Olivia decided to find other people willing to stop Olly, Bleck and Grodus from burning the country to the ground in their squabble, not realizing that, as the leader of this group, she is also making .a claim for the throne.

She is also twelve.

And now, there’s Beldam losing her shit over being turned down and freezing everything into unmoving sheets on the walls. Ironically, this common enemy might just be what’s needed to calm everyone down.

#writing #My writing #mario bros #paper mario #paper mario origami king #paper mario the thousand year door #super paper mario #pmtok #spm #pmttyd #king olly #olivia #count bleck #blumiere #timpani #tippi #dimentio

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spamzineglasgow · 4 years

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(ESSAY) “One hasn’t caught a poem” – joining Alice Notley For the Ride, by Colin Herd

In this essay, Colin Herd writes from the side of dogs and car alarms and the everyday detritus of living in these ‘soupy’ times, where language draws us endlessly towards the possibility and withholding of more knowledge, more prediction, more answers and meaning. Exploring the rich, knotty and exhilarating poetics of Alice Notley’s recent book For the Ride (Penguin, 2020), Herd takes us on a jaunt through the ‘imaginative space of non-being’, zooming through windows and many portals of a rippling language, leading us into the shapeshifting realm of love, rebellion, tyranny, repeat and willowing new forms of (un)knowing.

“mebbe we’re just birds, orphic ones means, articuli of the blank” (92)

> This is an aside before I’ve even started but in my neighbourhood dogs are barking all the freaking time right now. Maybe it’s always like this and I just don’t notice because I’m usually at work during the day, or maybe it’s that they realise that stuff is screwed and weird right now… but wow… all these dogs wildly poeticise all day all night every day/night. Plus car alarms and house alarms which are of course dog-poets too as everyone knows, attuned to bewilderment as much as the next being.

> When things are trippy and scary, why not read something that’s even more so? And in the current Covid-19 crisis, I’ve been drawn to reading those poems that demonstrate an uncanny ability to know more always, to predict, to bring things into being, to foreshadow and foretell. I’ve been reading works that disrupt and destabilise, not to provide comfort in the disruption and instabilities of the present moment but to find ways of thinking disruptedly and divergently. One of those texts, a kind of prototext for that kind of thinking, is ‘On Notbeing’, one of those great lost works of presocratic philosophy that reminds us the best things in life are partial, basically unknowable & fragmented. In what we have available of ‘On Notbeing’, the poet-critic Gorgias zones out into the following elusive statements in a shadow-text, unpicking Parmenides’ ‘On Being’:

“Nothing exists; Even if something exists, nothing can be known about it; and even if something can be known about it, knowledge about it can't be communicated to others. Even if it can be communicated, it cannot be understood.”

As Barbara Cassin puts it, these statements “knot together” being and saying – existence and language – constructing politics and society in poeisis; but it isn’t just being and saying that are linked, it’s also being and non-being. Gorgias constructs the “city as an ongoing creation of language” by thinking logically through to a point where it’s impossible to imagine any stable “being”, that isn’t artificially constructed in the soupy language through which we experience it. Gorgias is on the side of the dogs and car alarms signalling their objection to any stable objective being, the “articuli of the blank”: sheer barking poetic insistence. It’s almost time for us to clap again.

> This imaginative space of non-being, this thinking-through of what it would be like not to exist, is exactly the space that Alice Notley’s new book For the Ride takes the reader, carefully lowering us down like a figure being dropped from a great height into a game, but the game is what feels like a live unfolding Zoom transcript of ghost-Gorgias-as-babysitter-to-zoom-bombing-baby-ghost-Derridas caught in self-isolation with endless versions of themselves. And Gorgias seems to be asking how many Zoom windows it is possible to open up at once to short-circuit the tech. And how exhilarating is this poem which takes poetry to breaking point! It’s a roughshod exploration of languages rippling and ripening around the questions: what might language be like if humans don’t exist? What worlds would language create if we weren’t around to limit, define them? Is posthuman talking / narrativizing / language possible?

> The actual agon / arena for these questions in For the Ride is “the glyph of chaos with willows”:

Oh but One’s not in time, what’s One in? Chaos, beautiful chaos – But, too, One’s in glyph and it’s hard; learning a new way to go, that is, Talk? proceeding on through… oh this might be round, rounded. (1)

Notley’s poem creates spaces for us to imagine coming-to language. It’s a plant-like willowy coming-to language: “There are transversals, blurry poles—no they are lines” (1). The speaking here is plant-like in the way that Cassin reminds us Aristotle categorieses poets, those who speak nonsense: “Strage plants really, since like animals they make sounds with their mouths. Homoios phutoi, you are like a plant if you speak without meaning” (68). Notley’s text grows, abundantly. And reproduces almost magically – little branches of language falling – even upside down – and generating new growth. Notley’s is a coming-to language that might open up alternative spaces for being that don’t require us to situate ourselves and our egos in the same ways we’re accustomed to. Or, as it’s exquisitely put elsewhere: ”No way to evolve without pre-existence, assholes!”

> Oh just absorb us all with poetry like that! What else is poetry for but to swallow us up and then expel us somewhere we could never have been. This is a disorienting book, spinning the reader into all these different rooms of language, orienting us around characters – One, Wideset, France, Shaker etc – characters that are also spatial. In Queer Phenomenology: Orientations, Objects, Others, Sara Ahmed asks “How is it possible, with all that is possible, that the same form is repeated again and again? How does the openness of the future get closed down into so little in the present?” Notley’s poem lets us glimpse “the openness of the future”:

By changing this here langue. Whut evir’s done’s now diffirint words to. (117)

Yes it will come to you, is already maybe seeping into. It’s like you do and more. No vocal cords? All’s a big vocal cord. (104)

And Notley’s poetry takes new shapes: calligrams of coyotes, arks, stars, bodies. This is such shaky & jittery poetry, more beautiful than I can swallow, such ground-shaking, tremulous, trembling, aquiver poetry. This is love poetry. Of course it’s fucking love poetry!... “loving it the langue” (48) … it’s love poetry because of the love that courses through every weird-ass overflowing sentence, “Step into this poem-scene, O one!” (105) It’s a love poem because it is so seeped in pleasure and because it rattles us in the s&m cords of its vocalities.

> Gorgias and Notley are scary and chilling and thrilling because they think past kill-joy-ing and administrations of bureaucratic humanity to glyphic hauntology, logocentricity, to language, to “someghost of langue” (102). Would language exist if humans weren’t around to think they made its rules up and got to police it? Maybe it would, maybe language branches would do their willow-thing. This is a poem that you want to bathe in – by cutting it out line by line and mulching them or something and wearing it around town like a mummy in a world you don’t exist in any more.

> This feeling isn’t that unfamiliar to those who are already in love with all the things a word can do when Alice Notley’s driving. And when I say driving I mean writing the most spooky, epic, eery poetry everwritten. The poet who takes us to places like this:

Where we except for those in charge are drained from giving ourselves to each other until there’s nothing left. (In the Pines)

You, dreaming about crazies, fearful of becoming one. What if your yellow enraged aspect gets activated again, screaming out your anger in a world that’s bizarre enough to have invented it. (Culture of One)

I thought of words breaking open in the mouth but also as jewels of old sexless poets, of the dead dessicated except for those emeralds or topazes I still get a thrill when I say, emeralds and topazes. (Mysteries of Small Houses)

No world is intact and no one cares about you.

I leaned down over don’t care about, I care about you I leaned down over the

world in portrayal of carefulness, answering

something you couldn’t say. (Songs and Stories of the Ghouls)

Anything that comes into my mouth is what I say. From where? I scream for you what you don’t dare know. Saying I’ll know it for you even though you don’t want me to (Negativity’s kiss)

“shifted” “& changed” “to spell Poverty” “instead of Presence” “He didn’t need” “to ride the train” “He’d made us poor” “in an instant” “They walk by” “& make you poor” “They look at you & make you poor” “Surreptitiously I began” “to remove my” “bits of jewelry” “my earrings” (The Descent of Alette)

as warriors take position thousands of them as leaves and flowers appear in their season hearts burning to break them singers without memory (Alice ordered me to be made)

Why does poetry that makes you want to ball your eyes out make you want to ball your eyes out?

> Alice Notley’s poetics always feels like what she wrote about in ‘The Poetics of Disobedience’ as “an immense act of rebellion against dominant social forces”, because her books are always so attuned to what those dominant social forces do and how they operate to delimit and reproduce the same-old same-old with all its deep political inadequacies. For the Ride feels like as well as pointing to dominant social forces also posits ways to imagine ourselves outside of them, even within the language-worlds of poems. In an interview with Shoshana Olidort in 2016 in the LA Review of Books, Alice Notley said:

“In The Descent of Alette, the tyrant is us. The tyrant is what enslaves us to our forms. The tyrant is the form of our life, the form of our politics, the form of our universities, the form of our knowledge, our thinking we know something. All of that is the tyrant. The tyrant is a liberal. The tyrant isn’t Trump. He can be part of it, but this tyrant is an extremely accomplished man who can do anything. Alette’s about the liberation of women, but it’s also about the liberation of everyone. If you keep half of humankind down, then everybody is oppressed.”

Can poetry actually be the willowlike language that grows all around and over the tyrant? Tonight (after a day of running classes and conducting meetings and participating in discussions) I joined my street clapping NHS workers. And in doing so I did the same thing that Boris Johnson is doing in Chequers. And all these weird Military-Parade like things just suddenly got started around the ritual. Police etc joined in with their gruesome show of “we got this”. I got an email from a new friend recently: “why is Britain so in love with the second world war”. This act of clapping - I should have just made car alarm noises and barking noises and so on. Or beeping noises. Or whatever noises my grandmother is making in her carehome right now where she’s not at all well. I’ll just do barking noises. Reading those statements, “the form of our politics, the form of our universities, the form of our knowledge, our thinking we can know something” basically makes me want to cry, which I know is soppy. We need to change all of these things but not in the ways that are being posited in this new Zoom Hell we’re careering towards. This by the way is also what the sophists, including Gorgias, were up to: destabilising all the certainties when we think we know things so as to suggest alternative forms of knowing and unknowing.

> Famously, Frank O’Hara poem-berated Marino Marini for not picking the rider as carefully as the horse. In this book Alice Notley suggests maybe they both got it mixed up and it’s the ride we should all be hung up on: “O ride it! Whut’s writin? Usin tentacle wavelets to scrawl these”. Maybe it’s whatever that ride is that might enable us to find willow forms of our knowledge, willow universities, willow forms of our thinking we know something. It’s not a horse we’re being asked to ride though but a ton of floating signifiers, floating poems within the poem-scene. And a harness would be a hindrance.

Cassin, Barbara, Jacques the Sophist: Lacan, Logos and Psychoanalysis (Fordham University Press, 2012)

Cassin, Barbara, Sophistical Practice: Towards a Consistent Relativism (Fordham University Press, 2014)

Dillon, John, The Greek Sophists (Penguin, 2003)

Notley, Alice, For the Ride (Penguin Poets, 2019)

Notley, Alice, Songs and Stories of the Ghouls (Wesleyan, 2011)

Notley, Alice, Negativity’s Kiss (Purh, 2014)

Notley, Alice, Alice ordered me to be made (Yellow Press, 1975)

Notley Alice, Descent of Alette (Penguin Poets, 1992)

Notley, Alice, Mysteries of Small Houses (Penguin Poets, 1998)

Notley, Alice, Culture of One (Penguin Poets, 2011)

Notley, Alice, In the Pines (Penguin Poets, 2007)

Notley, Alice, ‘The Poetics Of Disobedience’ | Poetry Foundation: <https://www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/69479/the-poetics-of-disobedience> (2010)

Olidort, Shoshana, ‘Between The Living And The Dead: An Interview With Alice Notley’ - Los Angeles Review Of Books <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/between-the-living-and-the-dead-an-interview-with-alice-notley/> (2016)

For the Ride is out now and available to purchase via Penguin Random House.

Text: Colin Herd

Published: 24/4/20

#poetry #essay #essays #poetry essay #Colin Herd #Alice Notley

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