“This ocean, humiliating in its disguises” by Jack Spicer
"This ocean, humiliating in its disguises"
Jack SpicerThis ocean, humiliating in its disguises
Tougher than anything.
No one listens to poetry. The ocean
Does not mean to be listened to. A drop
Or crash of water. It means
Nothing.
It
Is bread and butter
Pepper and salt. The death
That young men hope for. Aimlessly
It pounds the shore. White and aimless signals. No
One listens to poetry.
MARGINALIA
Thank you, Jack.
ABOUT JACK SPICER
Jack Spicer was born in Los Angeles, California in 1925 to Midwestern parents and raised in a Calvinist home. Although known primarily among a coterie of poets in the San Francisco Bay Area at the time of his death in 1965, over time, Jack Spicer has become a towering figure in American poetry. His numerous poetry collections include the posthumously published The Collected Books of Jack Spicer, edited by Robin Blaser (1975), A Book of Music (1969), The Holy Grail, (1964)… (more)
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