OF 'TURNING AWAY FROM THE WORLD'
In Memory, 'hermetic' French poet Stephane
Mallarmé (1842-1898)
"Turning Away From The World," as the proverbial & usually quite
pejoratively-applied
saying goes
May in fact just mean, simply doing things indoors a lot!
--Passing time among objects which are familiar, for example
Such as carefully chosen furniture which one has grown ever so fond of;
Books which one takes pleasure in reading & re-reading, over & over
again
Drowsily, among nostalgic photos of l960's rock-stars in ornately cherishing
frames,
--With a tremendous stack of recent videotapes & audiotapes & CD's
temporarily piled up on top of the laptop one
uses nightly for Web-Surfing
& chatting with friends from all over the
world in chatrooms which one's built
Practically falling off the nightstand beside one's bedside & onto the
goddamned floor!
'Of 'Turning Away From The
World,' a not entirely wistfully nostalgic poem evoking the
pleasures of the private life & 'being at home'
& 'centering' & all that, is also about gaining renewed strength
from forward-looking technology.
An earlier version this short poem about aging was published in
Agni in l994, © l994 by Michael Benedikt.
Webversion © 2003 Michael Benedikt.
Top
A Bon Mot from Mallarmé:
"Only Beauty really exists--and it has only
one perfect expression: Poetry.
Everything else which exists is a lie--except for people whom one
encounters who are living by the body & in accord with love;
or in tune with that love derived from the mind called
friendship."
FORTHCOMING IN '06: OTHER SELECTIONS FROM OF:
Home Page of 'The Thesaurus & Other New
Verse'
[With more detailed info. on Other Benedikt Sites than is given by
links at the bottom of this page. HPage also has info re Translation
Sites]
Dear
Ideas & Cherished Philosophies
The
Thesaurus; Or, From A Childhood
Rita
& Ringo
Right In The Middle Of Everything
Folonari Red Wine
Time Is A Toy
Of
Panty-Lines That Show
Of Granny Smith's Green Apples
Of
Sexual Style
Einstein
New-in-'05
'A
Professor Of Practicality'
New-in-'04
'Your
Life Is Your Own Life'
O T H E R B E N E D I K T - R E L A T E D S I T E S
ABOUT CONTEMPORARY US POET BENEDIKT
'The
Compleat Michael Benedikt: Poet Laureate of the Net'
. Article at About.com re Background of Benedikt Websites.
(posted by About.com 4/99)
Michael Benedikt--Pages
at Academy of American Poets.
Includes a complete bio. & a poem from 4 of Benedikt's 5 poetry
books
(posted by Academy 5/99)
B R I E
F G U I D E TO B E N E D I K T
M I N I-W E B
SITES
Prose Poems & Microfictions from Night Cries. With London Times Literary Supplement Book Review.
Poems from Boston and Cambridge. From Transitions--a collection of narrative poems in progress
MINI-SITES
OTHER POEMS FROM OF:
About
living alone & liking it, 'Of Living Alone But Not Brooding Too Much
About It'
About
growing up siblingless on a siblingless planet, 'Of An Only Child's
World'
Poem-in-progress
on a sci-fi theme,'Of Orson Welles Remarkable l938 Radio Program War
Of The Worlds'
About a
free-spirited Moscow theater/dance company in repressive times, 'Of The
Taganka Troupe in Soviet Russia, l957'
(Above poem states at its conclusion, one of
Of:'s central themes)
Thermopylae,
E-Zine--'Of Debauchery'
(Also Interview on 'Literature, Technology & The Web' in
'Writers
Talk About 2000' series)
.POEMS FROM TRANSITIONS
With 'The Kapos,' from cycle of 3 poems-in-progress about impact of
World War II on civilians, 'The Takings'
About
some of USA's too-often-overlooked l9th-Cent. female erotic pioneers,
'American Vibrations'
About uneasy
relationship of private & public fireworks in our times, 'The 4th
of July: NY & NJ & Laura & Me'
MISC. RE OF:
In Paris Review #151, Summer '99:
'Prof. Albert Einstein Allegedly Commits A Crime; & Of The Difficulty
of Finding A Jury Of His Peers'
In Lips #22/23, published at turn-of-year '00/'01:
'Your Life Is Your Own Life (Variations On A Theme by James Wright)'
New In Washington Square
Review #1, published at turn-of-year '01/'02
'Of Turning Over a New Leaf In The Book Of Life'
Top of Brief Guide to Benedikt Mini-Web
