Exstatic Almanac

117 Pages·1997·3.2 MB·English

by  AWOL Love Vibe

Exstatic
Almanac
This page intentionally left blank
Exstatic
ALManac
a bOOK OF daze
AWOL LOVE VibE
ALEX FErgusON
KEdricK jaMEs
JOKN SObOL
INSOMNIAC PRESS
Copyright © 1997 Alex Ferguson, Kedrick James
& John Sobol
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may
be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, without
the prior written permission of the publisher or, in
case of photocopying or other reprographic copy-
ing, a licence from CANCOPY (Canadian
Copyright Licensing Agency), 6 Adelaide St. E.,
Suite 900, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5C 1H6.
Edited by Mike O'Connor
Copy edited by Lloyd Davis & Liz Thorpe
Designed by Mike O'Connor
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Sobol, John
Exstatic almanac: a book of daze
Poems.
ISBN 1-895837-13-8 without CD
ISBN 1-895837-11-1 with CD
I. Ferguson, Alex. II. James, Kedrick. III. Title.
PS8587.O34E97 1997 811'.54 C97-931374-0
PR9199.3.S566E97 1997
The publisher gratefully acknowledges the support
of the Ontario Arts Council.
Printed and bound in Canada
Insomniac Press
378 Delaware Ave.
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M6H 2T8
EXSfatic AcKNOWLEdqEIYlENtS
Many people have supported us over the years. You
know who you are. We thank you all. In particular
Denise Britt and Trent Hignell, co-owners of the
fabulous Black Sheep Bookstore in Vancouver,
were gracious hosts during our several days of
improvising this almanac. Jerome Rothenberg was
also helpful in steering us towards a definition of
our almanac, as well as having been a source of
inspiration for years. Paul Dutton's oral erudition
and energy were welcome catalysts. Becky Cohen's
photographic skills were a generous resource. Tom
Raworth, who seems always to be coming or going,
offered friendly encouragement. Coat Cooke
shared with us his fine pate and its potent contents
during the recording of our CD. Shael at Beatty
Lane Studios gave us great groove for our bucks.
Autonomedia's Calendar of Jubilee Saints (Radical
Heroes for the Millennium) was a valuable tool.
Several dubious librarians at Vancouver Central
Library also helped us with research. Finally, we
thank the original insomniac Mike O'Connor for
having commissioned this adventure. And the beat
goes on. And on. And on. You know who you are...
Last but not least Alex wishes to thank: Suzanne
Hawkes for 13 years of moral support and an envi-
ronmental perspective.
And John thanks: Annie, whose insight and enthu-
siasm keep me focused when I need to be and
laughing when I don't. Thanks love.
POEM AttributiONs
Alex Ferguson:
January: 2, 5, 8,11,14,17, 20, 23, 26, 29
February: 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25, 28
March: 3, 6, 9,12, 15,18, 21, 24, 27, 30
April: 2, 5, 8, 11,14,17,20,23,26,29
May: 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 26, 29
June: 1,4, 7, 10,13, 16, 19,22,25,28
July: 1,4, 7, 9,11,14,17, 20, 23, 26, 29
August: 1,4, 7, 11,14,17,21, 24, 27,30
September: 2, 5, 8, 11,14,17, 20, 23, 26, 29
October: 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 26, 29
November: 1,4, 7,10,13, 16, 19, 22, 25, 28
December: 1,4, 7, 10,13, 16, 19, 21, 24, 27, 30
Kedrick James:
January: 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30
February: 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 26
March: 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31
April: 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30
May: 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18,21,24, 27,30
June: 2, 5, 8,11,14, 17, 20,23,26,29
July: 2, 5, 8, 12,15,18,21,24,27,30
August: 2, 5, 8, 11, 16, 18, 20, 23, 26, 29
September: 1,4, 7, 10,13,16, 19, 22, 25, 28
October: 1, 4, 7,10, 13, 16,19, 22, 25, 28, 31
November: 3, 6, 9,12,15,18, 21, 24, 27, 30
December: 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 22, 25, 28, 31
John Sobol:
January: 1, 4, 7, 10, 13,16,19, 22, 25, 28, 31
February: 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27
March: 2, 5, 8,11, 14,17, 20, 23, 26, 29
April: 1,4, 7, 10, 13,16, 19,22, 25, 28
May: 1,4, 7, 10, 13,16, 19, 22, 25, 28, ;31
June: 3, 6, 9, 12,15, 18,21,24,27,30
July: 3, 6, 10, 13, 16, 19,22,25,28, 31
August: 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31
September: 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30
October: 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27
November: 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 26, 29
December: 2, 5, 8,11,14,17, 20, 23, 26, 29
INtrOductiON - KEdricK JaMEs
It seems ironic, after all these years struggling to
write poetry, that the first full-length book I am hav-
ing published was created in the space of a couple
dozen hours, without writing a single word. For a
member of AWOL this is par for the course. From the
start, my work with AWOL Love Vibe has been
loaded with adventure; both physically, through our
travels (John and I met driving around Banff; Alex
and I met en route to San Francisco for our first group
performance), and aesthetically, through our vows of
orality, our exploration of polyvocality, spontaneous
improvisation, our guerrilla poetics and our constant
"reimagining" of oral possibilities in the poetic realm.
Many of our poetic exercises develop as games.
These are not competitive games to be won, but
games which challenge the verbal and improvisation-
al dexterity of the player. Sometimes we imbue our
work with formalities which give it the seriousness of
sacred rituals.
This Exstatic Almanac was developed more as a rit-
8
ual than a game, though hopefully it resists the temp-
tation to be preponderous. One could say that we
began preparing to invoke the ecstasies of the
Almanac when we first began improvising poems.
However, a more rigorous schedule of preparation
began for me before the Black Sheep improvising
sessions with one month of intentionally induced
ecstasies, so that I might prepare my mind for the
daunting task of 122 consecutive exstatic improvisa-
tions. To this end I experimented with extended
meditation, self-inflicted body piercing, sleep depri-
vation, extreme sexual indulgences and the ingestion
of a variety of drugs, including (for the first time)
Ecstasy itself. The book gave me an excuse for pande-
monium and excess. As Blake would say, "Enough, or
too much!" So goes the poet's cry.
The generative ritual of the Exstatic Almanac was
enacted over several days at Black Sheep Books in
Vancouver. The experience was mostly sober, with a
gradually increasing use of alcohol and marijuana on
my part. By comparison to the preparation events, it
was tame, serious, and endurance oriented. Our chief
objective was to be able to withstand the rigorous
demands of creating so many poems with little other
than the immediate environment to inspire us (the
bookstore, with its plethora of hip titles, was a practi-
cal one indeed!). The numbness and exhaustion
which occurred seemed to happen in waves, and
never to all three of us at once. It seemed that within
the trio, one improviser would be shining and on a
roll, while the other two struggled with image clarity,
making sense, flow and musicality, you know, the
basics of good poetry.
I likened this to birds in their migratory "V" forma-
9
tion, where one cakes the lead and breaks the air and
the others, forming like an arrowhead behind it, casu-
ally follow in the slipstream. When the lead bird tires
out, it drops back in the line and the next takes over.
It is quite natural and sequential, and needs no prior
discussion. So it seemed to be when AWOL was cre-
ating the Almanac. This means that as the days
divided off in their threes, at least one day of any
three was poetically strong at the improvisational
stage. Then began the next phase, which I decided
would best be achieved far from Vancouver where the
poems had been generated.
I transcribed the recording made of my improvisa-
tions in Mexico City, and en route returning to
Vancouver. I had gone down to visit a friend,
Guillermo Gomez-Pena, who wished me to stay for a
large exhibit he was involved in organizing. During
this time I was robbed and had to come back by bus.
This return trip took 100 hours of continuous travel.
Sometimes, my tape recorder next to my ear, the
engine roaring, and the bus snoring, I would hear no
recognizable utterance coming from the little speaker
of my portable cassette tape deck. At those times I
wrote down what I thought I heard. These comple-
ments to the orginal text reflected my Mexican
journey. I kept going deep into the night, my body
experiencing untold agonies from the small hot seats
and the lack of food. Twice I drank beer, and the
transcription process got lost in deranged and deliri-
ous reinvention of the poetry. Luckily I would pass
out quickly, before too many poems suffered this
awful fate.
The transcriptions were handwritten on a bus
under poor lighting and bad road conditions. This