Jerome Rothenberg in Albany

POETRY READING

by

Jerome Rothenberg

on
Wednesday 11 October ,
at
7:30 p.m.
in
the UAG Gallery
247 Lark Street
Albany, NY

***

The Hat Shall Be Passed.
The Contents Thereof Shall Be Passed On To The Reader.

*****

To whet your appetite, a recent poem by Jerome Rothenberg:

The Poet at Chin’s Mausoleum

1
he loves to watch
images of power
more than images
of love but knows
that both are momentary,
mindless
knows what he sees
& hears
not what he says

2
Mao is a copy of Chin
our friend says

– he with black beard
& flowing hair –

the return of privilege,
while the poor fall back

3
the more they eat
the more they feel the need
to go on eating

NOTE. Chin’s (or Qin’s) mausoleum is the center around which the ceramic armies at Xian were buried (& many living workers besides), & “the field of tombs” is close to Dunhuang & Yang Pass, which Pound mentions as the Gate of Go, & Wang Wei before that: “west of Yang Pass there will be no friends.”

Reprinted from forthcoming China Notes and The Treasures of Dunhuang (Ahadada Books, Toronto and Tokyo). Written on a visit to China, 2002.