for Raymond Chandler & M.G. Escher
I have begun to write a novel.
Self-preservation. The room
is so cold I am in danger
of turning to ice. Already words
have frozen on my tongue,
thoughts have frozen
to my fingers. In the last
patch of brain still fluid
I see a novel as the most expedient
way of getting the blood running
again. It will be a crime novel
but not a police procedural or
psychological thriller. More
of a gangster melodrama. I am
a lazy writer; & the introduction
of a new character to maintain the flow
strikes me as being a far easier
task than striving to find some
perfect piece of descriptive
imagery. Just have someone
appear from behind a door
or out from the stand of trees on the
far side of the park. Toss a coin
for their being male or female,
young or old, holding or not holding
a gun — the choice is always
dichotomous. Now the room
is finally warming up. The novel
starts off: I have begun to
write a poem. The poem begins:
I have begun to write a novel.
Mark Young was born in Aotearoa / New Zealand but now lives in a small town in North Queensland in Australia. He has been publishing poetry for over sixty-five years, & is the author of around eighty books, primarily text poetry but also including speculative fiction, vispo, non-fiction, art history, & an artist’s book. His most recent books are Balance, from Neo-Mimeo Editions, & From the Cave’s jukebox, from Sandy Press. A new book, synecdoche, is due out from Sandy Press in mid-April. Mark can also be found in petrichor seven.
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