Short Talk on Trout

Author(s): Anne Carson

Source: BOMB, No. 20 (Summer, 1987), p. 76
Published by: New Art Publications
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40422764 .
Accessed: 17/05/2011 17:56

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless
you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you
may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.

Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at .
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=nap. .

Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed
page of such transmission.

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

New Art Publications is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to BOMB.

http://www.jstor.org
Anne
Carson

TalkOnChromo-luminarism
Short TalkonVicuñas
Short
Sunlight slowsdownEuropeans.Look at allthose A mythicalanimal,thevicuñafareswell
spellbound peopleinSeurat.Look atMonsieur, inthevolcanicregionsofnorthernPeru.
sitting deeply.Wheredoesa Europeango whenhe Lightthundersdown on it,likeMilton
is 'lostinthought'? Seurathaspaintedthat athisdaughters.Hearthat? - they
place- theolddazzler!It tieson theother arecounting undertheirbreath.
sideofattention, a longlazyboatridefromhere. Thinkaboutstyleoflifefora
ItisA Sundayrather thanA Saturday afternoon moment. Whenyoutakeup your
there.Seurathasmadethis clear a
by special axe,listen.Hoofbeats.Wind.
method."Ma méthode," he calledit,rathertestily, Itistheywhomakeus athome
whenwe askedhim.He caughtushurrying through here,nottheotherwayaround.
thechillgreenshadowslikeadulterers. The
riverwasopeningandclosingitsstonelips.
Theriverwaspressing Seurattoitslips.
TalkonTrout
Short
TalkonGeisha
Short
In haikutherearevarioussortsofexpressions
abouttrout- "autumn
trout"and"rusty
trout"and"descending
trout"aresomeI haveheard.
Thequestionofgeishaandsexhasalwaysbeencomplex. "Descending trout"and"rustytrout"aretrout
Somedo, somedon't.In fact,as youknow,thefirst thathavelaidtheireggs.Wornout,completely
geishaweremen(jestersanddrummers). Theirrisky exhausted,theyaregoingdowntothesea. Of
pattermade the laugh.
guests But by 1780 'geisha' coursetherewereoccasionallytroutthatspent
meantwomanandtheglamorous businessofthetea thewinterindeeppools.Thesewerecalled
houseshadbeenbrought undergovernment control. "remaining trout".
Somegeishawereartists andcalledthemselves
'white'.Otherswithnicknames like'cat'and
'tumbler'setup shackseverynighton thewide
riverbed,tovanishbydawn.Theimportant
was,someonetoyearnfor.Whether the
ofPerspective
TalkonTheRules
Short
thing
was
quilt or
long, thenightwas toolong, or A badtrick.Ghastly mistake.Downright
youweregiventhisplacetosleeporthat These
dishonesty. are theviews01Braque.
placetosleep,someonetowaitforuntil Why?Braquerejectedperspective. Why?
sheiscomingalongandthegrassisstirring, Someonewhospendshislifedrawing profiles
a tomatoinherpalm. willendup believingthatmanhasoneeye,
Braquefelt.Braquewantedtotakefull
ofobjects.He hassaidas much
possession
Short andMinor
TalkonMajor inpubishedinterviews.
shinyplanesof the
Watching
landscape
thesmall
recedeoutof
hisgraspfilledBraquewithloss.So he
Majorthings arewind,evil,a goodfighting horse, smashedthem."Naturemorte,"saidBraque.
inexhaustible
prepositions, the
love, waypeople
choosetheirking.Minorthings includedirt,
thenamesofschoolsofphilosophy, moodand
nothavinga mood,thecorrect
aremoretnajorthings
time.There
thanminorthings
TalkonHomo
Short Sapiens
overall,yetthere are more minorthings manrecorded
WithsmallcutsCro-Magnon
thanI havewritten here, itis
but themoons phaseson thehandlesothis
disheartening them.WhenI
to list aboutheras heworked.
tools,thinking
thinkofyoureadingthisI do not Animals.Horizon.Face ina panof
wantyoutobe takencaptive, water.In everystoryI tellcomes
separatedbya wiremeshlinedwithglass a pointwhereI cansee nofurther.
fromyourlifeitself, likesomeElektra. I hatethatpoint.It iswhythey
blind
callstorytellers - a taunt.

AnneCarsonis anexpatriate
(Canadian) ofClassicsatPrinceton
professor and
University
of£rostheBittersweet:
author AnEssay(Princeton Press)
University as well
as various
(inGrand
poetry Review
TheQuarterly
Street, ofLiterature,
North Dakota
She
others).
Quarterly, is a
presentlyRockefeller in
Scholar Residenceatthe92ndSt.Y in
NewYork City.

76