The Long and Short of It (Part 2)

PART 1 OF THIS SERIES IS HERE. 

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Yesterday I began a series of posts on short poems. My investigation began after reading Helen Vendler’s analysis of Dickinson’s “In the name of the Bee,” three lines thought by early editors to be too short to be a poem. In her commentary, Vendler wrote, “such a short poem raises the question of what counts as a poem at all.”  Thus began my investigation into short poems, and wait until you see what I have to share today, a poem of which the Poetry Foundation writes, “it’s said to be one of the shortest published poems in the world.”

Are you ready for this?  

**drum roll** (albeit a very brief one  – if not a rim shot)

The poem which, for a time, the Guinness Book of World Records listed as the shortest poem ever written is “m” by Aram Saroyan.  The poem is depicted below:

The Poetry Foundation’s discussion of the poem posted by Tom Snarsky states this:

When you look at this poem, what do you see? Before you read further, take a moment and really look at it...Study it as closely as you can. Try not to worry too much about the expectations or associations that might come with calling this piece a 'poem' and give yourself a moment just to reckon with what your eye actually takes in. What do you notice? What do you wonder?

Let me pause for a moment while you gaze at "m."

“Looking at a poem in this way, rather than reading it, may seem strange,” states Snarsky  “This process, though, is part of Saroyan’s intention for an ‘instant’ poem like ‘m.’”

Sooo…what do you think?

**sigh** I’m not one who’s quick to criticize another’s creativity, but “m” as a poem?  I’m just not puttin’ gravy on what they’re servin'.

Snarsky's article continues:

“This kind of seeing invites the reader to be a creative viewer, and to engage in the poem as an equal participant with the writer. ‘m’ does not make sense in the same way a sentence does, or even a single word, but it still admits many different ways of being seen.”

Let’s me repeat that, but this time with a few of the words changed:

“This kind of seeing invites the OBSERVER to be a creative viewer, and to engage in the IMAGE as an equal participant with the ARTIST. ‘m’ does not make sense in the same way a sentence does, or even a single word, but it still admits many different ways of being seen.”

To me, Saroayan’s “m” is more a work of visual art (albeit, an amateurish one) than poem.  To be honest, most of what is written on the Poetry Foundation’s site about “m” suggests the same thing – even their recommendation to consider the negative space.  

The PF site even includes this quote from Sayoran himself: 

“It doesn’t have a reading process [...] Even a five-word poem has a beginning, middle, and end. A one-word poem doesn’t. You can see it all at once.”

Let me let that sink in: “It doesn’t have a reading process.”  Let me say that a bit louder for the people in the back  “IT DOESN’T HAVE A READING PROCESS.”

If it doesn’t have a reading process, then….  Well, let me move on.

I also spied on the Foundation’s site that their source for “m” was Saroyan’s “Complete Minimal Poems” from Ugly Duckling Press.  You know I looked it up.  First, the book is out of stock.  Hmm…I wonder how many copies were sold?  Second, there is a link on which to “read” an excerpt – and of course I clicked on that too.  The one and only excerpt?  “Lobstee.” (Pictured below.) I’m not making this up. Third, even UdP’s website includes this testimonial:  "Anyone interested in art made from words should have it."   Did you pick up on the fact that it said “ART”...not poetry? 

​(Click on the images below to enlarge.)

The endorsement quoted above (about those interested in art) was furnished by none other than Richard Hell, which begged the question, “Who the hell is Richard Hell?” – and why did that name sound so familiar to me? OMG – I’ll get to that tomorrow – and wait until you hear!  I almost fell out of my chair.

Anyway, according to the Poetry Foundation, Hell collaborated with artist Christopher Wool on a book of image-texts called Psychopts. Sample pages from Psychopts were available via a link I found -- I've posted some below -- and I have to say, most of them seemed a bit juvenile.  LOL – I used to be a middle-school principal, so I’m an expert at puerile art.

​(Cick the images below to enlarge.)

Okay, let me pause here for now, but I have many loose ends to tie up tomorrow:

1. I have a funny “lobstee” …er, “lobster” story.
2. I will reveal "two degrees of separation" between Richard Hell and me.
3. I will follow up on this  If “m” is said to be “one of the shortest published poems in the world,” what other poems are just as short?  Or shorter?
4. I'll post more (and better) examples of word art.

I’ll close today’s post with the Poetry Foundation commentator Tom Snarsky’s inventory of “things I see in this poem” regarding Saroyan’s “m” (below on the left) -- along with my comments (on the right):

Following his inventory, Snarsky states, "The above list is just a jumping-off point. You may have seen something completely different in the piece. When you look at 'm,' what do you see?"

There is one more thing.  I'll include that with my list of loose ends tomorrow.