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