THIS, THEN, IS THE GENERAL LINE-UP ON THE BUSINESS OF HER WRITING AS FAR AS I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO ANALYZE IT (Or: Fitzgerald Writes Zelda’s Psychiatrist)
(listen to the poem, read by the author)
As to her writing: there is no
longer any competitive element involved.
— romping in — disguising her
— tearing
— desisted.
— into art —
essentially inefficient — assume
to be
in the past.
— She can write
— she can’t take it. She can’t stand
criticism; she hasn’t the patience to revise; she has no —
feet — getting up — a
— bridge — nevertheless, she can write.
— with the realism of having
to write her stuff
to sell —
Also, — the failure of her dancing — has — seen
— the human machine, lying dormant —
the American vulgar
— arts: that they are something
that people do —
— she is incapable of ”taking” herself.
— clings to — a
dirty — period of time
when enthusiasm — flowers —
her verbal facility — not being hampered in — mine,
the possible
great
success,
who knows?
— the nervous strain of the work itself —
recapitulating — inefficient — perfect,
which kills most of what she writes,
and the melancholia — of
— critics — or whoever is most intimately
in contact with her.
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About the Author
Elizabeth Hassler (she/her) is a white femme poet and organizer based in Arcata, CA on Wiyot land who writes about being and longing. She hosts Disability Creativity Workshop. Her friends are really great!