while the energy of words are difficult to measure, I do find myself drawn toward the fast-paced, high energy performances of Miles Champion, Rod Smith, and most of all Tom Raworth. I just ordered Tom Raworth's collected poems. I am excited to read it from cover to cover.
I am wondering about speed and energy (i.e. Dada). Do any words read quickly transmit the same energy? I am inclinded to believe the words do matter. Not just in terms of sound but also in terms of image and diction. Bruce Andrews is amazing when sound, diction, and image come together (the intellect comes later for me). Dada strikes me as the movement with a lot of untapped potential (including its built-in self-destruction mechanism). Surrealism was quickly assimilated and dispersed (I wonder if the same will happen with Language Writing). But as Mark Wallace has noted we have a multiplicity of forms (and influences).
I love high energy sound based performances. Yet, I am also drawn to the image as idea (imagism, objectivism etc.)
I feel most inspired by sound coupled with vision (in all senses of the word).
Olsen's energy transference is mind blowing in the Maximus poems (kill kill kill).
I am also feeling more and more that postmodernism is an innacurate term. I don't think we're done with Modernism in the least!
By the way, Jacket's special issue on Tom Raworth is superb. Check it out:
Tom Raworth