Been thinking about ego. About an ego hiding behind an ego. About how the folks at the various Zen centers of America have said that people who practice a lot of Zen have STRONGER PERSONALITY not less via meditation. And thinking of Philip Whalen who certainly had a lot of personality. A lot of ump. And he was a Zen priest. And a great poet.
Here in the UK self promotion (direct self promotion) is very frowned on. Indirect/passive self promotion is better. At least from what I have seen.
No one should push their books. Their products. It should just happen. Magically.
The magic is indirect ego boosting via being in the right circles.
Maybe it is the same in the U.S. sometimes as well.
What the hell is self promotion anyway?
Promotion of the self. HA! What a funny concept.
What self? What is being? What is being promoted?
Are poets supposed to act like they don't have an ego?
Flarf poetry has ego. It has ego and blows it up so big it pops and everyone dances in the popped ego.
Popped= Pooped. Maybe.
Conceptual poetry has ego but it's hidden. It's a hidden ego. It's the ego of cleverness. But not always. Sometimes it is also moving into less ego via chance methods. See one mr John Cage.
Ego reminds me Eggo. Which was something that came out of the toaster. I had one when I first arrived in America at age 12. It was an Eggo and then a K-Mart hamburger soon followed. Or maybe it was an Eggo then Hamburger Helper in our trailer park home.
Ego. Ego. Ergo. Celebrity culture. Agh! How do we escape our ego?
I remember when I first started blogging back in 2003 or so. There was a debate among some poets about blogging and narcissism And ego. Ego. How dare a poet blog. Poets shouldn't be narcissists. Put away your ego. Letgo of my EGGO!
I think of Whalen again. I think of expansive poetics. I think of getting out of the way (at least during the writing). I think of Whalen's light touch and massive personality. And I wonder how personality relates to ego.
How person relates to ego. How mask relates to ego.
Then I read this poem. This poem over at Octopus. By Jason Koo.
We escape our EGO via giant steps. Not baby steps. GIANT STEPS. Coltrane had giant steps. Blow harder. Blow longer. Blowhard people!
We are all made to BLOW! I wanna blow so hard I pop!
Labels: ego and poetry, Giant steps, giant steps by Jason Koo, Jason Koo, Octopus magazine
