Sunday 23 August 2015

Kathleen Fraser

Kathleen Fraser grew up in Oklahoma, Colorado, and California and received a degree in English Literature from Occidental College (California) in 1959. She was a Full Professor of Writing at San Francisco State University and the director of its Poetry Centre for several years before deciding to dedicate herself to writing full-time. From 1983 to 1991 she also published and edited the journal HOW(ever), which was devoted to innovative and experimental writing by women.

Fraser has published more than 15 books, including several mixed-genre collections. Her honours and awards include the New School’s Frank O’Hara Poetry Prize and the American Academy’s Discovery Award, as well as a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Fraser splits her time between San Francisco and Rome.


Links:
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/kathleen-fraser
http://epc.buffalo.edu/authors/fraser/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Fraser


My below poem is inspired by the last line of Fraser’s “re:searches”: “this / language we come up against” and develops the idea of the cosmetics industry’s linguistic influence on women in a kind of Dada play.


~ - ~

The Story of Vera & Rose in 3 Acts
Or: This Language We Come Up Against (after Kathleen Fraser)

Act I
Active Nature, two women; the Bottle.

NATURE:
feel the damage essence ends shine scalp deep
required condition hence: feel deep
scars & skin & scalp

WOMEN [in chorus]:
for to adorn us
and our formulated hair looking
feel with skin revitalised of e
[aside]:
enriched oil replenishing for moisture surely?

THE BOTTLE:
smooth skin – of course, and daily!

WOMEN:
moisture, you apply with youthful healthy for enriched often
[exit NATURE]
your formulated look formation blend feels smooth


Act II
Vera with hair into appearance only. 

VERA:
help to look healthy and smooth
indulgent and …

THE BOTTLE:
and shine?

VERA:
feel restored and enriched revitalised for moisturisers
my hair to hair and hair hair skin

THE BOTTLE:
dry creamy smoothness
strokably yours certainly.

VERA [excitedly]:
the oily silky richly natural strokability?

THE BOTTLE:
create the natural healthy clean, Vera
easily

VERA:
glory tightness!
glory strokability!


Act III
Damaged Rose

ROSE:
tightness daily and smoothness
you’re your smoothness

VERA:
smoothness
frizzy nails  and hair and feels too long

THE BOTTLE:
Is it nature?
add strength to your frizzy body
add feel soft shiny & smooth moisturisation too

ROSE:
hair advanced your feel
what fresh nature often moisturise

VERA:
the blissful down?
smooth sensation!

ROSE:
look if…

THE BOTTLE:
glory daily!
hair and formation
hair youthful
hair glory
smoothness anti-evaporation strokability

VERA :
frizzy replenished too

ROSE :
feel with damaged gorgeously
help down hair
or split massage with essence

WOMEN [in chorus]:
smooth if any
or not
to feel.

[Exeunt]




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