Decreation by Anne Carson
I am not a huge reader of poetry, but for certain poets, I make an exception. I had read a few poets, mostly in Greek, my native language, mainly women, like Kiki Dimoula, Jenny Mastoraki, Katerina Gogou. The works of Robert Frost, John Keats, Constantine Cavafy, and especially, Emily Dickinson always stood out.
Then one day, a few years ago, in a bookshop I picked up a book. It was the Plainwater by Anne Carson. The cover said it was a collection of essays and poetry. I read:
What is life without Aphrodite?
He seems an irrepressible hedonist as he asks his leading question.
I was hooked. Anne Carson is an interesting and unusual poet. Actually, I am not even sure if poet is the correct –or the only word to characterise Anne Carson, as her writing is so unusual in its form. It seems to be very little distinction between poetry and prose but it is exactly this plasticity and freedom in the form that makes Carson’s work so interesting.
A couple of days ago I found –in a box of books – another of Ann Carson’s works, Decreation. Published in 2006 by Jonathan Cape, Decreation is an eccentric literary work where the reader becomes an astonished witness to something abrupt and unsettling but at the same time to something exciting and spiritual.
Decreation is the name of a programme that Simone Weil called for getting the self out of the way. It’s a neologism to which she did not give an exact definition nor a consistent spelling. “To undo the creature in us” is one of the ways she describes its aim.
It’s not always easy to understand what’s is going on in Carson’s work. It’s not easy to talk or to write about her work. When I start reading one of her books, I usually read the whole thing in a night or in a day. I am afraid that if I leave it for the next day, I will lose the connection with the spirit that inhibits her writing. What I most like in Anne Carson’ s poetry is that it is effortless and vivid. It’s deeply personal, characterized by the topics that preoccupy her - antiquity, Euripides, Homer, but also, mysticism, desire and love.
To be a writer is to construct a big, loud, shiny centre of self from which the writing is a given voice and any claim to be intent on annihilating this self while still continuing to write and give voice to writing must involve the writer in some important acts of subterfuge or contradiction.
Perhaps, in the wake of gun-violence incidents in United States and the discussion on the gun control issue, I recommend “Lots of Guns: An Oratorio for Five Voices.” If you know people with different views on the issue of gun control, this poem can be used as an opening dialogue and perhaps jolt them into thinking.
Lots of Guns
An Oratorio for Five Voices.
OPENING GUN DIALOGUE
[all snap flags]
Who are ypu?
A stranger.
Why are you here?
To take your life and stuff it in a box.
You have no right.
My gun gives me the right.
I veto your gun.
Your veto is unreasonable.
Your reason is a mystery.
Your mystery is a way of lying.
This concept is no longer in use.
You mean lying?
The concept of lying, yes, is no longer in use.
What do you do when you want to avoid telling the truth?
I use microwave oven.
How does that work?
Has 600 watts and 5 power levels.
Isn't hard on your gun?
I never put my gun in the microwave – there is no need. Guns do not lie.