-
![[words on HIDER ROSER by BEN MIROV]
*
Ben Mirov’s second full-length book of poetry
contains the words ‘snow’ ‘black’ ‘green’ & ‘wolves’ a lot
he has a preoccupation with dark snowy ‘settings’
he speaks often of ‘Ben Mirov’ (third person)
he has 5 or 6 poem titles w/ ‘Ben Mirov’ in them
the poems themselves usually speak in ‘I’ or ‘you’
the poems make me think Ben Mirov is ‘well-read’
he references other texts & other writers consistently
‘my mind is a calm cool / bowl of shaving cream’
this line reminds me that Ben Mirov is ‘really good’ at speaking of the ‘abstract’ / ‘metaphysical’
in tangible ways
a nice blend between very ‘composed’ & ‘delicate’
& allowing the imagination to push itself wildly
Ben Mirov’s ‘imagination’ seems ‘exceptional’
& although his material often explores similar material
he somehow accomplishes fresh energy throughout the whole book
in fact, I’ve read the book ~ 3 times already
Ben Mirov sent me this book for free
if you ever meet him you will realize that he’s very kind & dryly funny
& honest
like his poems perhaps
& I really enjoy his style of reading
he delivers his often dark // cosmic poems in a deadpan / borderline robotic tone of voice
the result is humorous
he takes me simultaneously into vivid imagination & an almost absurdist sense of humor
Ben Mirov’s ‘speakers’ often say things like
‘I have no idea what I’m doing’
but this ‘not knowing’ often leads to a certain type of ‘innocence’ or ‘Beginner’s Mind’
that views the world like this
‘I feel like I have never seen anything / and I am seeing things for the first time / and this is the first thing I have ever seen’
‘innocence’ may not be the right word
idk
the poems are concerned w/ ‘darkness’
‘nothingness’
‘Loneliness is something more / than nothingness’
they seem to be concerned w/ the spark
the birth of a moment arising from a fertile void
of language arising
he weaves scientific language & the ‘colloquial’
plainspoken
straightforward, brief
‘You will no longer feel like punching yourself in the face twice a day. You will not feel guilty about paying tons of money to attend grad school’
clipped
I love when he has a series of ‘end-stopped’ lines
& then suddenly a sentence enjambs for like 5 or 6 lines
these poems are philosophical & ‘hip’
his work seems to have the rare opportunity to appeal to the ‘academy’ & the ‘alternative culture(s)’
maybe not all his poems will appeal to one or the other
but they have a bluntness, sophistication, & postmodern sensibility // playfulness
that strikes an intriguing balance
here are some of my favorite moments:
‘The water is beautiful and she allows you / to put your arm around her. / Smell her ear, part of a star / that exploded when you were negative / 10, 000 years old’
‘you probably think you’re not alive at all / or that being alive is a button inside you’
‘When I think of our relationship / I think of a magician / with a dove in his pants / or a giraffe that must fall / six feet to be born’
‘I pet a moth as big as a baby’
‘Now open your eyes. / Not those eyes. / The eyes inside you’
‘When you have carried [the eyeball] far enough / give it to the next person you meet. / Or bury it in a pile of shards. / Or smash it on a rock’](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mdjx5paLvt1r1vr5po1_500.png)
[words on HIDER ROSER by BEN MIROV]
*
Ben Mirov’s second full-length book of poetry
contains the words ‘snow’ ‘black’ ‘green’ & ‘wolves’ a lot
he has a preoccupation with dark snowy ‘settings’
he speaks often of ‘Ben Mirov’ (third person)
he has 5 or 6 poem titles w/ ‘Ben Mirov’ in them
the poems themselves usually speak in ‘I’ or ‘you’
the poems make me think Ben Mirov is ‘well-read’
he references other texts & other writers consistently
‘my mind is a calm cool / bowl of shaving cream’
this line reminds me that Ben Mirov is ‘really good’ at speaking of the ‘abstract’ / ‘metaphysical’
in tangible ways
a nice blend between very ‘composed’ & ‘delicate’
& allowing the imagination to push itself wildly
Ben Mirov’s ‘imagination’ seems ‘exceptional’
& although his material often explores similar material
he somehow accomplishes fresh energy throughout the whole book
in fact, I’ve read the book ~ 3 times already
Ben Mirov sent me this book for free
if you ever meet him you will realize that he’s very kind & dryly funny
& honest
like his poems perhaps
& I really enjoy his style of reading
he delivers his often dark // cosmic poems in a deadpan / borderline robotic tone of voice
the result is humorous
he takes me simultaneously into vivid imagination & an almost absurdist sense of humor
Ben Mirov’s ‘speakers’ often say things like
‘I have no idea what I’m doing’
but this ‘not knowing’ often leads to a certain type of ‘innocence’ or ‘Beginner’s Mind’
that views the world like this
‘I feel like I have never seen anything / and I am seeing things for the first time / and this is the first thing I have ever seen’
‘innocence’ may not be the right word
idk
the poems are concerned w/ ‘darkness’
‘nothingness’
‘Loneliness is something more / than nothingness’
they seem to be concerned w/ the spark
the birth of a moment arising from a fertile void
of language arising
he weaves scientific language & the ‘colloquial’
plainspoken
straightforward, brief
‘You will no longer feel like punching yourself in the face twice a day. You will not feel guilty about paying tons of money to attend grad school’
clipped
I love when he has a series of ‘end-stopped’ lines
& then suddenly a sentence enjambs for like 5 or 6 lines
these poems are philosophical & ‘hip’
his work seems to have the rare opportunity to appeal to the ‘academy’ & the ‘alternative culture(s)’
maybe not all his poems will appeal to one or the other
but they have a bluntness, sophistication, & postmodern sensibility // playfulness
that strikes an intriguing balance
here are some of my favorite moments:
‘The water is beautiful and she allows you / to put your arm around her. / Smell her ear, part of a star / that exploded when you were negative / 10, 000 years old’
‘you probably think you’re not alive at all / or that being alive is a button inside you’
‘When I think of our relationship / I think of a magician / with a dove in his pants / or a giraffe that must fall / six feet to be born’
‘I pet a moth as big as a baby’
‘Now open your eyes. / Not those eyes. / The eyes inside you’
‘When you have carried [the eyeball] far enough / give it to the next person you meet. / Or bury it in a pile of shards. / Or smash it on a rock’
-
