And because perhaps the scream is the presence
Of an ancient word opaque and mute that
Suddenly screams that appear to us with
The passage of night like a bandage on the sick
Arm of a sick man and then let it permeate.
Me like the cold silence the helpless and dead
Body of a dead man a broken dream
Then a deaf noise blue and numerous
A prisoner in the shell of my sleeping ear
And my voice that drowns in that sea of fear
Ever thinner and more inflames.
There is much detailed discussion of the institutional manoeuvrings in this famous episode. But it also acts as a very good introduction to the history of the 'poetry network' in which 'avant-garde' or 'experimental' writing is dominant, its present status, and to the actual writerly qualities of the poetry.
This is the book which acts as the most accessible introduction to avant-garde British poetry, if you don't get too bogged down in the Poetry Society minutes.
WILFRED JOHN
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/of-an-ancient-word-opaque/
