Poem – C K Stead

John Cage at Harvard, 1988

Sonorous
he reads into a mike
a text he means should be
devoid of meaning.

In the semi-circle
of the wooden theatre
we’re respectful
of his fame.

A handout explains
the trouble he has taken
to achieve
a random text.

“To have so tinged”
he intones
“my Soviet sudden change …”
He gives it light and shade.

Feeling floors and walls
begin to melt and slide
I cling to grammar
and to fact.

A student
scrabbles in her bag
to silence a radio
turned on by his talk.

Under a young man’s legs
in the front row
an unscheduled dog
shakes itself.

C K Stead

Tagged with: ,
Posted in Poem
Search the archive

More results...

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
Filter by Categories
Architecture
Art
Autobiography
Awards
Biography
Byline
Children
Comment
Contents
ebooks
Economics
Editorial
Education
Essays
Extract
Fiction
Gender
Graphic novel
Health
History
Imprints
Language
Lecture
Letters
Letters
Literature
Māori
Media
Memoir
Music
Natural History
Non-fiction
Obituaries
Opinion
Pacific
Photography
Plays
Poem
Poetry
Politics & Law
Psychology
Religion
Review
Science
Short stories
Sociology
Sport
War
YA Reviewers
Young adults
Recent issues: subscriber-only access

    Subscribe to NZ Books to access the issues above

    Search by category

    See more