43. Nathaniel Mackey, "Sound and Cerement"

This is a little awkward. I respect Mackey's project--from a distance. I like the idea of what he's trying to do, but when I get down to the writing itself I don't find it as felicitous as I'd wish it to be: "he / and she of the adaptable tongue, / teeth, lips, mind's own sacred / ass-cleft and crotch, we of the / exiguous / fit ... Erogenous mind's aperture." This is a case that really comes down to taste. I don't even like Abbey Lincoln--go figure. 7.5.