2023-05-01 15:40:59
Benoît Casas’ company can be read in black on white between the lines of the poem “301”: “Formulate /a /continuous /succession /of affirmations /until /no longer have /a series /of notations /but a /whole.” But don’t see Combine, the last collection of the poet published by Nous – of which he is one of the publishers –, like a crazy assembly. In the work, made up of 1,000 short poems – never more than ten free verses – it is the sum of the texts, which one can read in passing in the order of one’s choice, which precisely makes sense and for oneself. Moreover, do not see this bulk as an unfair means, simply see in it the exercise in action of the poetic work of the Marseilles author – a dozen books on the counter, including a poetic investigation (or exploration) of Venice last year.
Take, for example, the poem “400”: “A book /is a /trajectory /in which /statements /summaries /segmented awakenings are expressed.” Combined is not just a clever – or risky – form game. It is the choice of a clear, total, sometimes meditative or contemplative poetry (like the poem “116”: “Butterflies /yellow /twinkled /in the /shadows /like /spots of /sun.”), sometimes a reflection on language through aphorisms, then fleeting thoughts. Here again, the program is in the text, in the poem “701”: “Poetry /needs /only /ordinary /language.” And that is quite enough to grasp the whole as the nothing.
The extract
«178»
puddles
puddles
rain
black
the night.
«398»
Ces bouts
sentences
these details
combine
fit together
and this
confuse
in se
materializing.
«552»
And why
Ultimately
poetry
would not find
she doesn’t
again
a public?
«912»
Gentle
drops
of
spring
darkness.
Benoit Casas, Combine, Us, 272 pp., €20.
#Benoît #Casas #trick #bulk #Liberation