reading Kyle Schlesinger's chapbook Look. from No Press (which has No web presence). intrigued by but not sure what to make of the period in the title and the complete lack of punctuation in the text. the poem reads like soundbites played over and over, snatches of phrase woven together. the alternation of phrases suggests a pattern, but if there is one I didn't discern it. the possibility of complex pattern hints at a procedural poetics, while the colloquial tone of the alternating phrases invokes a form of found poetry, an idea of the poet recording all the voices he hears in an urban environment, on a bus maybe, or a street corner. at first it reminded me of Robert Fitterman's notion of the unified voice of the poem giving way to a multiplicity of voices collected at random. but Schlesinger's text doesn't reveal any such method, it could just as easily record the speech of one putative person in snatches of time, or the thoughts circling and resurfacing in someone's mind. on a second reading, i realized that the text presents a narrative, actually a very strong narrative, centred on someone getting shot, money, drugs, danger, which makes me wonder why how I could have missed it at first. probably because I was so taken with the idea of sampling and remixing the text evokes.

...
Gonna take that
I'll take it
Worked you over
Cup of coffee
Along for the ride
Worked you over
Along for the ride
Holdin' the bag
Worked you over
Cup of coffee
Holdin' the bag
Put you away
Kiddin' me
Holdin' the bag
Kiddin' me
Save yourself
Holdin' the bag
Put you away
Save yourself
How you doin'
How you doin'
Save yourself
....

- Kyle Schlesinger, Look.