UbuWeb | UbuWeb Papers Manifest Jessica Smith 1.The poem is a topological space. 1.1
The poem is situated on a topological
space 1.1.1
The "blank" space of the page is not
"blank." 1.1.1.1
It is volatile; it is active. Words may be in one place and may shift to another place. 1.1.1.2
It is porous and unstable. Words may falls into faults or cracks in the page. 1.1.1.3
It is spongy.
Different places on the page have different weights and gravitational
pulls. This affects placement of
words. 1.1.2
Words may become unrecognizable due to
geographic activity. 1.1.2.1
Meaning is secondary to sight. 1.1.2.1.1
Meaning
must be collected in a treasure hunt through the page. 1.1.2.1.2
Meaning
is one of many possible maps through a page. 1.1.2.1.3
Meaning
is only possible on the level of the page. 1.1.2.1.3.1
The page's topology determines meaning. 1.1.2.1.3.2
The words' geological placement determines
meaning. 1.1.2.1.3.3
History determines meaning. 1.1.2.1.3.4
The reader's specific travels determine
meaning. 1.1.2.2
Sound is secondary to sight. 1.1.2.2.1
The
page is not a score for reading. 1.1.2.2.1.1
The poem need not be read aloud. 1.1.2.2.1.2
The "blank" spaces of the page are
not "scored." 1.1.2.2.1.2.1
The "blank" spaces of the page are
not equal. Some spaces are more
blank than others. Some blank
spaces are larger than other blank spaces that may look equal. 1.1.2.2.1.2.2
"Blank" spaces can be bridged, like a
wormhole rather than like a musical measure. 1.2
The poem is a set of topological figures
or features. 1.2.1
Words are subject to disintegration, death, and
other natural events that individuals of all types face. 1.2.2
The words on the page represent the page at a
certain geological moment. 1.2.2.1
This moment implies a history. 1.2.2.2
This moment entails a future. 1.2.2.3
The reader sees merely a moment captured. 1.2.3
The "level of the page" is the only
level. 1.2.3.1
The vertical "reader to page" and
"author to page" and "author to reader" relationships are
eradicated. 1.2.3.2
The horizontal journey through the page, as a
hiker on a trail, is the only way to search for meaning. 1.2.3.2.1
As
such meanings will be different for each traveler. 1.2.3.2.2
As
such meaning is made through memory. Connections
are delayed, soundings are delayed, meaning is delayed.
Meaning is put together. 1.2.3.2.3
As
such meaning is a compound impression of a physically traversed space (the eye
moves physically through the space as the mind encounters fragmented
signifiers). 1.2.3.2.4 Each poem is a microcosm. 2. The page is a slice of geological time. It has a past and a future. It has physical features. 2.1 It could have been otherwise. 3.
The poem and the page become topological at the same time; as the reader
traverses their space, he or she perceives a shifting, coming-into-being
topology.
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