名人诗歌|inside gertrude stein

Right now as I am talking to you and as you are being talked

to， without letup， it is becoming clear that gertrude stein has

hijacked^{1 me and that this feeling that you are having now as}

you read this， that this is what it feels like to be inside

gertrude stein. This is what it feels like to be a huge type

writer in a dress. Yes， I feel we have gotten inside gertrude

stein， and of course it is dark inside the enormous gertrude， it

is like being locked up in a refrigerator lit only by a smiling

rind of cheese. Being inside gertrude is like being inside a

monument made of a cloud which is always moving across

the sky which is also always moving. Gertrude is a huge gal-

leon of cloud anchored to the ground by one small tether， yes，

I see it down there， do you see that tiny snail^{2 glued to the}

tackboard of the landscape？ That is alice. So， I am inside

gertrude； we belong to each other， she and I， and it is so won-

derful because I have always been a thin woman inside of

whom a big woman is screaming to get out， and she's out

now and if a river could type this is how it would sound， pure

and complicated and enormous. Now we are lilting across the

countryside， and we are talking， and if the wind could type it

would sound like this， ongoing^{3 and repetitious， abstracting}

and stylizing everything， like our famous haircut painted by

Picasso. Because when you are inside our haircut you under-

stand that all the flotsam and jetsam of hairdo have been

cleared away （like the forests from the New World） so that the

skull^{4 can show through grinning and feasting on the alarm it}

has created. I am now， alarmingly， inside gertrude's head and I

am thinking that I may only be a thought she has had when

she imagined that she and alice were dead and gone and

someone had to carry on the work of being gertrude stein， and

so I am receiving， from beyond the grave， radioactive isoTOPes⁵

of her genius saying， take up my work， become gertrude stein.

Because someone must be gertrude stein， someone must save

us from the literalists and realists， and narratives^{6 of the}

beginning and end， someone must be a river that can type.

And why not I？ Gertrude is insisting on the fact that while I

am a subgenius， weighing one hundred five pounds， and living

in a small town with an enormous furry^{7 male husband who is}

always in his Cadillac Eldorado driving off to sell something

to people who do not deserve the bad luck of this mer-

chandise in their livesthat these facts would not be a prob-

lem for gertrude stein. Gertrude and I feel that， for instance， in

Patriarchal Poetry when （like an avalanche^{8 that can type） she is}

burying the patriarchy， still there persists a sense of con-

descending^{9 affection. So， while I'm a thin， heterosexual sub-}

genius， nevertheless gertrude has chosen me as her tool， just

as she chose the patriarchy as a tool for ending the patriarchy.

And because I have become her tool， now， in a sense， gertrude

is inside me. It's tough. Having gertrude inside me is like

having swallowed an ocean liner that can type， and， while I

feel like a very small coat closet with a bear in it， gertrude and

I feel that I must tell you that gertrude does not care. She is

using me to get her message across， to say， I am lost， I am

beset^{10 by literalists and narratives of the beginning and middle}

and end， help me. And so， yes， I say， yes， I am here， gertrude，

because we feel， gertrude and I， that there is real urgency in

our voice （like a sob^{11 that can type） and that things are very}

bad for her because she is lost， beset by the literalists and

realists， her own enormousness crushing her and we must

find her and take her into ourselves， even though I am the

least likely of saviors and have been chosen perhaps as a last

resort， yes， definitely， gertrude is saying to me， you are the

least likely of saviors， you are my last choice and my last

resort.