"Inferential," by Edwin Arlington Robinson

Everyday Speech #1

So this begins, I hope, a series in which I simply record things/sentences/phrases/words that a) I used to hear people say a lot and b) I hear people say a lot. Sometimes its "say" and "write" both, but mostly say. I got the idea when I was reading Philip Whalen's collected poems. He has a series of poems titled "Native Speech," and he records what he was hearing in the 1950s and 1960s and thereabouts.

Of course, this project (that's grandiose) will and should not be confused with something systematic or orderly.

*****

"Well, whaddya know?" I heard this one a lot growing up, less in my 20s, and so on. You can hear a lot in 1940s movies. A version is "Well, whaddya know about that?" The latter has a rhythmic lilt to it. And of course whaddya = what do you

*

"She's a fox." It means, she's sexy/she's beautiful/she's both. Virtually ubiquitous in late 1970s California. Heard much less after 1985, in my opinion. Gendered, I think; that is, it was said of woman by men and women, but not so much of men by anyone. I don't remember hearing gay acquaintances saying it of man, for example.

*

"I know, right?" Seemingly ubiquitous now, at least in my world. I haven't investigated the origin, if there is one. An older version would be, "You bet!" Or "Damn right!" Or "Right on!" Except I think "I know, right?" is more laconic, even slightly ironic, and not usually excited or overly sympathetic. I quite like it, for some reason. I believe a still-current African American version or counterpart is "All right? Mmm-Hmmn!" Heard more from Black women than Black men? I don't know.

Well, that's three or four. If you want to suggest any, go for it. I wonder if "go for it" is going out of fashion.

"Fall. Leaves, Fall," by Emily Bronte

"An Old Woman," by Mina Loy

"The Inspector," by Hans Ostrom

I don't think you're doing it the way
you're supposed to do it
(according to the specifications)
but who am I to say? And

if you're getting it done,
in this way of yours you use--
well, it's still getting done.
There is a right way and a

wrong way but at the same time
there are many ways. It isn't
logical I suppose as I have
phrased things. Anyway, consider

a mild objection almost to have
been raised. By me.
This is my job.
Sincerely, The Inspector.


hans ostrom 2014

"Politics," by Ambrose Bierce

"Two Lovers," by George Eliot

"The Caged Skylark," by Gerard Manley Hopkins

"Hinge Collection," by Hans Ostrom

Of course, this is just part
of my collection of hinges.

But it may give you some idea
of the variety and kinds of
hinges,
of their ubiquity, of the
range of their design.

Also, you will likely note that,
unattached to anything
and without box, door, or shutter,
hinges become absurd.

Sometimes I think they
look like awful jewelry
or modestly successful
instruments of annoyance.
I hate them so, my hinges.

hans ostrom 2014

"Far in a Western Brookland," by A.E. Housman

"Planet to People," by Hans Ostrom

"Well," said the planet
to the people living on it,
"apparently you will do what
you will do. But there is
this: remember that you
are not required for me
to survive, whereas
to persist, you need me.
Consider this a statement
of practicality, not one
of theory or art, politics,
religion, or science."


hans ostrom 2014

"To the Moon," Charlotte Smith

"Art for Something's Sake," by Hans Ostrom

Pater (Walt) wrote that all art
constantly aspires to the condition of music.

Some art, I think, aspires
to the condition of a sandwich
and a cup of coffee; some,

to the condition of
a large home in Bel Aire, California,
and you have to like that second e.

You know, some music
is not in great condition.
The same can be said of some artists.

Can art aspire?

I wonder if anyone called Pater "Walt."
I hope so. Because "Walt"

is musical, in its own way.
It's a beat. All art can
use another beat.



hans ostrom 2014