hum of luminary jasper and sapphire
through infinity of cosmic stadia
cadence of chalcedon and emerald
through rivered crystalline gold
spirance of topaz and sardonyx
through trees of healing fruits
tremolo of jacinth and amethyst
through moonless and sunless splendours
white flying horse of blood
mouthed vibrant sword
dark swarms of flesh gorged fowl
are not the secrets of the brass slammed angelus
massed fortissimo of effulgent gardens
sprung from crimson earth
abyss of staggering lights
sewn in silver scales
of fissured moulin membrane
omphalus
inward luminous overarch
(from 'For Messiaen', in First Offense #5)
There is little to add to what the quoted poem makes obvious: Fletcher recalls what in poetry brought about a high, a state of excitement, and discards the rest as surplus weight. He is incited by a total admiration for jazz, where the excitement seems to come from the players' startled sensing that they do not need the props of written melody but can pursue whatever loose airs the night and the occasion supply. The attack on excitement is direct, he has no interest in realism and personal experience. Sources of imagery - works of alchemy, descriptions of Aztec religion - are no more than that. The richness of language is a bit hit and miss, but he is very clear about his aims, which is true for few poets these days. Obvious resemblances to Symbolisme, the language of Christian mystics drawing on the Book of Revelations (especially chapter 21), and psychedelia can be found, but really the idea is autonomy, to liberate the poem from any realist function and push its expressive and suggestive potential to the maximum. It would seem that this is what the audience most wants, and indeed it is hard to see what the consumer used to music and painting would see desirable in poetry that does not deal in vivid, detailed, stunning images. The work can be found in two books, Derivations (poems inspired by the works of the soprano sax player Steve Lacy) and Firesong. I am bound to wonder why, when an English modernist poet writes a poem about jazz, there is a 60% chance that it will be Steve Lacy. Fletcher also edits, from Canterbury, First Offense, the best of the avant-garde magazines.