Starting: On Jack Mac LowÕs Doings.
By Anthony Hawley
Things are things
and
things
are what
they are
, starting
then you
know finishing But
once
upon a time
a thing
comes and
starts and
that thingÕs
power
is
that
it does not
finish it
just
keeps
on
starting on
and
on This IÕm
sure is
an odd
concept I mean What doesnÕt
finish
But
thatÕs
exactly where Jackson
Mac Low would have
us , always
starting Because
really
this
book
is a
book like
any
other It
is a
book of
always
starting
of always being able
to
start newly , not
just a
how- to
but some- thing
that
is
always about
to become
some thing a
little
bit more Slowly I
think
IÕm beginning
to start To
start
a
thinking Starting
is and starting
will
be
Just take this
miraculous bookÕs
title Doings
Well I
donÕt
know
precisely what
a Ō doing
Ķ is
but I
know I
donÕt
know any other word to
describe what
these
works
are They
are things that
have
been done things
that
will be done and
things to
do
right now
Things to
read to
look
at things to
listen to and
most important-
ly things to
try things to
try
out your self Again strange
to
think
about a
book of
poems that asks
you
to
do it
to do the
poems Sure we
can
think of other
books that
ask
to be
used but a
book of
poems ? But
that
word: Doings has great presence
to it donÕt you
think ? It
implies some thing that
very
much is
and
that goes on
and
on
and keeps
existing
in a
gerund state a process
state a state that
requires
you yes you ( ! ) to
keep it live
keep it
doing
keep starting
it and keep it
able to
be
started
Slowly I
think IÕm
starting
Starting
to
start To
start
a
thinking
To start
us
In many ways
the
book is
like
all manuals It
has
instructions and
suggestions
It has parameters
considerations and possible
arrangements Also it
ha-
ppens to
be a
very beautiful
book Granary
could
not have
done a
better
job at
reproducing things
like A Vocabulary
for Sharon Belle Mattlin
or
A
Notated Vocabulary for
Eve
Rosenthal 5/22-25 /78 and
the
cd oh the
c d !
To have all
these performances
ranging from Õ73 to
2000 is
a
gift
So
what with cd performance
scores instructions and
the poetÕs very
own commentary
we have something
more
something more
than
just a manual we
have
a
workbook in the
vein of
those issued in foreign
language study
More
texts that require us require
our
input
and
with our
every
input we
learn how
to do
a
thing a
little more
The
difference being this workbook
is
always un- finished because
there
are always any
number
of answers yet
to
be
discovered
Slowly I
think
IÕm starting
Starting
To
start To
start
a
thinking
To start
us Yes ,
us
because
that is
the
other
very important aspect
I will
now
try to
start
talking about
When doing these we
are
remade redone
We
have
to
empty
ourselves out empty
ourselves so
that we
can
receive others and othersÕ
chance happenings This
sounds a
little
loosey- goosey Arguably
it does require looseness but not
in
a haphazard sense
more in a
porous
sense
For
instance
this very
writing leaves
space It
has
about
it a
plasticity or
the
ability to
allow
in other
matter the ability
to
elicit various
reading
experiences It
invites multi-
plicities dependent on how
and at
what
point
you stop or
cluster or
go get
some milk or maybe
beer to
get
you
through ( harder
alcohol is not
recommended ) It contains space
to
insert things like
water pencils pictures or
undiscovered configurations of
words
Mac Low asks
that we be as porous
as the spaces in
this
writing This book is
beginning me again and
IÕm beginning
to
see
how this book is
a book that
is
always starting
me Not just
redoing me but
making
Ō me Ō a
broader concept Which is to
say
the doing of
a doing
enlarges our sense
of
self as we
work to
become as egoless as
possible
and allow other matter to
enter our performance and sphere
of self
Slowly now I
think IÕm
really starting Starting
to
start a thinking an
us
Lately IÕve come
to think itÕs
not about who but
how ItÕs
less about reading
and more
about
doing Anyone who wants
to can
do this book This
book is
a can do book in
the most
literal sense Does this
mean everyone
will
want
to ? No But
this book is
more in-
clusive than
ex-
clusive than just about
any
book
I
know
Beyond all this I
canÕt
really tell
you what
the book has
in
it
you just have
to
do it do
the book
Not to
get
too
worked up but
really
we
would all
have
such
potential such plasti- city
if we
all did
this did
these doings
more