Sleeping with the dictionary

99 Pages·2002·0.3 MB·English

by  Mullen

Harryette Mullen
Sleeping
w th th D ct n ry
i e i io a
University of California Press
Berkeley Los Angeles London
Sleeping
with the
Dictionary
NEW CALIFORNIA POETRY
Robert Hass
EDITED BY
Calvin Bedient
Brenda Hillman
For, by Carol Snow
Enola Gay, by Mark Levine
Selected Poems, by Fanny Howe
Sleeping with the Dictionary, by Harryette Mullen
Commons, by Myung Mi Kim
The Guns and Flags Project, by Geoffrey G. O’Brien
Harryette Mullen
Sleeping
w th th D ct n ry
i e i io a
University of California Press
Berkeley Los Angeles London
University ofCalifornia Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles, California
University ofCalifornia Press, Ltd.
London, England
© by the Regents ofthe
University ofCalifornia
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-
Publication Data
Mullen, Harryette Romell.
Sleeping with the dictionary /
Harryette Mullen.
p. cm.—(New California
poetry ; )
---(cloth : alk.
paper).—---(pbk. :
alk. paper)
. Language and languages—Poetry.
. African Americans—Poetry.
I. Title. II. Series.
.  
'.—dc 
Manufactured in the United States
ofAmerica
         
         
The paper used in this publication
meets the minimum requirements of
/ .-()
(Permanence of Paper). 8
Dark words
more radiant
than onyx!
André Breton
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Contents
Acknowledgments xi
All She Wrote 3
The Anthropic Principle 4
Any Lit 6
Ask Aden 8
Between 9
Bilingual Instructions 10
Black Nikes 11
Blah-Blah 12
Bleeding Hearts 14
Bolsa Algodón 15
Coals to Newcastle, Panama Hats from Ecuador 16
Coo/Slur 17
Daisy Pearl 18
Denigration 19
Dim Lady 20
Dream Cycle 21
Ectopia 22
Elliptical 23
European Folk Tale Variant 24
Eurydice 26
Exploring the Dark Content 27
Fancy Cortex 28
Free Radicals 29
The Gene for Music 30
Hitched to a Star 33
Jinglejangle 34
Junk Mail 44
Kamasutra Sutra 45
Kirstenography 46
The Lunar Lutheran 48
Mantra for a Classless Society,
or Mr. Roget’s Neighborhood 49
Music for Homemade Instruments 50
Naked Statues 51
Natural Anguish 52
Once Ever After 53
O, ’Tis William 54
Outside Art 56
Present Tense 57
Quality of Life 58
Resistance Is Fertile 60
She Swam On from Sea to Shine 61
Sleeping with the Dictionary 67
Souvenir from Anywhere 68
Suzuki Method 69
Swift Tommy 70
Ted Joans at the Café Bizarre 71
Transients 72
Variation on a Theme Park 75
Way Opposite 76
We Are Not Responsible 77
Why You and I 78
Wino Rhino 79
Wipe That Simile OffYour Aphasia 80
Xenophobic Nightmare in a Foreign Language 81
X-ray Vision 83
Zen Acorn 84
Zombie Hat 85