Bedtime Stories 9 : Weather Report

A recording of myself reading Sunday from The Weather by Lisa Robertson.

Reading this book of poetry was my first encounter with this writer. It came by way of my boyfriend’s library books, which haunt the house, moving from room to room until, when finished, they remain where they were when the last page was read.

I’m drawn to anything concerning weather, sky, and clouds. So I waited until it was still for a few days and read through it. There is a certain type of writing that is best read ponderously, slowly and disgorged, draped and dismantled and discussed. There is another type of writing that demands devouring. And can hardly be talked about. What would you say? You have to read it - and there it is.

I can talk briefly of my experience of reading it - in feeling that it must be consumed to be understood, that it must enter through one’s body. Then I had an athletic desire to read it all in one day - recording myself. It was an exercise in stamina, attention, vocabulary, and grammar. Stamina, for me mostly involves just staying awake - so for parts of it, I’m pacing. Attention meaning attending to the writing and it’s exactitudes. To feel it in the body, to not assume punctuation, inflection, tense, or numeration. Vocabulary being that even after reading it and rereading it - there were several words I did not know and guessed at pronounciation (I’ll define mine below). Grammar felt physically is very intense. To withhold the desired comma to pause, to appreciate when question marks are present and not, to end on the tip toe of a period, to repeat with slight differences. A thousand tiny edits based on comfort can for good or ill, change an entire text. It was in all manner of speaking, an exercise. So much is learned when you read aloud, for a writer and a speaker of words.

I decided to read 7 prose poems, which make up the bulk of the book, 1 for every day of the week. My plan is to release one per week with any thoughts.

perspex - a brand name for a strong, transparent plastic that is sometimes used instead of glass