Happy Thanksgiving!
A Menu Poem by Geoffrey Gatza

A Friend In The Distance 

Guest of Honor : Hank Lazer

IntroductionIntroduction

Hello and welcome to the 2021 Thanksgiving Menu-Poem. This is the twentieth incarnation of the Thanksgiving Menu-Poem! This series began in 2002 with a Menu-Poem to honor Charles Bernstein, and since then this series engages Thanksgiving as the basis to celebrate poetry, poets, and the poetry community. Being a trained professional chef, I have blended my love of food and poetry into a book-length work as a feast of words and art to bring everyone a tiny bit closer together.

This project is a conceptual meal served for the thousands of friends I would love to have over to our home on Thanksgiving Day. Since it is unavoidably impossible to even consider doing such a thing in real life, I have designed a menu of foodstuffs that reflect upon the guest of honor as a person, a poet and their poetry. These works directly respond to our surrounding environment and uses everyday experiences as a starting point. Often these are framed instances that would go unnoticed in their original context. With a conceptual approach, this menu-poem tries to increase the dynamic between audience and author by objectifying emotions and investigating the duality that develops through different interpretations.

This year our guest of honor is Hank Lazer. This poem series represents a combination of autumnal and visual poetries as a tribute to the magnificent works he has created. I have had the wonderful opportunity to work with Hank over the past year publishing his book, field recordings of mind in morning. We had such a good time it was a natural decision to ask him to be this year’s guest of honor.

I had been a fan of Hank Lazer’s work for decades now. His poetry is about openness and experimentation with a questioning attentiveness that blends expressions of meaning with the visual. His work has evolved through the LANGUAGE movement to spontaneous writing to unique handwritten books to musical collaborations. His combination of poetry, writing, and color expand the notion of how the poem can be expressed. His writings take shape in freeform spirals and other organizations, merging to the shape of the page size, which often determines the look of his poem. This artistic text art creates moments of contemplation and introspection for the reader. Everything exceeds intention in Lazer’s writing and it is so very exciting. The title of the Menu-Poem comes from his 2019 book, Slowly Becoming Awake (N32), and the poem, 9/7/16 Carrolton (p38). Written in brown ink:

      is that a voice
a friend in the distance

I hope that this menu-poem adequately expresses my appreciation for him while creating a sense of harmony that interprets my understanding of his work. Or instead of harmony maybe a better word would be a free-translation, or an invocation of the intention Lazer creates.

I hope you enjoy this meal, the menu and the poem. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Rockets, Geoffrey

Thanksgiving Menu-Poem 2021 | Guest of Honor-Hank Lazer LZ by BlazeVOX [books] on Scribd

The Menu, Wines, Poem

The menu

The structure of the menu takes the form of poetic architecture. Starting with the variety of senses the autumnal season brings with it: aromas, temperature variations, mixed textures and flavor combinations that greet you with a serene, elegant scenery of nature. This thanksgiving feast is complemented by seasonally selected autumnal foodstuffs that not only tastes well-balanced but are also pleasant to think about.

The wines and beverages

The wines and champagnes are French. The highlights are a Alsace Grand Cru Gewurztraminer. It has a delightful nose of honey and lychees, delicate and graceful on the palate with traces of spice and orange blossom. Very elegant, refreshing, and crisp. The main course is accompanied by the Château Duhart-Milon, Pauillac 2012, which is both demure and knowingly sumptuous, a captivating and graceful wine. This will be a delight with the traditional roast turkey and trio of wild mushrooms.

The poetry

This series consists of seven poems, six autumnal poems and one longer poetry/art sequence, Thought Gardens of Handwriting, for Hank Lazer. The autumnal poems address this season of change as an exploration of the cycles between thoughts of memory and the thoughts of experience, these poems delve into the tradition of remembrance as art, as an act of meditation.

The eight art poems are constructed with ink, markers, and watercolors on watercolor paper mounted on board. They question the conditions of appearance of an image in the context of contemporary visual culture in which images, representations and ideas normally function. By experimenting with handwriting processes, these drawings generates multiple meanings. Associations and meanings collide. Space becomes time and language becomes image.

These art pieces focus on the instability of communication which is used to visualize reality, the attempt of dialogue, the dissonance between form and content and the dysfunctions of language. In short, the lack of clear references are key elements in the work. By exploring the concept of handwriting in a reflective way, these pieces investigate the dynamics of language, including the manipulation of its effects and the limits of spectacle based on our assumptions of what handwriting means to us.

Hank Lazer

Hank Lazer has published twenty-nine books of poetry, including Evidence of Being Here: Beginning in Havana (N27) (2018, Negative Capability Press),Thinking in Jewish(N20) (2017, Lavender Ink), Poems Hidden in Plain View (2016, in English and in French), Brush Mind: At Hand (GreencupBooks, 2016), N24 (Little Red Leaves / Textile Series, 2014),N18 (complete) (Singing Horse Press, 2012), Portions(Lavender Ink, 2009), The New Spirit (Singing Horse, 2005), Elegies & Vacations (Salt, 2004), and Days(Lavender Ink, 2002). Selected Poems and Essays of Hank Lazer, completed by a group of translators and with a Preface by Nie Zhenzao, was published by Central China Normal University Press in 2015. Lazer’s Selected Poems have also been published in Italy (Pensando Cantando: Poesie Scelte di Hank Lazer, QuiEdit, 2015, translated by Anny Ballardini) and will be appearing shortly in Cuba (Pensando Cantando, Torre de letras, translated by Omar Pérez). In 2011, in collaboration with visual artists from the Taller Experimental de Gráfica in Havana and the University of Alabama’s Book Arts program, Lazer published Indivisible, a fine press bilingual edition of handwritten shape poems. Pages from the notebooks have been performed with soprano saxophonist Andrew Raffo Dewar, including performances at the University of Georgia (November 2013) and in Havana, Cuba (two concerts in January 2014), and most recently with legendary Birmingham improvisational guitarist Davey Williams. Over the past fifteen years, Lazer has collaborated with various jazz musicians, filmmakers, choreographers, and visual artists in seeking new ways to present poetry.

In April 2015, Lazer was selected for the state of Alabama’s highest literary award, the Harper Lee Award, for a lifetime of achievement in literature.

Lazer’s books of criticism include Opposing Poetries (two volumes, 1996) and Lyric & Spirit: Selected Essays 1996-2008 (2008).

Audio and video recordings of Lazer’s poetry and an interview for Art International Radio can be found at Lazer’s PennSound website: http://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Lazer.html , as well as in special issues of Plume#34 and Talisman #42, and spacecraft #10.

With co-editor Charles Bernstein, Lazer edits the Modern and Contemporary Poetics Series for the University of Alabama Press. To date, the MCP Series has published over 50 books, including work by Marjorie Perloff, Harryette Mullen, Jerome Rothenberg, Rachel Blau DuPlessis, and Brian Reed.

In January 2014, Lazer retired from the University of Alabama (where he continues to teach innovative seminars for New College, the Blount Scholars Program, and Honors College) after 37 years in a variety of positions, including Associate Provost for Academic Affairs, Executive Director of Creative Campus, and Professor of English. Lazer also convenes a weekly Zen meditation group in Tuscaloosa. Lazer can be reached at hlazer@bama.ua.edu.

Author Bio from Dos Madres Press

Interesting Links

hanklazer.com https://www.hanklazer.com

PennSound

Audio and video recordings of Lazer’s poetry and an interview for Art International Radio can be found at Lazer’s PennSound website: http://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Lazer.html ,

Recent Books

field recordings of mind in morning | poems: hank lazer music: holland hopson (BlazeVOX [books], 2021) 128 pages. You can listen to recorded poems from field recordings of mind in morning poems: hank lazer music: holland hopson

http://www.hanklazer.com/field-recordings/

COVID19 SUTRAS (Lavender Ink, 2020) COVID19 SUTRAS continues his exploration of the nature of consciousness itself, and those momentary sudden inscriptions that are part and parcel of the grace of each human incarnation. https://www.hanklazer.com/covid19-sutras/

Slowly Becoming Awake (N32) (Dos Madres Press, 2019) The book takes us through Lazer’s serious illness (June-July 2016) through his recovery and into his increasing meditative writing time spent at a remote farm in rural Alabama. https://www.hanklazer.com/slowly-becoming-awake-n32/

Brush Mind: At Hand (Greencup Books, 2016) 128 pages, hand-written, calligraphic book, poetry/philosophy; can be read in its entirety in 7 minutes (or longer). Inspired by the calligraphy work of Kazuaki Tanahashi (to whom the book is dedicated).

Poems Hidden in Plain View / Poèmes cachés en evidence (trans. by Emmanuel Moses), PURH (Presses universitaires de Rouen et du Havre), 2016. 160 pages. Drawn from the first ten Notebooks, in dialogue with Heidegger’s Being & Time. With an afterword. In two volumes, one in English, one in French.

Thinking Singing: Selected Poems of Hank Lazer / Pensando Cantando: Poesie Scelte di Hank Lazer,trans. Anny Ballardini, Verona, Italy: QuiEdit, 2015, selected poems from Days (2002) to the Notebooks (through 2014), with Introduction and an Interview. 220 pages. Bilingual, English/Italian.

N24 Little Red Leaves: Textile Series, 2014. Hand-sewn, beautifully designed (Dawn Pendergast) chapbook. Shape-writing, handwritten book. 16 pages.

Interviews

Interview at spacecraft project.

Talisman #42: An interview with Hank Lazer conducted by Marjorie Perloff.

Plume #34: Interview with Hank Lazer by Glenn Mott; includes several Notebook pages, photos and sound file from jazz-poetry improvisations with soprano saxophonist/composer Andrew Raffo Dewar.

Video

Reading & Conversation with Andrew Maxwell at the San Francisco Poetry Center, February 23, 2017

Bookmark TV interview with Don Noble (2015) for Alabama Public TV

7 recordings and videos from 2019 available on YouTube (Hank Lazer), including several pieces with Holland Hopson and a live performance in Florence, AL with Jake Berry, Wayne Sides, and Kate Hunt (on theremin!)

Vimeo – Brush Mind: At Hand and Brush Mind: Second Hand:

https://vimeo.com/234908748

https://vimeo.com/369851981

Thanksgiving Menu
Guest of Honor: Hank Lazer

Onomatopoeia

beef tartare with radishes, cornichons, frisée & horseradish crème fraîche,
served with grilled pain de campagne

Dom Pérignon Rosé 2006

Personification

Sweet Potato Vichyssoise with Curry Infused Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Nantes Carrots, Garden Radishes

Domaine Zind-Humbrecht Hengst Gewürztraminer 2005

Consonance

Crispy Hen of the Woods Mushroom, Whole Wheat Toast,
Deep Fried Pickles and honeycomb & toasted walnuts

Domaine Saint Prefert Colombis Châteauneuf du Pape 2019

Metaphor

Tomato Water Gelée, Fragrant Basils and Rumi Saffron Glaze

Rhyme & Rhythm

Bates Farm Roast Turkey, Cornmeal Stuffing, Chanterelle Mushroom Ragoût,
Autumnal Truffle Consommé and Crispy Cremini Mushrooms

Château Duhart-Milon, Pauillac 2012

Alliteration

Belle Chevre artisanal cheese, Marinated Orchard Figs, Black Winter Truffle “Fondue”

Chassagne-Montrachet Rouge “Les Chambres,” Prudhon – 2016

Assonance

Pecan tartlet, Banana Mousse, Brown Butter and Pistachio Sablés

Elegant Italian Espresso

Thanksgiving POEMS

IONIAN SCALES SOFTLY
I LISTENED FOR YOUR LOST VOICE THIS MORNING
GLOSSY MARKETING ON WET CARDBOARD
GIRAFFE-DOG
THE BLUEBERRY BLUE CLOUDS
THOUGHT GARDENS OF HANDWRITING
THE SWORD IN THE STONE