Over the line

I need to return to that Berssenbrugge/Regretsy thing for a moment, because while there's a real element of embarrassment in Nest, there's also something inappropriate about the Regretsy comparison. Nest is over the line, but not in a flarfy way. Regretsy, on the other hand, is over the line in a flarfy way.

In fact, flarf is the Regretsy of poetry. (I expect this to become the canonical definition of flarf eventually.)

Yeah, you know this is going to come down to puerility sooner or later.

My mind goes in unfortunate places.

Oh dear FSM, did I really just make a mental comparison between a Mei-mei Berssenbrugge poem and Regretsy?

I guess I just did. And it's going to have to go here, because it is definitely not going in the article.

Berssenbrugge, from "Dressing Up Our Pets":

I sew a bright hood for my pet mouse.

I make holes for the eyes, the nose and ears.

I stand it on two legs and it stands on its own, a while.

My friend, the white mouse, is iridescent, not an image that began in my intuition as ready-found material.

I sew a hood for the rabbit, eye and nose holes, sheathed ears.

THE IMAGE:



[Source.]

In case you can't tell, that's a photo of a baby chicken dressed in a hand-knitted...item.

Yes, I know it's wrong. But there's an element of embarrassment in the Berssenbrugge poem that's worth exploring, and let me tell you, the Regretsy comparison hits that particular nail right on the head.

Berssenbrugge, Mei-mei. "Dressing Up Our Pets." Nest. Berkeley: Kelsey St., 2003. Print.