Salt And Iron (Part 1) by David Harrison Horton

In Parentheses would like to present this collection of poetry by David Harrison Horton, whose work will be forthcoming in Volume 6. They are written in the style of Russian film theorist Sergei Eisenstein’s methods of montage: Metric, Rhythmic, Tonal, Overtonal, Intellectual. We have the privilege of presenting this selection of poetry with an accompaniment of audio from the author’s reading. In this first installment, Horton will explain briefly their methods, inspiration, and process with specific regard to the selections herein. Please join us again in a future post to continue the conversation as we complete the series.

David Harrison Horton is a Beijing-based writer, artist, editor and curator. He is author of the chapbooks Pete Hoffman Days (Pinball) and BeiHai (Nanjing Poetry). His poetry has recently appeared in Spittoon, swifts & slows and Otoliths, among others.

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“Introduction,” to Salt & Iron (2:00)

“I’d like to thank Phillipe and everyone at In Parentheses for this opportunity to discuss and read my poems Salt and Iron. Let’s start with the title. In ancient China, salt and iron were made imperial monopolies in an effort to thwart the rising economic power of the traders of those commodities. So, we can see two simple words, salt/iron, two very mundane object images, placed together to form a historic tension that still resonates in contemporary society. Likewise, these poems operate between and across timelines and geographies. We have the Chinese Dowager Wu who died in 705 AD set palimpsested inside other threads that include more modern known and unknown names, like Auden or my childhood friends from Detroit, the Piro brothers. There are references or appropriations from Western and Chinese literature intertwined with images of everyday life, hopefully done in a way that includes you and brings you in. In short, there is a lot of material used in these very terse 10-line poems. This is where Eisensteinian film theory comes in. Soviet director Sergei Eisenstein was one of the first proponents of montage, a way of juxtaposing images to induce an effect in the audience. The greater the contradiction in the images, the greater the response. In these poems, images or ideas are placed beside one other in an attempt to elicit meaning from you. The fact that these poems are sparse leaves more room for reader response and meaning creation. These incongruities help drive the piece in ways that are hopefully equal in rigor and playfulness. This, for me, is where the fun is. I hope you agree.”

DAVID HARRISON HORTON in “Introduction” of Salt & Iron (Part 1)

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Audio, Part 1 of Salt & Iron (5:05)

DAVID HARRISON HORTON in “1-8” of Salt & Iron (Part 1)

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[1]

violin scales from the building next
rain, which I haven’t seen in months

a slow drive down a long stretch of highway
renovation of the Western Gate

the need for a better billfold
a pack of fast burning smokes

a bay window and the courtyard beneath
the hotel they call a guest house

ubiquitous grey of architecture and sky
puddles along the walkway

[2]

a dog and pony show
reliquary to the rebellion

walls that no longer hold
rivlet that cuts the city

Dowager Wu and other phoenixes
cobble imitation opulence

streets busied with bicycles
effigy of an era

a raping akin to Sabine
wo bu dong apologies

[3]

not quite a longing
something less specific

the cornerstone to St. Jude’s
the morning’s paper

trains sound the same,
regardless of their location

shops are shops
whether bourgeois or not

a definition of distance
handed off at lateral

[4]

women in frocks playing badminton
sweeper pushing a bamboo broom

teenaged boys gathered around the hoops
sky without hint of sun

a calm broken by intermittent discussions
Chinese checkers, not of my youth

a consideration of the word precarious
tiny Honda rusted to shit

a map that I cannot read
I am 1/3 through Moby Dick

[5]

a snake in its second skin
cowled in its virtue

implementation of civil planning
a walk alongside the fence

at every instance the lack of nuance
trinkets valued at faceful

the hint of autumn is not autumn
as set to sail and sailing differ

rooted out or down
a single flower against the skyline

[6]

swords without regalia
unlanded gentry

unsynchronized uniformed movements
a locust in the tree

an afternoon coffee with little conversation
a line perpendicular to the perimeter

thoughts about the whale
impossible other

lines broken through
or merely disconnected

[7]

600 pages and no whale
newspaper table at the depot

middle-aged woman makes herself ‘pretty’
the Gate of Heavenly Worship

recognition of class
flower petals floating in the afternoon coffee

BBC World Service
other propaganda mechanisms

beer sold in singles
a question of altitude

[8]

harvest moon
true signs of industry

the river is brown
the skyline barely visible

this or that palace
a statue of the mayor

beautiful boy cutting hair
red fruit on a wooden scale

lone fisherman trowling a fixed station
the point of convergence

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Release Guideline // Salt & Iron by David Harrison Horton

June 10, 2020 – Chapter 1: Intro, Parts of Chinese history while using Eisensteinian juxtapositions of images, Reading of Salt & Iron 1 – 8

June 14, 2020 – Chapter 2: Reading of Salt & Iron 9 – 18

June 17, 2020 – Chapter 3: Reading of Salt & Iron 19 – 28

June 20, 2020 – Chapter 4: Reading of Salt & Iron 29 – 38

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