in parentheses

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 4 of Salt & Iron (4:32)

DAVID HARRISON HORTON in “29-38” of Salt & Iron (Finale)

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[29]

a movie not quite finished
the tribune building

she says good to meet you
means something quite other

firecrackers and atom bombs
have sent no dogs to space

male whores in green shirts
plastic tablecloths

lectures on nothing
the fact of a flag

[30]

cock in cage
paradigm of afford

Poirot in his Sunday’s best
the whale a catastrophe

I prefer my meals simple
euthanasia versus suicide

smokes are 9 jiao
that the Russians whacked him is not consistent

you can see the brewery from here
wherever that is

[31]

poor poor poor effort
Trotsky and Diego

she is going to the police
her aunt has been cheated

a question of caliber
departmental cadre

all the livelong
not now but next week

the fields are fair
regardless the concessions

[32]

the tomb of her boys
the human press

spittle and mumbling
formation of queues

acres of field
then night

asylum-like without character
there may or may not be an emperor on the throne

the face of Gibbon’s Rome
the musical accompaniment

[33]

—the world is small (Confucius)
bunkbeds in a hallway

this hotel cannot receive foreigners
this one costs more

a sunrise obscured by mist
a notice in the guidebook

she was kind to show us the gate
Vergil’s ascent to Beatrice

the threat of inaction
—the East is red (Mao)

[34]

horse horse tiger tiger
rammed the bottle against the wall

climbing two mountains to exit
coal in the depot

artificial birds and relics
worked stone steps

walked her to the station
story of the shibboleth

an issue of non-compliance
memory of Woodruff Park

[35]

moments of lucidity
the double star

haven’t killed anyone yet stop
very slow get away

she says its not her fault
I am suspicious

history is dull
the dullest fucking thing

the difference between draft oxen
this place is not an island

[36]

list of my errors
satisfaction of a circle

geisha in the garden
a different sense of dreaming

sweating through the night
silkworm strand

the martyr’s museum is shut
the monastery is not

the decision to stay put
the decision to flee

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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 – 36

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