Poetry is where you find it.


Gross's book contained thirty poems. My guess is that that was about the limit. As much as I enjoyed (and still enjoy) the book, it's the sort of item where once you get the point, there's not much more to do with it, though at the very least I can reprint one of my favorites:
HOSPITAL CARE AUTHORIZATION

   Patient's Surname
   Given Name
   Decision Code
   Age
   W.C.
   Type of Assistance Code
      (Circle ONE only)
   Public Assistance No.
   Admission No.
   Inst. No.
   Class Code
   Invesitagor's No.
   Supervisor's No.
   Status
               Discharge
               Death
               Other (Specify)
One of the positive aspects of a book such as this, the way in which it helps us to view everyday items with a different set of eyes, is also, ultimately, one of its drawbacks. After all, when a blurb or review on the back cover of the book, or the description of a copy for sale, can be read as another one of the poems, it becomes a bit unclear to what extent a particular literary expertise (rather than, perhaps, sensibility) was necessary here.

Although finding poetry in everyday texts isn't difficult, finding the book itself turned out to be, for me, a more complicated task than I had expected. I had expected to find a number of references to the book online, but instead only found some used booksellers who were offering copies of it. I doubt that my copy is much of a collector's item, though back in 2002 somebody was selling the hard cover version for $85. More up-to-date pages suggest that today a number of used copies are available for a much more "reasonable" price.



Go to: Spamming me softly with his song