Composting
Words
I got into
an argument
at the
polytechnic library
where the
lady on the counter
wouldn't
let me borrow a book
on Tom
Phillips, artist
(I met him
once, an interview
for my
undergraduate thesis)
who make
concrete poems from old book pages.
“It's a
disgrace,” she said,
glancing
through the pages
“to
desecrate a book like this.”
and
wouldn't listen to me pointing out
the
doctored novel was out of print
and
stocked nowhere but remaindered shelves
of
down-at-heel bookshops
and lost
property offices
and
besides, more people had read it since the artist's work
than ever
did when it was in print.
I wonder
what she'd say to me now
if she saw
my growing portfolio
watercolours
on printed pages
altered
books and hand-cut pages
new art
pfrom recycled books
with paper
figures made from pages
and the
leftover pieces
recycled
in the compost bin
ready to
grow neologisms
and basal
dictionaries.