Status Updates From Actual Air

"you, on the edge of rainshot shadows,
con the world into lamenting anything
until no one can recall how true stories end."

So far, this is even better than I had been hoping.

"Self-Portrait at 28" just shifted something fundamental within me, my god

I had to get over my hesitation in scribbling on my hardcover copy just bc I feel like I don't want to encroach on anything David Berman ever had to say... But my goodness does he make it difficicult not to sing praises in chickenscratch ink on the margins and among lines I have to underline twice and sketch a star next to. It also took me a bit to prepare myself for this read. His absence still weighs heavily for me

it’s too nice a day to read a novel set in england

this book is so beautiful i will read it over and over and over again

Man this shit is crazy dog!!!!!!!

From "The Night Nurse Essays":

In that case his final words may have been damaged,
dormant expressions clambering out of their graves
with dust on the unstressed syllables,

before he was rudely shoved into the lake.

Pulled down through the cool green chambers,
we like to imagine him struggling awake
and suddenly realizing
he was seeing rain
in its original uncut form.

this will live here for i will continue to visit the poems of dave berman

5 poems per day

https://textz.com/textz/Actual%20Air.pdf

Going to finish this tonight, mark my words

"A yearbook’s endpages, filled with promises to stay in touch, stand as proof of the uselessness of a teenager’s promise. Not like I’m dying for a letter from the class stoner ten years on but..."

"I am trying to get at something/and I want to talk very plainly to you/so that we are both comforted by the honesty." "still we have no idea/how he came to die in that lake./Perhaps he could not bear to think/of his name only surviving in the index/of someone else’s biography./Or he was recalled by a higher power, having—/I don’t know—masturbated too many times/in a drugstore Halloween mask."

I have read David Berman, Sylvia Plath, and John Berryman for the same reason at times. It isn't a nice reason, but in a way you could say it is if you look at it right.

The wayback machine was down for a while, and during that time I knew for certain that my blog from when I was 14 (2005 or so) was completely inaccessible. I wonder if anyone remembers it enough to find it on there besides me. It seems like another person's. At the end of "Submarine" Oliver talks about feeling like he has a tiny version of himself inside pulling levers. I am a 10 part nesting doll.

3:00am-Sometimes I think about how most authors grew up with the big important books everywhere. Their parents had read them or at least knew of them. They were learning to be part of the system and even if they decided to be punks later on they still knew the proper mannerisms in their bones. But I grew up in the woods. Planting potatoes every spring break. Playing with frog eggs. Learning to be part of what is.

deliberately reading this very slowly—absolutely amazing poetry collection so far. David Berman is a master.

possivelmente a única coleção de poesia no mundo com uma referência a Fortran.

finally plowing through my to-read list (...and adding quite a few more books whilst browsing goodreads; the never ending cycle)

Not actively reading

Not a vibe so far but l've come this so far so it's gotta be done now plus Lucy gave it 5 stars so here we go

=

been chipping away at this book!

trying to take small bites as I love David Berman and his words so much. a poem every once in a while does it for me. For now, "Snow" is iconic and so memorable and really the reason I own this book at all. I'm currently up to page 10 ("The Coahoma County Wind Cults").

whenever I need a shift or just inspiration, I look to imagery and this book is so lush with it. love it!!!!

Hilarious, heartbreaking, and beautiful.

reading this while the pissy stench coming from the megabus toilets wafts my way

Delightful

Nervous Ashers and Self-Portrait at 28, my favorites so far.

"Here, this pill should make you feel like a turtle tangled up in a dry cleaning bag.”
Is a sentence I’ll think about until I die, like most things David has written.

I still don’t understand poetry

He wasn't sure how the bathroom mirror worked
but decided it must be powered
by the razor blades and aspirin
he found in the engine compartment.

I’m not sure I understand poetry

My roommate is letting me borrow his copy which is great since it’s hard to find somebody selling this for a reasonable price.

I basically never read poetry so this should be interesting.