.
Super Bowl on Broadway: photo by Steve Pappas, 1 February 2014
It's the quiet that we
suck out of the noise.
The morning carries Carbon 14
a relative waste jackknifed
in the middle of the universe.
O brook, o river, o baptism,
falling in the hands of moneyseekers.
It's the hermit that we must feel
in the multitude. O woods
O forests, o river!
It's the quiet to extract
..from the wind
Joseph Ceravolo (1934-1988): February 3, 1987 [Bloomfield, New Jersey], from Mad Angels (poems 1976-1988), in Collected Poems, 2013
Super Bowl Boulevard, New York City: Autograph seekers: photo by Scott Lynch (Scooboco), 29 January 2014
Super Bowl Tailgate Party signage, East Rutherford, New Jersey: photo by Stephen Arnauovic (thoroughbredzone), 1 February 2014
Clam Broth House signage, Hoboken, New Jersey: photo by Stephen Arnauovic (thoroughbredzone), 1 February 2014
Super Bowl XLVIII installation, with Manhattan Island and Empire Sate Building in the distance, Hoboken, New Jersey: photo by Stephen Arnauovic (thoroughbredzone), 1 February 2014
The calm before the Super Bowl, Hoboken, New Jersey: photo by Stephen Arnauovic (thoroughbredzone), 1 February 2014
Super Mania, 7:24 a.m.!!!! Broncos cheerleaders, Super Bowl Boulevard, New York City.: photo by JamesPolk, 31 January 2014
Super Bowl Toboggan Run, Super Bowl Boulevard, New York City. Fake snow courtesy of the NFL (I bet that's a long liability waiver!): photo by JamesPolk, 31 January 2014
Super Bowl Boulevard, New York City: Go Broncos: photo by Scott Lynch (Scooboco), 29 January 2014
Super Bowl Boulevard, New York City: Play 60 Rush Zone or something: photo by Scott Lynch (Scooboco), 29 January 2014
Super Bowl Boulevard, New York City: Field goal kick: photo by Scott Lynch (Scooboco), 29 January 2014
Super Bowl Boulevard, New York City: Pep City, Bryant Park, Soda: photo by Scott Lynch (Scooboco), 29 January 2014
Super Bowl Boulevard, New York City: Pep City, Bryant Park, Cheetos: photo by Scott Lynch (Scooboco), 29 January 2014
Super Bowl Boulevard, New York City: Lamb Ribs at Marc Forgione: photo by Scott Lynch (Scooboco), 29 January 2014
XLVIII (Super Bowl Boulevard, Times Square, New York City): photo by Gary Burke, 30 January 2014
Super Bowl Boulevard: photo by JamesPolk, 31 January 2014
Super Bowl Toboggan Run! (Super Bowl Boulevard, Times Square, New York City): photo by agentjlovesnyc, 28 January 2014
Toboggan Run. Taken at the construction of Super Bowl Boulevard, Times Square, New York City: photo by agentjlovesnyc, 28 January 2014
Super Bowl Boulevard, New York City: Toboggan Run: photo by Scott Lynch (Scooboco), 29 January 2014
Fox Staging Area, Super Bowl Boulevard, Times Square, New York City: photo by agentjlovesnyc, 27 January 2014
Super Bowl Boulevard, New York City: Nygard models: photo by Scott Lynch (Scooboco), 29 January 2014
Super Bowl Boulevard, New York City: Seahawks photo op: photo by Scott Lynch (Scooboco), 29 January 2014
Super Bowl Boulevard, New York City: Broncos photo op: photo by Scott Lynch (Scooboco), 29 January 2014
Super Bowl Boulevard, New York City: Xbox One house: photo by Scott Lynch (Scooboco), 29 January 2014
Domo Arigato Mr Football Roboto 4215: Super Bowl Boulevard, Times Square, New York City: photo by Brecht Bug (Brechtbug), 30 January 2014
Cleatus: photo by JamesPolk, 27 January 2014
Super Bowl Boulevard, New York City: Pep City, Bryant Park, Half Time dancers: photo by Scott Lynch (Scooboco), 29 January 2014
Super Bowl Boulevard, New York City: World Champion Steelers fan: photo by Scott Lynch (Scooboco), 29 January 2014
Super Bowl Boulevard, New York City: Football toss: photo by Scott Lynch (Scooboco), 29 January 2014
Super Bowl Boulevard, New York City: Security: photo by Scott Lynch (Scooboco), 29 January 2014
New Jersey Air National Guardsman, Staff Sgt. Jonathan Arochas, 108th Security Forces Squadron, 108th Wing, monitors the perimeter of MetLife Stadium along with a New Jersey State Trooper. With Super Bowl XLVIII scheduled to be played Feb. 2 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., the New Jersey National Guard in cooperation with the New Jersey State Police will provide security details for the event: U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Mark C. Olsen, 29 January 2014
Office of Air and Marine helicopter helps patrol over Metlife Stadium prior to Super Bowl XLVII: photo by Josh Denmark, 31 January 2014 (U.S. Customs and Border Protection/CBP Photography)
Director New York Field Operations Robert Perez, Assistant Director New York Field Operations Russo, and Port of New York/Newark Branch Chief for Tactical Operations Kevin McCabe visit MetLife Stadium prior to the Super Bowl: photo by Josh Denmark, 31 January 2014 (U.S. Customs and Border Protection/CBP Photography)
Miiitary helicopters fly over the Meadwpwlands, East Rutherford, New Jersey, two days before Super Bowl XLVIII: photo by Stephen Arnauovic (thoroughbredzone), 31 January 201l
Ceravalo's wonderful (absolutely wonderful) poem ennobles the SuperBowl event simply by being placed in its proximity. The SuperBowl event cannot sully the poem because the poem is so strong. Thank you for putting this together. The overwhelming, stultifying amount of SuperBowl coverage (and its near-total idiocy and uselessness) has had us seeking cover. I used to feel like a priggish killjoy when I would occasionally explain to people that I greatly preferred football (and the world) before they established the SuperBowl. I feel that way more than ever this year. Happy Groundhog Day. Curtis
ReplyDeleteCurtis,
ReplyDeleteThis very Late Roman Empire party ought to play well in...
But why go into it.
As we don't have cable and quake in unpatriotic dread of the event in any case, I will not be watching.
Joe Ceravolo's poem is introduced into the entertainment package as a sort of, I don't know what, exorcism?
To second Curtis, the words are so powerful they stare down the grotesquerie of images.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy to say that the Carnegie Library where I work will be hosting the 14th Annual Alternative Souper Bowl, collecting non-perishable items to help fight hunger and hosting 3 bands, via our local alternative music public radio station WYEP, who will be rattling the lid on the nearly 120 year old building.
And I'll be working. Not sure how the old robber baron would feel about it (you never know), but that makes me happy, indeed.
Don
Joe Ceravolo's poem is a perfect counterpoint to the Big Event. And a perfect little poem in any context.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it won't do much as exorcism but "...the quiet to extract/ from the wind" will do very well as a talisman, I imagine.
ReplyDeleteThe spiritual force in his late works is remarkable.
New York City... our Kulcheral "head"
ReplyDeletewill pimp anything....
the Stupid Bowl is in New Jersey !
Cheaper prostitutes there than in NYC....
or in Sochi ?
Exorcism. That seems about right. Caroline was fascinated to learn that even in Berkeley, without cable, you were aware of the nauseating surfeit of coverage. We thought (and had hoped) that increased distance from the epicenter might provide some relief from the unrelenting assault of "coverage." One odd thing, which New Jersey resident Joseph Ceravolo would certainly have noticed, is the way the New Jersey aspect of the game, i.e., that's where it's being played, has been almost completely written out of the story in the press and on tv. The only way it's being mentioned is as a hook/entrance point for additional Chris Christie discussion, which is certainly an ongoing news item, but a "reach" in terms of the topic at hand. The excision of New Jersey is peculiar because the entire Meadowlands arena/corporate offices mega-development represented a gargantuan project with massive and continuous state involvement for years and years. Apparently, the mayor of East Rutherford wasn't even invited to the game. Curtis
ReplyDeleteThanks Duncan, Don and Terry, we're in agreement about this poet.
ReplyDeleteThe spiritual dimension one enters when inhabiting Ceravolo's poetry and the physical dimension of the Super Bowl -- discontinuous.
As it happens, Duncan, in place of "exorcism" I had first writ "talisman", but the sight of the robotics... well, is it possible to drive a stake through the heart of a robot?
Not forgetting that one-eighth of the genes come from Neanderthals, and the other seven-eighths were rumoured to have been found in the dumper of a garbage truck somewhere in Jersey.
A lot of people think that the fall of Tony Soprano began with his inability to get along with New York.
ReplyDeleteBut unlike Tony and Johnny Sack, New York poets and New Jersey poets have been known to make nice. Joe was born in Queens, graduated from CCNY and took classes at the New School. And there are New York poets who have actually been seen in New Jersey. As a matter of fact, an anonymous confidant reports that the great New York poet Jimmy Schuyler was an habitué of the Clam Broth House in Hoboken (see fourth photo). Others made the pilgrimage. Jimmy's influence is legendary.
The eye billboard above the Domo Arigato Robot foto tells it all. Thanks for the great post. I wouldn't go over there even if I were able to but now I have seen the incredibly stupid Super Bowl Boulevard in fotos that make it look much more like art than what it actually is. The first foto is absolutely gorgeous. But the eye tells it all. Believe it or not I am actually here, in Manhattan, having been taken down by crumbling knees, osteoarthritis, pain strong enough to motivate a change of scene from a comfortable home at the beach in Costa Rica to homeless bumming around New York in midwinter freeze, in the hope of a knee replacement or some relief that will make me functional if such exists, meanwhile limping around the temple of the moneyseekers and moneychangers. It is cold beyond what I would prefer but helps me relate to the winter pictures in some of the previous posts. This hell is a good change of pace from the other hell, all theoretically surmountable by meditation or death. Will choose mediation or sleep until the Doctor can see me. Dr. W.C. Williams' ghost has informed me that he will not be attending. Allen Ginsberg is another New Jersey poet, right? New York secretly annexed the Meadowlands before placing its football teams. Public funds paid for the Met Life Stadium. Also for all the major stadiums constructed over recent decades in the US. It is possible to extract the quiet from the wind here, only a few blocks from the stupidity and decadent noise of the moneymongers, or anywhere. The worst genes manipulated the rest into the current dumbed-down state of affairs. Neanderthals were peaceful. Let's see what's next.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Harris
Harris.... have no fear .... your government will right all wrongs and keep you safe ... and fix that knee.... that is, if you can find a doctor/hospitol that will take MetLife insurance via Obamacare !
ReplyDeletejust follow the CDC's advice about using full-body latex..... not goat- or pig-skin condoms when in either NYC or Sochi...
here is what is going on in The Big Apple and over-the-bridge....
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-
31/super-bowl-prostitution-digitally-mapped-by-data-trackers.html
Yes, love the poem. Football, I've never understood. A lot of kids in this area think of sports as their way to go to college. One friend's son got a football scholarship, made it through more or less, and now says he breaks into a cold sweat every time he watches the game. Seems like a logical response. And the response I've always had to the game.
ReplyDeleteThe distant prophetic tremors of the event inveigled themselves e'en unto the crumpled ball of disorderly covers neath which I had hid in the fearful dark all through the livelong day, and when I crawled out, it was night, and Phil Hoffman was dead.
ReplyDeleteTom....I apologize for asking this here...: I made a translation of that Ceravolo´s poem but I am not sure about the meaning of "it" what do you think? thanks!
ReplyDeleteEntre lo "inmenso" y yo hay algo
Yo y lo inmenso nos iremos pronto.
Entre lo inmenso y yo hay amor y deseo.
Como somos abstractos estamos todavía aquí.
Between me and it is something between
I and it will both be gone soon.
Between me and it are love and desire.
As we are abstract are we here still.
Creo que me gusta tu versión casi mejor que el original.
ReplyDeletethanks so much Tom...you are so kind...be well!
ReplyDelete