staircase poem 17

there are things i need
to write about in my art
&/or my trail of poems
report to understand my
position & it might make
this not a poetic poem

there are now three fluxus artists
in my report—dick higgins yoko
ono & robert filliou—but i didn’t
label or identify them that way
haven't included someone's
definition of fluxus either

fluxus artists create happenings
& happenings have been in
my vocabulary since childhood
probably picked it up from the air
television radio papers & magazines
happenings have helped shape me

be-ins love-ins bed-ins sit-ins
all happenings pre-occupy movement
fluxus also big on the spontaneous
allen ginsberg's spontaneous mind
& first words best words mantra
from india or buddhist teachings

marcia tucker a proponent of spontaneous
in artmaking & curating both
do something & reflect on it later
i worked with her at the new museum
of contemporary art in nyc during
my curatorial internship there

other fluxus artists had roles
in the new york–nscad connect
& exchange over the years
they were in halifax when I was
growing up there since the mid '60s
long before going to art college