Citadel - Series 2

There were eventually four sets of books bound for The New Alexandrian Library and book 2 begins a new chapter in the Citadel Series.  All this information will be included on the article on David, but it is here for my own reference! These are very precious books to me.

Citadel II/1 is dated 9/5/2017 and II/31 9/12/2017.

This series concluded the words included in the Cyberwit publication of The Citadel. 

II/1 

has a thematic development with many references to war and death, weapons and Ani, evil in history with the inquisition, urban references with blinking neon, references with deep space, atomic fusion, helium arc. The metaphysical – transmigrations, psyches, ruach.

Ruach – a Hebrew word meaning breath or spirit – and so David breathes the traces of his worlds into our own consciousness.  

Jasmine appears again in the concluding poem:

Jasmine’s pitch

arraigned in gravel

and ice evening sounds

elliptical bends

weapon groves the

Rosenbergs executed

By our poor time…

He is coupled with the Rosenberg’s, atomic spies who were executed in the 1950’s, smoking jackets with elbow patches who represent academics and Hobbes: a traveler representing David’s own self-reflexivity, where the structure of his words indicates his own concerns. 

Citadel III/1 – III/39
Citadel III marks the  beginning of The Citadel 2 published by Cyberwit.  Citadel III/1 is dated 16/12/2017.  This book concludes with III/39 dated 28/11/2018. That’s many months of writing and honing in on leitmotifs so varied they become their own theme. 

Notes for III/1:

                  

Lake Shore Drive – very expensive real estate along Lake Michigan shoreline stretching along the city of Chicago and its wealthy suburbs. 

Mines – reference to Kingston Mines

Haymarket (a frequent occurrence in David’s work) – Chicago labor riots in 19^th century.

Drawbridges - many of them in downtown Chicago over the Chicago River.

Liftraft – wade upwards

Green River – Chicago River (old Mayor Daley the First dyed the river green on St Patrick’s Day)

Now this was a strange tradition I had never heard of – but it made for interesting reading. In spite of a poetic set very structurally in Chicago (Lake Shore Drive/Haymarket/Kingston Mines/drawbridges/Chicago River/Kemper Building, in Stone-ian style we are forced to touch base with Charlemagne and Mars Station (referencing the second simulated Mars analogue habitat owned and operated by the Mars Society?), tied together with the Chicago skyline by “dizzy tranquil threads”. 

III/39 notes – a sombre set of words, this, where on is left contemplating

A pint of blood

one wonders

an account

of a soul.

Notes:

Travellers – thinking of road travellers, the Honduran migrants flooding the US and,  ‘traveler’ as a term relating to ‘commonism’ (I’m not certain what that reference is).

Creaking door – thinking of a gate to an alley

Mortician on the battlefield….coffee percolating… - the jump from life to death

Game of roulette – element of chance in the drama

                  The mortician

                  surveys the battlefield.

                  there are no

                  blessings. 

                  Choked forms 

enter the cold

realm.

Mary Barnet gives a very excellent review of David’s Citadel poems where she describes him as a Surrealist n the school of Salvador Dali. I’m not certain I agree with that categorization although there are many similarities in terms of the subconscious interacting with sensory representations.  And of course, let’s not forget the role of chance in the juxtapositions of thoughts and words.  

Citadel III/41 – IV/31

The fourth book in the Citadel Series comprising typed poetry and accompanying hand written notes. Citadel III/41 is dated 23/12/2018.

Citadel III/41 uses recurring references to Gettysburg. There are images of the memorial battlefield in Pennsylvania, haunting word representations of thousands of Union and Rebel troops with 19^th Century muskets firing and killing – so much dying.  The fields are filled with bloody soldiers dying in the grass.  The trees are smoking - nature too, wounded by the travesties men impose violently on men.   There is another reference to the North Sea.  This time David said he used this ectype to depict Guido’s (Vermeulen – Belgium)  exit and Jasmine, now ‘plays irradiated tons on the piano at the bar’.  This mental nudge to David’s alter ego is perhaps situated right there for us to realise that the filter David sees the world through is veiled through the mediation of another.  The alter ego intervenes on behalf of the vulnerable poet in order to shield him from first hand horror. 

                  

Citadel IV/31 concludes this series (so far) and finished the publication The Citadel 2. Jasmine is here in full force, recounting a very abbreviated 70 year history which includes the Cold war of the 50’s, the radical 60’s, the ‘normalization’ of the 70’s, to the present. 

David was in Israel in 1970 – 1971. Jasmine and David entwine, boon mental companions enjoying Jasmine’s “symphonic compositions”, while David in first person tells us:

                  In Israel above the wailing 

wall at night, the Old City of

Jerusalem floats like a gigantic,

bright full moon that seems

so close I could touch  it by 

standing n a ladder and I

thought that God was hiding

on the other side of the moon.

David Stone - Citadel 20 - 67

Citadel 20 – 67

This collection of poems, accompanied by hand written notes by David Stone, represents poetry in The Citadel series which would eventually find its way to the publishing house of Cyberwit. The first 19 Citadel poems were bound as two envelope books for An Encyclopedia of Everything in the "Undo to Read" series.  Citadel 20 is dated 15/11/2015 and Citadel 67 is dated 27/4/2017. 

I am very grateful to have observed, in a small way, David’s journey in this series.  His words inspired artworks which became a win-win for both of us and his yellow post-its encouraged.  This collection was bound in December 2019 while working on a paper of David's book works in my collection. These poems are not for the faint hearted, nor the casual reader. David’s invitation to engage is open, but also guarded, loaded with LIFE. 

Envelopes 2 And Things

Unique Book, commercial wire binding comprising the envelopes of John Bennett (USA).  Some of his sendings are interspersed between the opened envelopes (including the days of swopping shopping lists...).  Other envelopes are partially opened to form pockets for his TLP's.  Book 2 in the series.

This book was inspired by Karl Friederick Hackers work MA Book Object - Edition Footura black – see: http://newalexandrianlibrary.blogspot.com/2019/10/ma-bookobject-edition-footura-black.html

Karl had opened some of his mail art envelopes, saddle stitched them in a cardboard cover and posted them to me as a Book Object. But, if I was going to use these envelopes to make a second envelope book, what would become of all the work sent? So I bound it all together – and SO happy it is.   John makes good use of his envelopes, using them as a whiteboard on which to scribble/stamp/draw some of his current ideas. 

So! Back to the history of envelopes…

Around 200BC, the Chinese developed the first envelope made from paper. But rather than messages, these simple protective wraps were used to send monetary gifts. At around the same time, wealthy Japanese men used early versions to send gifts to relatives after a death. Both the Chinese and Japanese versions at the time were believed to be rather crudely made by hand. For more information, you’ll have to read the book…