MOORE, EMIN AND KOONS
I was sitting quietly at the bar with a pint of bitter
in my right hand and I was about to bring it to my lips
when a skinny man, wearing a trilby and knitted sweater
sad “you like art. Want to buy something as cheap as chips?”
On a red flatbed lorry with a crane at the back
was a bronze sculpture weighing at least 2 tons
“Yours for £1,000.” What could I say but “yes, I'll take it.”
It's in the garden where cabbages, potatoes and peas grew.
I was sitting quietly at the bar with a pint of bitter
in my right hand and I was about to bring it to my lips
when a skinny man, wearing a trilby and knitted sweater
said “you like art. Want to buy something as cheap as chips?”
He passed me a postcard of an unmade bed
from the Saatchi Gallery. “Got it out before the fire.
“Yours for £1,000.” What could I say but “yes, I'll take it.”
It's in the only bedroom. I sleep on the couch downstairs.
I was sitting quietly at the bar with a pint of bitter
in my right hand and I was about to bring it to my lips
when a skinny man, wearing a trilby and knitted sweater
sad “you like art. Want to buy something as cheap as chips?”
Under the sheeting was a 6ft microphone made
of high chromium stainless steel with colour coating.
“Yours for £1,000.” What could I say but “yes, I'll take it.”
It's in the lounge and just fits. Mind you I can't open the door.
Next time that skinny man wearing a trilby and knitted sweater
approaches I'll tell him to piss off. Unless it's a Hirst or Calder.
Philip Golding
Thu 16th Oct 2008 20:45
I was sitting quietly at the bar with a pint of bitter
in my right hand and I was about to bring it to my lips
I like the way these lines lead the reader through, but I found I needed to read it a number of times to understand it.
Thank you for your comment re Eliot's 'Objective Correlative
One possible criticism of the objective correlative is expressed by Michael Witkoski in his article “The bottle that isn’t there and the duck that can’t be heard: The ‘subjective correlative’ in commercial messages” [2] when he says: “The objective correlative also allows for more abstract, less immediate connections…”. Yet another possible flaw of Eliot’s theory includes his assumption that an author’s intentions concerning expression will be understood. This point is stated by Balachandra Rajan as quoted in David A. Goldfarb’s “New Reference Works in Literary Theory” [3] with these words: “Eliot argues that there is a verbal formula for any given state of emotion which, when found and used, will evoke that state and no other.”