"I know a man" translations

A recent post on Steven Fama's very excellent blog the glade of theoric ornithic hermetica discusses two 'translations' of Robert Creeley's iconic I KNOW A MAN one by Rachel Loden and the other by Douglas Rothschild. They are both translations or altered versions, using the Creeley original as a meme both in terms of structure as as well as a cultural artefact. The comments stream, with posts by both authors, are very interesting too. In responding to the post, I made up a quick version of the Creeley original, clearly riffing off both Rothschild's and Loden's versions.


I KNOW A MEANING

words, I sd to my
friend, because I am
always talking,—words, I

sd, which was not his
name, meaning sur-
rounds us, what

can we do about
it, or else, shall we &
why not, just say something,

words, he sd, for
christ’s sake,
look out where yr going.