Alice Notley: Negativity's Kiss

The heroine of Alice Notley's noir epic poem Negativity's Kiss (Presses Universitaires de Rouen) is named Ines. This is short for "inessential," which is what Notley says the poet is, and, really, what we all are. She believes poetry is a great healer, and, wishing to remind us that our planet is small, when we die, poetry is what we return to. Ines writes poems that are emitted from what Notley calls "the garble," which is all the information we receive through the media and the internet as opposed to our known senses. Ines, like Notley herself, wishes to use her poetry to make things better, but in the world of Notley's noir, this isn't possible.

Photo by Matt Valentine