Borrowed Words

Like a farmer rotating his crops Peter Wortsman periodically ploughs words back into the mulch of meaning. Romanian émigré DADA poet Tristran Tzara (aka Samuel Rosenstock 1896-1963) gave it a name: cut-up (or “découpé” in French). Wortsman reverts to cutups when he's too distracted depressed dumbfounded or deranged to write in the regular manner. As the isolation of virtual lockdown during the seemingly interminable Covid-19 pandemic stretches into its third year Wortsman a modern-day monk languishes in the solitude of his cell longing for meaningful communion. Absent belief in a transcendent being cutups take the place of prayer.