Illocality: How Joseph Massey Finds Poetry in Place

## Introduction Illocality is a collection of poems by Joseph Massey, published by Wave Books in 2015. The book is divided into four sections, each corresponding to a season in western Massachusetts, where the poet relocated after living in coastal California for many years. The poems are minimalist and attentive to the details of the natural and human-made environment, as well as the poet's own inner state. Massey's language is precise and clear, avoiding metaphor and sentimentality, but also revealing a sense of wonder and curiosity about the new place he inhabits. ## Main Body ### The Poet's Background and Influences Joseph Massey is a contemporary American poet who was born in 1976 in Philadelphia. He grew up in rural Pennsylvania and later moved to Humboldt County, California, where he lived for over a decade. He is the author of several books of poetry, including Areas of Fog (2009), At the Point (2011), and To Keep Time (2014), which form a trilogy based on his experience of the coastal landscape of northern California. He has also published numerous chapbooks and broadsides, and his work has appeared in various journals and anthologies. Massey's poetry is influenced by various traditions and movements, such as haiku, Objectivism, Imagism, and Language poetry. He cites William Carlos Williams, George Oppen, Lorine Niedecker, Robert Creeley, Rae Armantrout, and Cid Corman as some of his main influences. He also acknowledges the importance of music, especially jazz and experimental music, for his poetic sensibility. Massey's poetry is characterized by its brevity, clarity, concreteness, and musicality. He often uses short lines, enjambment, white space, and punctuation to create rhythm and tension in his poems. He also avoids abstraction, metaphor, symbolism, and personal pronouns, preferring to focus on the direct observation of things as they are. ### The Theme of Illocality The title of Massey's book, Illocality, suggests a paradoxical relationship to place. On one hand, it implies a lack of belonging or attachment to a specific location; on the other hand, it also implies a heightened awareness or sensitivity to the local details and nuances of a place. Massey explores this theme throughout his book, as he documents his transition from one place to another, and his attempt to find a new sense of home and identity in a different environment. Massey's poems are not descriptive or narrative; rather, they are fragmentary and impressionistic snapshots of moments and scenes that capture his perception and experience of place. He does not romanticize or idealize his surroundings; instead, he observes them with a keen eye and ear, noting their beauty as well as their ugliness, their familiarity as well as their strangeness. He also does not impose his own feelings or opinions on his poems; instead, he lets the language and the images speak for themselves, creating a subtle but powerful emotional resonance. Massey's poems are also not static or isolated; rather, they are dynamic and interconnected, reflecting the changes and cycles of nature and time. He uses seasonal markers, such as plants, animals, weather conditions, and daylight hours, to structure his book and to indicate the passage of time. He also uses repetition, variation, contrast, and juxtaposition to create connections and contrasts between different poems and sections. He shows how place is not a fixed or stable entity; rather, it is constantly shifting and evolving in relation to the poet's perspective and presence. ### The Structure and Style of Illocality Illocality consists of 120 pages of poems divided into four sections: Fall (pages 11-35), Winter (pages 37-61), Spring (pages 63-87), and Summer (pages 89-113). Each section contains between 15 to 18 poems that range from one line to one page in length. The poems are untitled and unnumbered; they are separated by blank pages or asterisks. The book also includes an acknowledgments page (page 115) that lists the sources and publications where some of the poems first appeared. Massey's style is minimalist and sparse; he uses simple words and syntax to create concise and clear images that convey his observation and experience of place. He often employs enjambment (the continuation of a sentence or phrase across a line break) and caesura (a pause or break within a line) to create rhythm and tension in his poems. He also uses punctuation, such as commas, periods, colons, semicolons, dashes, and parentheses, to create pauses, breaks, emphasis, and connections in his poems. He avoids capitalization, except for proper nouns and the first word of each poem. He also avoids personal pronouns, such as I, you, he, she, etc., preferring to use impersonal or collective pronouns, such as it, they, we, etc., or to omit them altogether. Massey's poems are not lyrical or expressive; rather, they are objective and descriptive. He does not use metaphor, simile, or other figurative devices to compare or contrast things; instead, he uses literal and concrete language to present things as they are. He does not use rhyme or meter to create musical effects; instead, he uses sound devices, such as alliteration, assonance, consonance, and onomatopoeia, to create sonic effects that echo or contrast the meaning of the words. He does not use symbolism or allegory to convey hidden or deeper meanings; instead, he uses ambiguity and suggestion to create multiple or open-ended meanings that invite the reader's interpretation. ## Conclusion Illocality is a remarkable book of poetry that showcases Joseph Massey's skill and talent as a poet. It is a book that challenges and rewards the reader with its minimalist and precise language, its objective and descriptive images, and its subtle and powerful emotions. It is a book that explores the theme of place in a nuanced and original way, revealing its complexity and diversity, its beauty and ugliness, its familiarity and strangeness. It is a book that invites the reader to join the poet in his journey of discovery and adaptation, of observation and reflection, of illocality and locality. ## FAQs - Q: What is the genre of Illocality? - A: Illocality is a book of poetry. - Q: Who is the author of Illocality? - A: Joseph Massey is the author of Illocality. - Q: When was Illocality published? - A: Illocality was published by Wave Books in 2015. - Q: Where does Illocality take place? - A: Illocality takes place in western Massachusetts. - Q: How many poems are in Illocality? - A: Illocality contains 60 poems divided into four sections.

Illocality book pdf

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