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Table of Contents
32nd Light Poem by Mac Low
History of the Light Poem Series
“Very few if any Naropians wd have the patience and obsessiveness to work as I did in the ’50s and ’60s. You gotta have the temperament and madness.” -Mac Low
There is a reason why the anthologist declares Mac Low to be “arguably the preeminent experimental poet of his time” (Rothenberg & Taboada 459). One striking example is Low's series of sixty poems centering words for light, addressed, often to a particular person, with a corresponding date and time. In undertaking this project, Low developed a 14-column list of 288 words for light, the majority of which he created himself. When making many of the poems, Low developed a system of drawing the names of light to be used in each work based on the letters in the name of the person he was dedicating the poem to and playing cards (Rothenberg). In an interview with Jerome Rothenberg, Low provided this insight, “Each of the 14 columns of the list of kinds of light accords with one of the 14 different names of denominations of playing cards (ace to king + jokers), and with one of the 14 different letters in Iris and my names. All of the names of kinds of light in the poems begin with letters in our names” (Rothenberg). This elaborate choice of methodology speaks to Low's creativity and commitment to the artistic process. For those interested in the artist's decision-making, the last three pages of Low's book detail the exact creative process he used for each individual poem (Rothenberg).
32nd Light Poem
This entry will highlight the 32nd light poem, significantly near the halfway point of Low's undertaking. The poem is dated October 1971 and dedicated to the memory of the poet's friend Paul Blackburn, who had recently passed away. The poet expertly weaves various images of light throughout the poem to create a somber tone as he reflects on the “what ifs” that so commonly accompany grief. The poet was, impactfully, kept in the dark in regard to his friend's impending death and his realization of this is conveyed through a lens of opaque amber light dimming to umber, and giving way in the final turn to “the black light of absence” (Rothenberg & Taboada 458).
Within “32nd Light Poem: In Memoriam Paul Blackburn 9-10 October 1971,” the word “light” is used a total of 20 times, with the frequency increasing in the final stanzas of the poem (Rothenberg & Taboada 456).
Additionally, a list of the light-related words and phrases found within the poem, in order of occurrence, include:
- pale light
- winter dawn
- twilight
- phosphorescence
- shadowily
- amber light of regret
- amber light dims to umber
- umber light
- lightning
- black light
- bolt of lightning
- lightning that destroyed
- dreadful amber light
- friendly car light
- welcoming kitchen light
- black light of absence
- ultraviolet light
- revelatory light
- no light
- unending light
- living light
Works Cited
Rothenberg, Jerome, and Javier Taboada, editors. The Serpent and the Fire: Poetries of the Americas from Origins to Present. University of California Press, 2024.
Rothenberg, Jerome. “With Jackson Mac Low: The Light Poems & Other Matters (Personal, Literary, Political) 2003-2004.” Poems and Poetics, Jacket2, jacket2.org/commentary/jackson-mac-low-light-poems-and-other-matters-personal-literary-political-2003%E2%80%932004. Accessed 26 Mar. 2025.
