Over at dVerse Poets Pub, Victoria gives us a superb introduction to Dadaist art and poetry and invites us to play along. I once planned to collaborate on a screenplay about Tristan Tzara and the Dadaists, so it’s a subject dear to my heart (even though I don’t like all of their ‘artefacts’). There is much to admire about this ‘anti-art’, anti-establishment movement, because it’s not just nihilistic disillusionment but very active, vital and collaborative. I leave with this quote by Tristan Tzara:
Dada never preached, having no theory to defend. It showed truths in action… I speak only of myself since I do not wish to convince, I have on right to drag others into my river… everybody practises his art in his own way.
Summer Holiday Beach Fun – Dada-Style
Acrid child or burning bodies
clunk-pok rackets stilt conversations
fine falling in fishy-grained hesitance
glistening in half-heard hum
I’m knocked of my over off perch
lukewarm lapping
seaweed sound
tangle of waves with wooden wailing
findingtimetowrite 
Yes Marina, dada it is.Well done.
Ta da for Dada!
I couldn’t have said better.
i especially like glistening in half heard hum- it speaks of music and fun- humming is antiform like dadaism and divergent thought which we need more of in the wolrd of techno rats ruling
I’ve got a bad voice, so humming is my contribution to the world of music…
mine too, i love humming
Seeweed sound and fishy grained hesitance, very dadaist combinations ~ Good one Marina ~
Don’t think hesitance is a real word, either, but anything goes for Dada, right?
ha. i would love to be tangling the waves….and listening to the seaweed sound…ha….i miss the ocean…clunkpok…is that a real word? i need to look that up…fun to say
Don’t think clunpok is a real word – it’s my attempt to imitate the sound of that beach tennis game…
Marina Sofia – This is really an evocative description. It’s light-hearted, but still serious, and certainly captures the beach. Well done!
Interesting how one phrase resonates more than the others in a dadaist poem. I like the ‘lukewarm lapping’. Who wants cold water during the summer holiday?
Ah, how easily I could picture this dadaist beach from your words. I love the ‘tangle of waves.’ And I could go for some ‘lukewarm lapping’ sometime soon.
oh the seaweed sound…i love it.. and i wanna go and take a swim in the ocean… ugh..haven’t forever…
The wooden wailing.. yes that would be a great part of a day at the sun.. I can feel that splinters in my burning body.. no let’s have some cool seaweed sound instead.
Nice choice by scrambling random disconnected words, superbly Dada; I couldn’t quite that abstract with my piece, so I opted to go with disconnected phrases & images; but it works like gangbusters for you; your last line is killer /tangle of waves with wooden wailing/ though I might have chosen the last word to be “Whaling”.
Wonderful how you included the Dada’d up photo. And the focus on sound.
the last three lines are just spot on….what a fun read…
conversations
fine falling in fishy-grained hesitance
glistening in half-heard hum
Love that
Loved your dada…
tangled fish in seaweed rapunzel perch in towers submerged where grainy hesitance stops witch and shows the elf of swords the way. (as a reply of dada sorts)
That sounds like the bedtime story we had tonight (we’re currently reading Lord of the Rings together, my kids and I).
I’ve read them many times. Particular favorites of mine. I just had a Harry Potter marathon…just got my wand – I do believe it chose me. There’s only one wand maker left making them from wood.
Ooh, excellent! The closing lines are luscious:
lukewarm lapping
seaweed sound
tangle of waves with wooden wailing
Love the photo that you have with your words….clever Dadaism here. 🙂
You can’t be more dada than this Marina! Very innovative take!
Hank
I will admit…I prefer seaweed sound to seaweed taste (although my wife and kids disagree) 🙂 Lovely piece.
Ah, but I like seaweed taste as well – especially deep-fried!
Your diction moves me toward distress, toward mourning. Works well!
Ahhhh so much imagery! I could see it all. Especially the “acrid children and burning bodies”. Thry’re unfortunate memories of human destruction.
I like the sound-queues in this poem. Makes me homesick for the sea!