Unruly Tree

Leslie Ullman is the author of several books of poetry and nonfiction, including Progress on the Subject of Immensity (UNM Press and Little Soul and the Selves.

“Unruly Tree is a joyful, searching book that pursues questions about the world of creativity and play. In conversation with the Oblique Strategies—a deck of cards created in 1975 by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt—Ullman’s collection is filled with curiosity, a desire to understand the thinking of other artists, and the beautiful uncertainties of the self.”—Jehanne Dubrow, author of Exhibitions: Essays on Art and Atrocity“Because there is no shrugging off ‘the weight and shame / of being human,’ the gift that Leslie Ullman’s Unruly Tree offers is precious, as over and over its poems ‘glimpse / something diamond pure / for a moment in ourselves.’”—Harvey L. Hix, author of The Gospel According to H. L. Hix

• PrefacePrologue: Just carry onPart I. Floating TimeListen in total darkness or in a very large room, very quietlyGo slowly all the way around the outsideAre there sections? Consider transitionsTurn it upside downDefine an area as “safe” and use it as anchorYou are an engineerWhat mistakes did you make last time?Disconnect from desireGhost echoesLeft channel, right channel, centre channelOnly one element of each kindDo we need holes?Honor thy error as hidden intentionYou can only make one dot at a timeLook closely at the most embarrassing details and amplify themIs the tuning appropriate?Take away the elements in order of apparent nonimportanceGive the game awayUse fewer notesPart II. Left-Hand TimeAbandon normal instrumentsImagine the music as a chain of disconnected eventsUse an unacceptable colorMake an exhaustive list of everything you might do and do the last thing on the listTwist the spineInto the impossibleAccept adviceSimple subtractionMechanicalize something idiosyncraticConsult other sources: promising, unpromisingAsk people to work against their better judgmentAccretionDon’t be frightened to display your talentsRepetition is a form of changeA line has two sidesChange instrument rolesLowest common denominator check: single beat, single note, single riffMake a blank valuable by putting it in an exquisite frameCascadesUse an old ideaIs it finished?Part III. Back-Beat TimeDo nothing for as long as possibleFaced with a choice, do bothGive way to your worst impulseSpectrum analysisThe inconsistency principleListen to the quiet voiceFill every beat with somethingWhat would your closest friend do?Infinitesimal gradationsDon’t be afraid of things because they’re easy to doUse filtersHumanize something free of errorGet your neck massagedLook at a very small object, look at its centreThink of the radioWaterMute and continueEmphasize differencesConsider different fading systemsWork at a different speedAcknowledgments