Fred Moten: the gramsci monument

the gramsci monument

if the projects become a project from outside
then the projects been a project forever. held

in the projects we the project they stole. we steal

the project back and try to give it back to them.

come on, come get some of this project. we protect

the project with our open hands. the architect is in mining
and we dispossess him. we protect the project by handing.
 
let’s bust the project up. let’s love the project. can the
 
projects be loved? we love the projects. let’s move
the projects. we project the projects. I’m just
projecting the project’s mine to give away. I’m not
mine when I dispossess me I’m just a projection.
 
projection’s just us that’s who we are that’s who
 
 
we be. we always be projecting. that’s all we have. 
we project the outside that’s inside us. we the
 
outside that violates our block. we violate the auction block
 
experiment. we pirates of ourselves and others. we the friend
 
of all. we the cargo. are you my treasure? you all
I need. are you my wish? come be my sunship. you are
 
my starship. you meant to fly but don’t be late. I dream 
the sails of the project from the eastern shore. plywood sails
the city island past the enclave mirror so the bricks arise.
at the fugitive bar and the food be tasting good. kitchenette
 
my cabin and flesh be burning in the hold. I love the way
 
you smell. your cry enjoys me. let me taste the way you think.
 
 
let’s do this one more time while the project repeats me. the project
 
incompletes me. I am replete with the project. your difference
folds me in your arms, my oracle with sweets, be my
 
confection engine. hear my plea. tell me how to choose.
tell me how to choose the project I have chosen. are you
 
the projects I have chosen? you are the project I choose.
 

from The Little Edges, Wesleyan 2015, used with permission from the press.

Fred Moten will deliver the Lahey Lecture, Friday at 4pm in the Hall Building, H-763. The lecture is titled “And: A Reply to Daniel Tiffany’s ‘Cheap Signaling.” Tiffany’s essay can be found here.

At 7pm Moten will give a poetry reading in the same room. This is the first Writers Read event of the season. Both events are free and open to the public. For more about the poem above, check out the companion site at Wesleyan.