Fifteen Dogs

A NOTE ON THE TEXT

The poems in Fifteen Dogs are written in a genre invented by François Caradec for the OULIPO. It was invented after François Le Lionnais, a founder of the group, wondered if it were possible to write poetry that has meaning for both humans and animals. In Fifteen Dogs, each poem is what Caradec called a ‘Poem for a dog.’ That is, in each poem the name of a dog will be audible — to the listener or to the dog — if the poem is said aloud, though the name is not legible. Here is an example by Harry Mathews. It is a poem written for Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s dog, Flush:

My Mistress never slights me

When taking outdoor tea

She brings sweet cake

For her sweet sake

Rough, luscious bones for me.

In Mathews’s poem, between the words rough and luscious, the name Flush can be heard. In the same way, each of the poems in Fifteen Dogs contains one of the dogs’ names.

The poem containing the name ‘Prince’ was written by Kim Maltman:

Longing to be sprayed (the green snake

writhing in his master’s hand),

back and forth into that stream –

jump, rinse: coat slick with soap.

As well, Kim collaborated on the writing of two other poems (‘Ronaldinho’ and ‘Lydia’) and edited all fifteen ‘poems for a dog.’

The song Majnoun hears beside High Park is based on lines written by Roo Borson.

Prince’s metaphysical ‘riddle’ was suggested by Alex Pugsley.