Poetry
The kinds of poetry George Hitchcock published in Kayak are reflected in the selections to the left. Hitchcock published surrealist and deep image poetry mainly. The focus of this kind of poetry starts to shift away from that of more traditional genres. Surrealist poets are not interested in having an overt meaning, instead, they are interested in the subconscious and emotional rections poeple will have to a poem. Surrealist poetry challenges the way people tend to read poetry; with surrealist poetry, a reader doesn't decipher the beautiful language to discern the author's meaning like he or she does with traditional poetry. Instead, the poem aims to create a visceral reaction to the beauty or strangeness of the images involved and the way the language is used. Common techniques include startling juxtopasitions and sudden gaps in the progression fo the poem; the poem moves from one subject and tone in one stanza to a dramaticcally diffferent one in the next as a strategy to disorient the reader and produce an interesting emotional reaction. Instead of analyzing a surrealist poem to make sense of the metaphors involved, a practiced reader will approach the poem with an appreciation for its strange uses of language, and an openess to the startling emotional and mental reactionsthe poem aims to produce.
Hitchcock also published political poetry. Because of his surrealist sensibilities, This didn't usually mean poems overtly concerned with politics or major issues, rather the political poetry in Kayak generally gets its message across through a vaguely revolutionary attitude on the part of its narrators. See for example, "The Sweater of Vladimir Ussachevsky" to the left, or "Why I Left My Job in the Garment Industry" below.
"Why I Left My Job i the Garment Industry" by Lou Lispsitz
Kayak also included found poetry, that is, text drawn from non-literary sources and presented as poetry. Found poetry is particularly interesting because it allows us to see how poets approach reading, constantly on the look out for interesting uses of language, even if they appear by accident. Alternately, found poetry shows that literary ways of writing manage to seep into the non-literary world to the point that excersize books or advertisements can seem quite poetic when presented in a poetic context. Below is a example of a spread of found poetry appearing in an issue of the magazine.
