Poets of the past indulged in philosophy. Thought. Its unexpected ascent. Deduction, induction, elaborate on a subject, conclusion. Dressing logic of concepts into celebration robe. Oh, what work! Mildewed unpleasantness of offices. Thinkers!

Parrot on a Motorcycle (Papoušek na Motocyklu) was written in 1924 as a prose-poem like manifesto. In this work, Nezval demonstrates the means of fast association and free ideas, which he advocated in his descriptions of Poetism, through an unusual style and layout. The piece was originally published in the collection, Pantomima, a book in which many of Nezval central themes of the mythic, the absurd, and the hallucinatory can be found both in the texts and in the margins. Eastern European Poets Series #25.

Design by Amy Mees and Mark Wagner of X-ing Books.