J. H. Prynne

[luka]

So far, I think it's at least partly about the criminal exploitation of Alaskan fishing territories by corporations and wealthy nations. And also, more generally about how inefficient capitalist exchange is, the obstruction of a healthy flow.

cant remember even seeing that one before. what page?

 

[Benny Bunter]

Near the back somewhere, uncollected I think

 

[Benny Bunter]

I'll post some of my findings I wrote down in my notebook when I get a chance.

 

[luka]

I'll post some of my findings I wrote down in my notebook when I get a chance.

ive done that prune one and see by so now, youre slacking

 

[Benny Bunter]

I am not slacking! You should see my notebook. And now I have company.

Here's something to be going on with for now, the meaning of the title and I think the central metaphor in the poem for blockage and inefficiency of exchange

Shunt equation - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[luka]

I am not slacking! You should see my notebook. And now I have company.

Here's something to be going on with for now, the meaning of the title and I think the central metaphor in the poem for blockage and inefficiency of exchange

Shunt equation - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

great thanks

This will be made up of blood that bypassed the lungs ( Q s {\displaystyle Q_{s}}

) and that which went through the pulmonary capillaries ( Q c {\displaystyle Q_{c}}

). We can express this as
Q t = Q s + Q c {\displaystyle Q_{t}=Q_{s}+Q_{c}}

.

We can solve for Q c {\displaystyle Q_{c}}

:
Q c = Q t − Q s {\displaystyle Q_{c}=Q_{t}-Q_{s}}

.

If we add the oxygen content of Qs to Qc we get the oxygen content of Qt:

Q t ⋅ C a O 2 = Q s ⋅ C v O 2 + ( Q t − Q s ) ⋅ C c O 2 {\displaystyle Q_{t}\cdot Ca_{O_{2}}=Q_{s}\cdot Cv_{O_{2}}+(Q_{t}-Q_{s})\cdot Cc_{O_{2}}}

Substitute Qc as above, CcO2 is the oxygen content of pulmonary (alveolar) capillary blood.

Q t ⋅ C a O 2 = Q s ⋅ C v O 2 + Q t ⋅ C c O 2 − Q s ⋅ C c O 2 {\displaystyle Q_{t}\cdot Ca_{O_{2}}=Qs\cdot Cv_{O_{2}}+Q_{t}\cdot Cc_{O_{2}}-Qs\cdot Cc_{O_{2}}}

Multiply out the brackets.
Q s ⋅ C c O 2 − Q s ⋅ C v O 2 = Q t ⋅ C c O 2 − Q t ⋅ C a O 2 {\displaystyle Q_{s}\cdot Cc_{O_{2}}-Qs\cdot Cv_{O_{2}}=Q_{t}\cdot Cc_{O_{2}}-Qt\cdot Ca_{O_{2}}}

Get the Qs terms and the Qt terms on the same side.
Q s ⋅ ( C c O 2 − C v O 2 ) = Q t ⋅ ( C c O 2 − C a O 2 ) {\displaystyle Q_{s}\cdot (Cc_{O_{2}}-Cv_{O_{2}})=Q_{t}\cdot (Cc_{O_{2}}-Ca_{O_{2}})}

Factor out the Q terms.

Q s Q t = C c O 2 − C a O 2 C c O 2 − C v O 2 {\displaystyle {\dfrac {Q_{s}}{Q_{t}}}={\dfrac {Cc_{O_{2}}-Ca_{O_{2}}}{Cc_{O_{2}}-Cv_{O_{2}}}}}

Divide by Qt and by (CcO2 - CvO2).

 

[Benny Bunter]

You're welcome

 

[Benny Bunter]

A shunt is the portion of the cardiac output that returns to the left heart without being oxygenated by exposure to ventilated alveoli.

Causes of shunt include pneumonia, pulmonary edema, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), alveolar collapse, and pulmonary arteriovenous communication.

The Shunt equation quantifies the extent to which venous blood bypasses oxygenation in the capillaries of the lung. “Shunt” and “dead space“ are terms used to describe conditions where either blood flow or ventilation do not interact with each other in the lung, as they should for efficient gas exchange to take place.

 

[Benny Bunter]

A block in flow, inefficient exchange (between bloodflow and ventilation) eventually leading to bodily collapse and collapse in communication - that's the metaphor at work here imo

 

[luka]

wheres alaska come into it?

 

[Benny Bunter]

It's an imbalance, one side overcoming the other, that leads
to the collapse of the whole body. You could apply it capitalism or just exploitation in general If you wanted

 

[Benny Bunter]

wheres alaska come into it?

"Aleut"

 

[Benny Bunter]

You'll have to look it up, I'm going to bed

 

[Benny Bunter]

Ok so what lead to my admittedly highly spurious theory last night about this poem was first noticing all the water/sea related words- diving, channels, floods, offshore, flotation, underswell, torrents.

'Halcyon' meaning calm, peaceful etc comes from the 14 days of calm weather at winter solstice when the mythical kingfisher bred on calm seas. 'Hals' meaning sea, salt, 'kyon' conceive or swell.

Then you have 'brine syndicate' which to me suggests the exploitation of the sea's resources and disputes over territories - a syndicate could refer a corporation of capitalists or a criminal organisation.' Swag' among other things could be stolen goods.

'Trammels' are nets to catch fish, with roots in 'anything that hinders' and even something to bind up a corpse.

Aleut refers to the Alaskan Aleutian Islands which have a long history of colonisation and disputes over fishing territory between Russian, British and American corporations, which could be connected to all of this.
'aggrieved' 'double hike feud' 'reduced access' 'infringed dispute' 'allocation' might all suggest disputes over territory.

Let's see, what else have I got. (Getting even more vague now)
'fainted' 'trick' - connected with deceitful dealings.

And that's about it so far, along with what I posted last night. Hardly convincing and leaves out loads of other stuff, I know, but interesting going through the dictionary and Wikipedia, and I reckon I'm onto something at least.

 

[luka]

yeah thats really good i think. well done. youre a natural.

 

[Benny Bunter]

Not as neat and tidy as your prune one though.

 

[luka]

that was a one off

 

[luka]

a very short poem with a title that seemed to relate to the words inside.

 

[Benny Bunter]

Was a good bit of work though. What about the other poems in that Orchards book?

 

[luka]

i think you could do much the same with all of them