ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests that the magic dust is yet another way of experiencing and articulating the protean energy of poiesis. It argues that much of the exploration in Holding on foregrounds how semiosis/poiesis has its own agency even within the poiesis of a poem. The poem “silence,” discussed at length in the introduction to Holding on, provides insights into EEC’s making obsession to plant magic dust, which involves scrutinizing over each mark and space, each syllable and word, each phrase and line and stanza. Much of Holding on gravitates to the intensities of protean energy; however, at times, the writing process is slow, painstaking, tedious, and maybe even boring. The chapter also argues that EEC’s obsession to make, to re-engage in the process of poiesis time and time again—whether it be painting, typing, writing with a pencil, or reading his poems aloud—involved his recognition of the magical dimension of the process.
