We, Unsubsidized and Unbridled
And it is my firm conviction that a man can learn more about poetry by really knowing and examining a few of the best poems than by meandering about among a great many. Language is…
Tag: Ezra Pound
Five Poems, Five Passages
Ezra Pound and Marcella Spann, ed. From Confucius to Cummings: An Anthology of Poetry New Directions, 1964 Guido Calvacanti, Sonnet 7 Saint Teresa d’Avila, Bookmark Elizabeth I, When I Was Fair and Young William Butler…
Not So Random Entries, Commonplace Moleskine /1
63. And that will take up a thousand hours of energy. — Jack Kerouac, letter to Allen Ginsberg 126. Nevertheless you still charge words with meaning mainly in three ways, called phanopoeia, melopoeia, logopoeia. You…
Not So Random Entries, Commonplace Moleskine /1
63. And that will take up a thousand hours of energy. — Jack Kerouac, letter to Allen Ginsberg 126. Nevertheless you still charge words with meaning mainly in three ways, called phanopoeia, melopoeia, logopoeia. You…
“Why Must the Poet’s Mouth Be Bloodied, His Teeth Caved in?”
More than a decade ago, octogenarian Jesuit felon Daniel Berrigan spoke at the local Jesuit university (in the auditorium of the business school, no less). During the Q & A, a friend of mine asked…
Occasional Moments of Peace, Gratitude, and Delight
I first learned of Gary Snyder through Kerouac’s novel, The Dharma Bums, where he was fictionalized as “Japhy Ryder,” who, according to Alvah Goldbook [aka Allen Ginsberg], was “a great new hero of American…
A Poem by Li Ch’ing-chao (Lǐ Qīngzhào)
Autumn Love “A Weary Song to a Slow Sad Tune” Search. Search. Seek. Seek. Cold. Cold. Clear. Clear. Sorrow. Sorrow. Pain. Pain. Hot flashes. Sudden chills. Stabbing pains. Slow agonies. I can find no peace.
Epistolary Ecstasy
A while back, I read a selection of letters of Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg: Hand-written, wild-typed marvels and postcards, written and sent from around the world—on work, books, loves, life, loss, Dharma, and gossip….
A Lifetime of Letters
The Letters of Allen Ginsberg, edited by Bill Morgan (Da Capo Press, 2008) I have a file titled “Noam Chomsky” that contains several letters from the linguist during the 1990s. I first began writing him…