Jack and Allen
This website is indebted in a variety of ways to Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. For example, I’ve gotten a lot of mileage from their one-liners such as “Be in love with yr life” (JK)…
Author: Mark J. Chmiel
Chant and Be Happy!
Chant when I go downstairs in the early morningChant as I walk around the block each day with radiant smile at 20 degrees Chant and remember all my misjudgments and chant not to repeat themChant…
In Appreciation
“Her records were the first evidence that one did not fight alone. It was playing of such uprightness, to put it into the moral sphere. There was such a sense of repose that had nothing…
Plus ça change, plus …
How yet resolves the Governor of the town?This is the latest parle we will admit.Therefore to our best mercy give yourselvesOr, like to men proud of destruction,Defy us to our worst. For, as I am…
Joanie’s Teacher
“Make the impossible possible, the possible easy, the easy elegant.” –Moshe Feldenkrais
Inspiration for the Day (or Decade)
If I hadn’t heard the Robert Johnson record when I did, there probably would have been hundreds of lines of mine that would have been shut down—that I wouldn’t have felt free enough or upraised…
First Thoughts on Julie O’Heir
Where do I look for this question that’s glowingWhere do I look for this truthgrin that I know is in the city limitsWhere do I feel that bare vibe whispering around my upper ear My…
Danielle Mackey
I’ve known Danielle since 2006 when she took a SLU Social Justice class with me after she’d studied abroad in El Salvador, which, it is safe to say, transformed her life. Since then, we’ve spent…
Exploring di Prima
Dear Poet. I finally got my Walt class together… maybe you could join us as a guest speaker at some point, tell us what you thought of him. But if you are indeed interested/curious about…
Shame
1. “When we came to the camp, Hamzat led the khan into the tent. And I stayed with the horses. I was at the foot of the hill when shooting began in Hamzat’s tent. I…