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Okavengo Delta, Zambiafrom “A Poet’s Progress,” Newtopia Magazine #11
November 28, 2010: Wilderness Camp, Okavengo Delta, Zambia Tonight, Julius—a guide so experienced that he is mentioned in one of the books I read to prepare for this trip—was walking me back to my cabin with a flashlight after dinner. I was making small talk, embarrassed to have to be walked to my room—certainly it… Continue Reading »
Disembarkation, Chobe River, Botswanafrom “A Poet’s Progress,” Newtopia Magazine #10
November 24, 2010: Baobob Camp, Chobe, Botswana Camouflaged Bird’s Eggs, Chobe River, Botswana Evening Today out on the river we came across a lily pad with four camouflaged bird’s eggs in it. Mat explained that the eggs in this species are nurtured by the male and that the one who built this nest has probably… Continue Reading »
A Gallery of Troubadours
A Gallery of Troubadours: A Manuscript Prepared in Anticipation of a Trip to Southern France in April-May 2012 to Partially Recreate a Walk by Ezra Pound on Its Centenary Table of Contents Notes for a Walking Tour of Provence with Jonathan Gill on the 100th Anniversary of Ezra Pound’s Walking Tour of Provence, Summer 1912……………………….…………7 William IX,… Continue Reading »
Apprenticing with Allen Ginsberg–spontaneous talk given on the 50th anniversary of the publication of “Howl” at Naropa University, Boulder, CO. June 25, 2006
Originally published in “Elephant Journal”: http://www.elephantjournal.com/2009/02/the-poet-that-changed-america-allen-ginsberg-beat-poet-naropa-activist/ Randy Roark: I’m an example of the apprenticeship program that Allen ran here. It was a class that you could sign up for, you got credit for it, and met once a week for three hours. Some of the time was spent looking at your own work as a… Continue Reading »
Going on Safari, Southern Africa from “A Poet’s Progress,” Newtopia Magazine #9
November 20, 2010: Johannesburg, South Africa It’s been a long trip. With a 13-hour layover in Heathrow (luckily four of them in an airport hotel bed courtesy of the travel agency), I’ve been traveling for close to 38 hours. The only reason I’m still vertical is because I’m waiting for my bag. I said I’d… Continue Reading »
Ourika Valley, Morocco, for “A Poet’s Progress” Newtopia Magazine #8
Ourika Valley, Morocco September 20, 2010: Ourika Valley, Morocco It’s our last day in Marrakech, and we drive out to visit a Berber house in the Ourika Valley of the Atlas Mountains. As we’re leaving the farmhouse, I see a mirror in a shop that I want. I’ve been looking at these Moroccan mirrors ever… Continue Reading »
Talking Music in a Studio in L.A.
I asked a female engineer in L.A. where I was recording a while back what music she listened to. She was tattooed with bold streaks of primary colors in her wildly uneven hair. I’d worked with her several times before and a change seems to have come over her–she’s a lot more relaxed, present, funnier…. Continue Reading »
Evening in Erfoud, Morocco, from “A Poet’s Progress,” Newtopia Magazine #7
Dust storms have eaten away the faces on the reliefs carved in the courtyard’s walls. The desert is blue with ghosts. Mica shines for an instant like glass, then the desert buries it again. This must be what the seabottom looks like a thousand fathoms deep, yellow sand shimmering and swirling in the currents for… Continue Reading »
Entering the Desert, Outside Fes, Morocco, from “A Poet’s Progress,” Newtopia Magazine #6
In the afternoon I rest under the branches of a giant tamarisk tree, searching the sky like the locals for signs of rain, chewing on a blade of bamboo. I am silent for a long time as the afternoon slouches by. The valley soaked with rain looks unhappy. Ibrahim says “In Morocco it is always… Continue Reading »
On the Road through the Rif Mountains, Morocco from “A Poet’s Progress,” Newtopia Magazine #5
While going in search of the wild Barberry apes in the Rif Mountains Ibrahim has some advice for us: “Never trust a monkey.” The slave trade began in Africa in the 16th century, with members of one tribe selling its conquered enemies. One horse equaled ten slaves and one slave equaled two camels. In the… Continue Reading »