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In Defense of Allen Ginsberg, American Poet
In Defense of Allen Ginsberg, American Poet I was in Cairo in the weeks before the first Gulf War. In the cafes five hundred miles from “the front,” the impending war was the only thing everyone was talking about. I spent most of my time with the locals who spoke English, and learned many things… Continue Reading »
The Convalescence Notebook, Part III, March 27, 2005
Although I thought when I finished “The True Story of My Convalescence” that I finally understood what was going on, the whole story turned on its head within days. When Michael’s reading spoke about the need to appease my father’s karma, I naturally assumed it was my dad. Over two days I spent a lot… Continue Reading »
The Convalescence Notebook, Part II, March 26, 2005
This afternoon I went to see my doctor for the first time since I was discharged from the hospital a week ago. He asked me why I didn’t show up for my two previous appointments. I didn’t know I had any. I knew that before I left the hospital we had a meeting where… Continue Reading »
The Convalescence Notebook, Part I, March 22, 2005
The Importance of Wishing for the Right Thing On my first morning at the hospital, word began to spread that I’d been admitted and something was wrong with my neck. And the phone calls and e-mails and best wishes from friends began to arrive. People were praying for me, saying mantras for me, sending me… Continue Reading »
Istanbul, Turkey, “Collaboration and the Third Mind,” November 21, 2004
The following is an introduction I wrote to “After Giselle,” collaborations between Katie Bowler and Randy Roark If you are sitting alone in your room, the space in which your thoughts occur can be called your mind. Now this “mind” is, of course—whether we realize it or not—a mixture of dozens of other minds as well,… Continue Reading »
May 4, 2004 “Introduction” to Bernadette Mayer and Anne Waldman Live at Penny Lane 1989″
In 1989, Eleni Sikelianos, then a poetics student at Naropa Institute, created the Student Union for Ethnic Inclusion (SUEI), an organization whose purpose was to raise funds to provide scholarships in order to broaden the ethnic diversity at Naropa. She was also a vocal and popular activist for greater recognition and respect for the school’s… Continue Reading »
March 27, 2004, Review of Michael Rothenberg’s “Unhurried Vision”
Unhurried Vision Michael Rothenberg La Alameda Press 188880940X 160 pages Paperback $16.00 One of the aphorisms sprinkled throughout Michael Rothenberg’s “Unhurried Vision,” is one from Goethe’s “Conversation with Eckermann,” chosen to introduce a long catalog of Philip Whalen’s collected notebooks—each precisely dated. “And be sure you put to each poem the date at which you… Continue Reading »
“The Mysterious in the Photographs of Diane Arbus” January 4, 2004
The Mysterious in the Photographs of Diane Arbus This is my answer to a friend’s question about what I thought the “mysterious” was in Diane Arbus’s photographs, referred to in that day’s “New York Times” review. First of all, I haven’t seen the exhibit, and probably only 40-50 Arbus photographs in my life, and most… Continue Reading »
The Amsterdam Notebook
December 16-31, 2003 50 Copies. Published on the occasion of the author’s 50th birthday Continue Reading »
An Alternate History of Jimi Hendrix
February 2004 Published by Laocoon Press in a limited edition of 12 copies as Part IV of “The Amsterdam Notebook” including a 6CD set, and given away to friends and others on the occasion of the author’s 50th birthday. 18 Pages, 12 Copies Continue Reading »