Literary Farmer
February 23, 2009
Seedtime for sonnets.
“As a ‘Literary Farmer,’ and a Real One, Robert Frost Reveled in Planting Time”
“The new seed catalogs are piling up on the kitchen table, we’re meeting this month with friends to organize our separate small gardens into a micro-farm share, and what with all this sunlight pouring down like fertilized hope and the crimson clover gone to nothing in last month’s snows, I’ve been getting the biting urge to get the peas and collards into the ground right now.” Written by David Biespiel.
from The Oregonian
DB notes: My column from February 22, 2009.
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Recently on Take 2: Poetic Adventure and Sexual Ecstacy
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Barack Obama School of Poetry
January 20, 2009
“I, too, am America.” — Langston Hughes
“Langston Hughes’ words are in sync with new political era”
“Langston Hughes once said, “an artist must be free to choose what he does, certainly, but he must also never be afraid to do what might choose.” Such are the times again. A deft political poem, a poem that inserts itself into civic discourse with one eye on time and another eye on lyrical imperatives is a rare and necessary piece of art.” Written by David Biespiel.
from The Oregonian
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DB notes: Late in the campaign on October 28th in Chester, Pennsylvania, then-Senator Obama rallied supporters in a downpour. If any image from the campaign is destined to become iconic, this should be the one.
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Ginsberg and Snyder: A Generation on Turtle Island
January 12, 2009
“Dear Gary: Fine build 10’ x 11’ hut, sounds ideal”
“The two men met in Berkeley in 1955 and took part in the famous Six Gallery poetry reading at which Ginsberg gave the first notable reading of “Howl.” After the event, which served as an informal coming-out reception for the Beat Generation in San Francisco, he published “Howl and Other Poems,” which became the subject of an obscenity prosecution, then moved to Europe to join forces with William Burroughs. Meanwhile, Snyder entered a Japanese Zen monastery, embarking on a course of study that would last until his return to the United States permanently in 1969.” Written by James Campbell.
from The New York Times
