Once upon a time in rock and roll, a great rock star, set off by something called Johnny Rotten. wondered out loud in song if rock and roll demanded a fiery, perhaps suicidal finale. Neil Young set off a storm with the idea, on Rust Never Sleeps, one of his greatest albums, and among hisContinue reading “Bob Dylan: He’s back and he’s electric — again”
Category Archives: poets and poetry
Sleeping outdoors: John Fowles and Mary Oliver
From John Fowles' The French Lieutenant's Woman: For one terrible moment he thought he had stumbled on a corpse. But it was a woman asleep. She had chosen the strangest position, a broad, sloping fedge of grass some five feet beneath the level of the plateau, and which hid her from the vew of anyContinue reading “Sleeping outdoors: John Fowles and Mary Oliver”
Woody Guthrie: the raw, sexy American spirit
Nice piece from Randy Lewis on a new collection of Woody Guthrie material from the Smithsonian, released on his 100th birthday (today). Makes a strong argument that Woody's radicalism began in L.A., where he wrote one of his first and greatest folk songs ("Deportee"). Also includes a wonderful quote from John Steinbeck, who in aContinue reading “Woody Guthrie: the raw, sexy American spirit”
John Clare: Peasant poet (of environmental loss)
Surely one of the most interesting of all environmental columnists is George Monbiot of The Guardian, who this week penned a luminous tribute to the great "peasant poet" John Claire. Clare found great success in his youth, but saw his beloved coutryside divvied up by enclosure and, argues Monbiot, it drove Clare crazy. Into theContinue reading “John Clare: Peasant poet (of environmental loss)”
Van Gogh: Harmonizing brutal extremes
An extraordinary exhibit appearing at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art this summer includes a strong Van Gogh still life, painted in Paris in 1887, reproduced here, called Lilacs. Given all the technology, it's actually not too bad a copy, via the Santa Barbara Independent. But even better than the painting might be the curator's note.Continue reading “Van Gogh: Harmonizing brutal extremes”
A Sierran haiku
Sometimes in the mountains I like to amuse myself with haiku. Like this one. Indulge me: They fall. They alight.The friendly mosquitoes dance —Happy to see us. From near the lush, beautiful, buggy Evolution Valley:
Sylvia Plath is funny, too
Yes, is. To readers, the greats can actually speak. Of course it's true that Emerson wrote this down on a piece of paper: Men cease to interest us as soon as we find their limitations. As soon as you come up with a man's limitations, it is all over with him. Has he talents? Has heContinue reading “Sylvia Plath is funny, too”
Why do we (some of us) watch sports?
I've been wondering why I continue to watch basketball. I gave up playing in a thirty-five and older league years ago, when I could no longer jump. My NBA team, the Lakers, has long since been knocked out of the play-offs. Lefty friends deride the idea of enjoying competition and hierarchy, and there is bothContinue reading “Why do we (some of us) watch sports?”
Around the world with Walt Whitman and Allen Ginsberg
Today was Walt Whitman's birthday. "Good day for DOMA [the Defense of Marriage Act] to be ruled unconstitutional," remarked poet friend Robert Peake from London. A look at how Walt became a poet at all shows the truth of what Robert said: [Whitman] was working as a carpenter, his father's trade, and living with his mother inContinue reading “Around the world with Walt Whitman and Allen Ginsberg”
Poetry vs Oil (and bulldozers)
Vancouver poet Stephen Collis writes about the poetic resistance to another pipeline planned to transport oil sands slurry from inside western Alberta to market in Poetry vs. Oil. Right now, one major pipeline carries the goop to Vancouver’s Burrard Inlet, where it is loaded onto supertankers tourists can wave at from scenic Stanley Park. TheContinue reading “Poetry vs Oil (and bulldozers)”
Kit Stolz 