Jesse Goodman Presents: Pink Martini! Poet David Meltzer to open December 8th, Monterey, California

For more info go here: marialoveswords

Jesse Goodman has been producing benefit concerts for the Henry Miller Memorial Library since he brought Patti Smith there in 2004. The past few years he has been bringing poets in as the opening acts of these shows, which as you can imagine, pleases us here in the Republik of poets to no end. This year he is bringing in legendary San Francisco poet, David Meltzer to open for Pink Martini in this year's benefit on December 8th at the Golden State Theatre in Monterey, California. Get your tickets baby, they're going fast . . . So, to honor Jesse's mad genius we are featuring his story as well as poems by David Meltzer and his wife, the poet Julie Rogers. Scroll down for his story, but first: the poets. Enjoy.




PEPPER
Art's desire to get it all said
to all who thought him dead
in the joint & beside the point
Art's struggle to sing it all
through jazz warfare & tell
everything he knew in brass
speed rap stir crazy utopia
of muscle chops push it in your face
rough unrelenting grace
fierce Art pitbull clamps down
pulls edges out in time to break through
scream knotty beauty
toe to toe w/ any joe
who thinks they know better
Art tattoos blue needles into moonlight skin
junk light makes mirror perfect
Art's smoke aches out of wounds
L.A. Art burritos & bebop
black guacamole serge zoots
Central Avenue cat copping
Art at Club Alabam
in Lee Young's band
all the chicks & the hatcheck chick
have big eyes for Art's horn

DAVID MELTZER began his literary career during the Beat heyday and is considered a prominent figure in the San Francisco/Beat Renaissance. He came to prominence as the youngest poet to have his work included in the anthology, The New American Poetry 1945 – 1960, edited by Donald Allen. He is the author of many volumes of poetry including Arrows: Selected Poetry 1957 – 1992, No Eyes: Lester Young, Beat Thing, and David’s Copy. He has also published fiction and essays, and has edited numerous anthologies and collections of interviews such as Reading Jazz, Writing Jazz, and San Francisco Beat: Talking with the Poets. His most recent book of poetry, When I Was A Poet, is 60 in the Pocket Poet’s Series published by City Lights. In 2012 David was nominated for the Northern California Book Award in Poetry. This year, City Lights reissued a special edition of his poetry guide, ‘Two-Way Mirror – A Poetry Notebook’, with a new introduction and an updated addendum. In April, with his wife, poet Julie Rogers, and saxophonist Zan Stewart, released the CD, ‘Two Tone Poetry & Jazz’. Diane di Prima, former SF Poet Laureate says of him, “David Meltzer is a hidden adept, one of the secret treasures on our planet. Great poet, musician, comic; mystic unsurpassed, performer with few peers.” David Meltzer is also known for his inspiring and witty teaching style, and has taught in San Francisco and elsewhere for four decades.

Witness          for Rodney King
Beaten under by the clubs of his protectors
he’s down for the count
on asphalt not meant to hold his blood
and he can’t get away
his scars are monuments to ignorance
his tears are dark water
left running in the city
filling toilets, filling swimming pools
flooding gutters with our trash and the homeless
his screams are the sirens of Los Angeles
forcing the traffic back: heart attacks
suicide attempts, maybe a kid on crack
taking a fast ride
through overgrowth that won’t stop
his family grieving, wanting revenge
while the TV shows a cremation of dreams
smoldering rage rising like smoke
from neighborhoods burning at dawn.
Witness the bashing of Mr. King
on an instant replay
while a jury argues his pain.
Someone said he fought back.
I saw a man struggle to stand on his own.

Julie Rogers entered the Bay Area poetry scene during the 1970’s. Her poems were first included in a San Francisco anthology in 1980, and she later published five chapbooks. She has read her work on public radio and television and at many venues in California and Oregon, and more recently in New York City. Decades of involvement in the Tibetan tradition of Buddhism have influenced her writings, and in 2007, Vimala published her Buddhist hospice manual, Instructions for the Transitional State, with which she has begun a non-profit educational program. Her poetry has been featured in various journals and anthologies such as Beatitude – Golden Anniversary 1959 – 2009, Poetry Flash, Sparring with Beatnik Poets, Big Scream, The Cafe Review, World of Change, and others. In 2012, Wild Ocean Press published her first selected collection of poetry spanning thirty years of work, House Of The Unexpected. Omerta Publications released her newest chapbook, Street Warp, in 2013. She recently released the CD, 'Two-Tone Poetry & Jazz', recorded with her husband, poet David Meltzer, and saxophonist Zan Stewart. Currently, she teaches creative writing privately, and performs solo and with her husband. Poet Michael McClure has said of her work, “Few poems are written as close to the heart -- no extra words, just soul meanings…”

me, jesse, and eleni sikelianos at the Cibo Matto benefit show 2014 at HMML

Jesse Goodman's Story:
This story begins on Independence Day, at the turn of the Millennium, having just moved to San Francisco a day or two before the 4th. My very first mission having moved to the West Coast was to head South on Highway 1 to Big Sur. I had longed to go to this most special of places, that in my mind I knew would be pure magic. I'm not even sure when Big Sur entered my consciousnesses, but if it was good enough for 'The Beats' I was certain I'd find something special there.
I had been camping, hiking, and exploring both the little nooks and the grandeur of the area when the 4th of July came round. I had heard that Baba Oluntuji was performing at the Esalen Institute. Given how I was vibe'ing with the flow of Big Sur, I headed to Esalen, fully believing that despite being sold out, I'd find my way in.
Just as quickly as I arrived at Esalen, I was rejected (as to be expected). I hopped in my car and headed North back to the campground. I was feeling badly about not having had the chance to see the Nigerian drumming legend. Then in an instant, as I passed the Henry Miller Library (HML), I suddenly and without thought parked my car next to The Library's gates. There was a palpable feeling that something exciting was about to happen. It was here that I found the cultural beating heart of Big Sur.
The Library was in preparation mode, with a troupe of artists from Prague along with their organizer extraordinaire, Maya Cain. A tall charismatic Swede, Magnus Toren (Executive Director of HML), who somehow appeared as if he had been birthed from The Library's grounds, was everywhere. It was clear this was no ordinary spot. In this place of overwhelming beauty with its lofty trees and vast ocean, The Library is the intersection of Big Sur's spiritual grandeur and human creativity.
July 4th, 2000 began my relationship with HML & Big Sur. Fast forward several trips and I am spending the evening in Magnus & Mary-Lou's cozy cabin on Partington Ridge (Miller's Ridge) along with my partner, Max. We are drinking wine under the stars, and the talk moves to "how cool it would be" if Patti Smith could perform a benefit for HML. I said, not knowing how I'd accomplish this, "YES YES YES" !! I said "Yes" because in Big Sur anything is truly possible.
Patti did perform, on August 22nd, 2004, in what became the 1st Annual Henry Miller Library Benefit. Against all odds, she agreed to perform for the little Library off Highway 1. What an honor!
Not more than a moment had passed after Patti's encore when Magnus turned to me and asked with a cheeky grin, "So, who are ya bringing next year"? The thought that this might be the first of an annual benefit hadn't even crossed my mind, but with those words uttered, a new challenge emerged.
Who could I invite to the same place that inspired Henry Miller, gave birth to HML, and has attracted adventurers & artists for as long as there has been a Big Sur?
Eleven years have passed since Patti's performance. I think back to having never seen Baba Oluntuji and the moment another path was forged. Over the years audiences have enjoyed intimate performances by Laurie Anderson, Philip Glass, Marianne Faitfull, Rufus Wainwright as well as other artists who have been a part of HML's annual benefit.
As long as Big Sur exists, as long as HML exists, artists and audiences alike will come to inspire & be inspired. The magic will continue.

Ping-Pong Free Press

Announcing Ping-Pong Free Press Details TBA soon . . . . . .

Speech Is Not Free! 60th Anniversary of Howl, poetry workshops, and more . . .

Speech is Not Free! 60th Anniversary Celebration of Howl, Ping-Pong Free Press Extravaganza!

Featuring Anne Waldman and Ambrose Bye in performance

pc: Jaroslav Kratochvil

Group Reading of Howl, screening of the Telling Pictures film, Howl.
Poetry Reading of The Revolution Will Have its Sky, Maria Garcia Teutsch
For Immediate Release:
Contact: Mike Scutari 667-2764

Speech is Not Free
Howl 60^th Anniversary, choral reading and Film; music by Anne Waldman and Ambrose Bye; a benefit for Ping-Pong Free Press/release party for the 2015 journal.
On Friday October 16 the Henry Miller Memorial Library will present their second annual Speech is Not Free Event with apoetry reading from the Library’s literary journal Ping-Pong; a group reading of Howl; a performance featuring Anne Waldman and Ambrose Bye followed by a showing of the Telling Pictures film, Howl.
On Saturday the Library will host performance and poetry workshops: 10-11:45, Riot Writing: poems to start a revolution generative workshop with Ping-Pong EIC, Maria Garcia Teutsch; 12-12:30 brown bag lunch. 12:30-2:30-Performance and Poetry workshop with Anne Waldman and Ambrose Bye; 2:30-4: Free Speech Presentation and exhibit: informal chat with library executive director Magnus Torén.
On Saturday Evening there will be performances by Grammy award winning artist Ian Brennan, and Bob Forrest of Thelonius Monster.

Allen Ginsberg typing Howl

Saturday 10/17/15 Workshops:
10:00-11:45 am: Riot Writing—Poems to start a Revolution: Poetry of Protest is Poetry of Witness generative workshop with Maria Garcia Teutsch
Poetry is written for any number of reasons, most often having to do with witnessing: the poet sees something so beautiful they want share it with the world, or perhaps the poet sees an injustice they want to give voice to—poetry of social consciousness. Working primarily with poetry of the latter ilk, we will examine Chicano/a poetry, Feminist poetry, Palestinian Poetry, Jewish poetry, Russian poetry, Syrian poetry etc… and then generate and share our own poems of protest.
12:30-2:30:The Poem-in-Performance: A Workshop with Anne Waldman & Ambrose Bye
Working with our melopoeia, — the innate music of our writing — we will let our poetry guide us into various performance strategies and modes of composition. We will be working with our voice, our timing, possible instrumentation, collaboration and the like. We will consider methods of sprechstimme (speak-singing), monologue, vocal duets, curses, spells, lullabies, blues, poem-as-libretto, and also consider how to shape the work on the page with its orality in mind. We will begin with some “experiments of attention” and work toward individual pieces we will then record on a CD. Participants may also bring a piece of their choice to class to work on, as well as instruments they can play. Musicianship is welcome! Discussion will include some performance theory.

7:00PM–Saturday evening performances by Grammy Award winning artist Ian Brennan and Bob Forrest (Thelonius Monster).

About the artists:
Anne Waldman The author of more than 40 collections of poetry and poetics, Anne Waldman is an active member of the Outrider experimental poetry movement, and has been connected to the Beat movement and the second generation of the New York School. Her publications include Fast Speaking Woman (1975), Marriage: A Sentence (2000), and the multi-volume Iovis project (1992, 1993, 1997).
Her work as a cultural activist and her practice of Tibetan Buddhism are deeply connected to her poetry. Waldman is, in her words, “drawn to the magical efficacies of language as a political act.” Her commitment to poetry extends beyond her own work to her support of alternative poetry communities. Waldman has collaborated extensively with visual artists, musicians, and dancers, and she regularly performs internationally. Her performance of her work is engaging and physical, often including chant or song, and has been widely recorded on film and video. www.annewaldman.org

Ambrose Bye, musician/producer grew up in the environment of The Jack Kerouac School at Naropa University, graduated from The University of California, Santa Cruz and was trained as an audio engineer at the music/production program at Pyramind in San Francisco. Working primarily with poets, he has produced four albums with Anne Waldman, “In the Room of Never Grieve”, “The Eye of the Falcon”, “Matching Half”, and “The Milk of Universal Kindness”. He also produced “Comes Through in the Call Hold” featuring Waldman, Thurston Moore, and Clark Coolidge. Recently he produced, “Harry’s House” a compilation from recordings done at Naropa University and is working on Volume Two. www.fastspeakingmusic.bandcamp.com

Maria Garcia Teutsch is an award-winning poet, editor and educator. Her most recent collection, The Revolution Will Have its Sky, received the Minerva Rising Chapbook award, Judge: Heather McHugh. She serves as editor-in-chief of The Homestead Review, Ping-Pong Magazine and Ping-Pong Free Press. She has been teaching poetry and creative writing classes at Hartnell College for the past 16 years where she received the Gleason Award for teaching excellence. Ilya Kaminsky says of Maria’s poetics: “The voices in her poems are direct and yet there is a certain mystery to this directness, this clarity of address. Clarity, the great Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish taught us, is the first mystery. She understands this too. Her poems can be devotional, or political or sexy, but there is always this sense of direct address, of clarity that isn’t all that simple, that contains a kind of tenderness, a kind of playfulness that is clear and mysterious at the same time.” www.marialoveswords.com

The Revolution Will Have its Sky, Now Available!

Judge's Citation, Heather McHugh

The Revolution Will Have Its Sky
by Maria Garcia Teutsch
*
The revolution will have its sky—where else might its banner wave, aloft,
esteemed--and still be widely legible? In order for us to discern what otherwise the
sight alone can’t catch, impulses appropriate letters, airs take shape, the wind turns
signs to tatters, tatters to signs. The author of these poems keeps an eye not on a
single great celestial value, but on the human disposition to scrips, emblems, notes,
names, lists: The scores we keep.

The tricks that contribute to this work's verbal motif are many, but not superficial.
Brothel trick, funeral trick, mirror trick, catafalque trick: they arise as the recourse
of an active alertness, in the face of masks, to the presence of representations.
In heraldry, an engraver's trick enlists letters or numbers (written or carved) to
represent colors (under whose airier sways may armies march). But this poet's
alerted attention is to another sort of detachment.

The senses of the word “trick” flicker between means and meaning, exploit and
exploiter, ruse and wit; between adroitness and waylaying; between wile and skill,
where working skeptics must be wary even of awareness: "Mirrors in tatters
become a veil." And where exactly are those "Stripes in gold fringes"? In words? In
garbs? The grand banners and regal ribbons of a Reine Soleil ? (Or the sun’s own
sine qua non , taken, in a coup d’oeil , for a single eyeblink?) Even love hurts; and
looking (or seeming) is its chief instrument.

This poetry isn't out to convert, but to advert. It doesn't pledge allegiance or invest
in transcendent causes, but rather observes some kinds of signs – signs of war, wars
of sex, hexes of communication It won't hallow a transparency; it won’t turn away
from an execution.

In the skeptic's etymology, to look and to reflect are kin. I watch, says the skeptic.
And the watch pulled from the Madame/ Queen’s breast “[s]teals a whirl of second
hands.” The ticker—with its little diamond—keeps count of time’s bit-bedevilled
billionfold: more and more representations of the claim to be one. Emblems of
Monarch, Freemason and Pope alike inscribe a dialectic: two arms serving the same
brain. (Hence the insignias of their respective realms: the unicorn's complement of
lion; the double-headed eagle; two keys crossed.)

The heart of the matter, the matter with consciousness, is the momentary: the
ticker cannot construct enough momentousness out of the countlessness or bits of
particulars. "…The eternal song/can prolong the funeral trick/ but for a moment…”
Whether in love or in politics, a con is attended by its pro.

This work's occasions are implicated in its materials: with trompes l'oeil , jacks and
johns, sleights of hand, this poetry registers some serious claims and obligations:
"After he sells her to the rebels/for 100 women…/…she becomes…/An anti-image
singing/to an image in a field of blue." (An engraver's trick is an anti-image too.)
Constitutions are (constitutively) vulnerable to prostitutions, restitutions,
destitutions.

In a final draft, the colors may come down to a blast of taps: "If you fasten a
collection/of decorations to a uniform/you can give last orders/ to last men." In
black and white, Old Glory has been tagged. Seeing illusions attached to
engagements, uses to ubiquities, profanities to idealism, privates to a general, The
Revolution Will Have Its Sky reminds us enlistees (whether in grays or blues,
whether in wishes or words, whether in war or love) how down-and-dirty signing
up can be.

Heather McHugh
February 14, 2015
Seattle WA

To purchase a copy of this collection please go here: Minerva Rising