Pledge I pledge allegiance to no flag. I pledge allegiance to no nation, no government, no border. True patriotism is rebellion. True rebellion is joy. Cast down the mighty, the masters of war. I pledge allegiance to the poor. I pledge … [Read more...]
“Negative Capability”: Keats and Buddha
The relationship of Buddhism and the poetic process is a sublime yet unexplored topic among Western scholars. It’s about the silent space between the words, not just the word itself. The poet John Keats writes: At once it struck me what quality … [Read more...]
Six poems by Alfred K. LaMotte
ELECTION I voted. I voted for the rainbow. I voted for the cry of a loon. I voted for my grandfather's bones that feed beetles now. I voted for a singing brook that sparkles under a North Dakota bean field. I voted for salty air through … [Read more...]
Into Jazz: Five Poems
1. FALLUJAH Training in the woods at Fort Lewis, Washington, on patrol and for a moment quite alone, you happen upon a trillium, moon-silver secret revelation piercing fern green gloom. You bow down whispering, "Thank you for showing … [Read more...]
Four Poems by Alfred K. LaMotte
PULVERIZED I pulverized your jaw with a knuckle sandwich but you fought back blossoming your hyacinth. Then I shattered a quart of Colt 45 on the ivory lingam of your skull but you exfoliated flecks of lapis lazula therefor I tied off your red … [Read more...]
At the Carnival of Drunken Poets
I ran into Kerouac at the carnival where those just dead meet those about to be reborn. He and I have wandered through the zodiac again and again, like prodigal suns. Both of us enter this carnival under the 13th sign, which is the sign of … [Read more...]