|
Billy Little, Poet
Razos de Zonko aka billy little
born on the birthday of eecummings
billy cut his wisdom teeth beside
Paul Blackburn and Anne Waldman
shouting poems to crowds
from the back of flatbed trucks
in downtown manhattan
reborn at St.marks church
down the block from Auden's flat
Diane Wakoski was his midwife
Joel Oppenheimer was his father confessor
editor Poets for Peace
(with Lyn Banker and Gary Youree)
Creeley's student at Buffalo Duncan's
what a class, Butterick, Deloach, Duncan McNaughton,
Fred Wah, Al Glover, Michael Davidson,
Lewis MacAdams, Robert Hass, John Wieners,
studied Blake with Jack Clarke, Dante with Leslie Feidler
edited Presence Magazine which
featured Ferlinghetti and Creeley
beside the first publication of Kathy Acker's
edited TENS magazine
work by dorn, olson, raworth, hollo, gilfillan,
victor coleman, penny chalmers, and
sharon thesen, hilton obenzinger
cofounded Press of The Black Flag raised
(with Bob Rose) published Chief Joseph,
dhlawrence, and the broadside edition of
John Weiners Asylum Poems
Took on the moniker Zonko 1971
partly in response to the ingenuousness
of certain editors who will accept your work and
then expect to be published in your rag in return.
an early fan remarked,"your poems make me zonko"
provoking the eureka response
"my poems make ME Zonko"
Duncan told me he'd gotten a postcard from Pound:
"which one of you youngsters has the courage to
publish your poems anonymously."
The pen name proved
an ennabler,a form of self permission,
the fear of personal rejection falling away
even amid poverty enrich others
serve poetry at every opportunity
through editing and shoestring publishing the writing
of intelligent and moving others; by organizing
public readings, by giving public performances
with other artists whose work he respects and
wishes to draw attention to, sharing enthusiams
by broadcasting with Gerry Gilbert on
Coop Radio new poems from the world over,
praising in print the work he finds startling and influential
published hundreds of poems, stories, essays,
reviews, chapbooks, broadsides. taught creative writing
at Emily Carr, SFU, Capilano College, Hundreds of
performances at the Western Front, the Parachute Centre,
the Vancouver Art Gallery, Langara, David Thompson,
A space, Open Space, in Victoria, in Terrace, in Buffalo,
in Chase, in Nanaimo, on Sunset Beach, Perform occasionally
with the violin player, Jim Munro and the sax genius Bill Smith
chapbooks include: A palinode, The Waldorf Poem, The Blue Book,
Failure, Funny/Quel Marrant, Not Funny, Old Growth, Angel Baby,
and IslaND FEVER. Founder/Director OF THE BEAUTY SCHOOL
OF TRUTH, OF TRUTH, inventor of Brain Gum, Baka Roshi of the
Forbidden Plateau Fallen Body Dojo
The above, Little says, "is a type of poem, the troubadors would write, like a press release, a song about themselves(or their friend(or their enemy)), to be sung by their friend(or enemy(or retainer?)) before the arrival of the troubadour therein extolled(or denigrated)and traditionally was exxxagerated "he smells sooo baadddd the Huron call him twenty-goats-flee" this tho would more likely appear in a sirventes which was more like a declaration of war troubadours preceding the war party, sometimes i think if the war party ran a candidate they'd get more votes than the mockrats or the publicans government by eight year olds would be a preferable option. Glad to see Clinton is outmaneuvering the general's one Starr and four star, i was a disinformer, wrote generals copy until i was 20 would have got a medal i just couldn't be bothered shining my shoes." |