William Sovern Remembers

i can’t be an Impressionist Painter
all the Impressionist Painters are dead

for a long time
at poetry readings
i would be introduced
as a beat poet
Jack Karouac wrote
On The Road in
1951 when i was
three years old
most of the beat poets are dead
Hunter S, Thompson just shot
himself with hemingways
shootgun and I guess
that makes the gonzo
poet Corso one
of the last
beats

several years ago
there was a plan to
read at Hunter’s Colorado
ranch but the bus had a
flat tire and 28 days
before my first Ginsberg
reading Ginsberg die of cancer
if you’re a famous poet
ban be from your
readings

i did see the late great language poet Jackson Mac Low at my first Greenwich Village poetry reading at the KGB Bar the place was packed & electric and Jackson & his wife Ann Tardos picked our table out of the smoky poetry manage as if i had lived in New York all my life

the second New York trip to perform at the lengendary CBGB’s arriving at 2:00 AM at 2nd & Houston Jackson Mac Low floating down the street my benevalent gaurdian angle making sure i was only up to good miscief

& although
i am not a beat
i have the beat
i was born of
the Clasical Music beat
with a cello between my legs
but what do i have in common
with dead europeans
i was a white boy from Indiana
the Morrison beat
opened the doors
the Dylan beat
provided the hammer
to nail the door shut
after my passage
i have been
the angry poet beat
the comical relief poet beat
the Kentucky kind bud beat
the Kentucky Ron Whitehead Viking Hillbilly Apocalypse beat
the Charles Bukowski concret poet beat
the Ann Sexten beat
dressed me up in a
cute pink chifon number
dancing around a tatooed
rabbit with stars on her
head playing a snare
drum & high hat
the Regie Cabico beat
wanted to dress me up
like Tina Turner but i’m
a white man from Indiana
the Brenda Coultas beat
lit the fire that still burns
the Edwin Torres beat says
that home is in your head
when i die will bury me in my backyard
under the diamond sky
by the magic brown river
churning
churning
churning
around
crescent city bend
& in the distance a lone
guitar player playing one beat at a time

the last hotel

i can see the black wall
i can see the silhouette in the window
he’s talking
i’m not interested in what
he’s talking about
i’m only interested in the fact
that it’s the last hotel

the last hotel

 

New & Of Note On March 28, 2006, Will Sovern and Shakespeare's Monkey took to the stage at The Synchronicity Art Gallery in Evansville, Ind, and pervaded this poem along with the Ron Whitehead classic "The Bone Man" in joyous unison. Lensed by Insom framester Jeremy Hogan, Click Here to view this amazing amalgam!