New poem: A BRIEF HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES POETRY

A BRIEF HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES POETRY AS I KNEW IT


When there was an El Nino storm,




people still went out to poetry readings.



That was 1998.



NEXT magazine was the beacon



telling you where to find the word banquets.







And the first place I went



was the Midnight Special Bookstore



on Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade



because it was listed in NEXT.







Politics in the air at Poetic License.



Poems with "Free Mumia" messages.



Lots of fingersnaps for a line or even a word.



People filled with strong notions



of what was right and wrong.







Just about every reading



was filled to capacity.



And it was easy



to find readings



every night of the week.



It was also possible



to make acquaintances



and real friends.







In those days,



people weren't always worried



about being Published.



You could go to Kinkos



and print your own DIY chapbook--



breaking even by selling it to other poets



at readings.







Went to the Rose Cafe



and was exposed to poetry as Disciplined Art.



Long introductions for features



and open readers told to return



next week when time ran out.



(Eventually, the Rose Cafe



became the template



for most readings in Los Angeles and Orange County today.)







Those were the days



before venues and readings closed,



gasoline prices climbed,



popular poets and hosts moved out of state



or left the Earth entirely,



remaining poets began feuding



and a quiet movement began



to encourage uniform standards of quality.



raise the bar for booking features



and discourage the kind of open mikes



that attracted musicians and comics.



For some, this was a great notion







Oracles said that it was good for poetry.



I heard phrases like "layers of meaning"



used ad nauseum.







And other poets said not to complain



about changes in the scene--



or other poets themselves.



For it was perceived as



causing the entire scene



to suffer grievously



from intemperate words.







And today, there are fewer venues.



And just a few poets with power--



some of them use it more generously



than others.







Recently, there was a rainstorm



in Santa Monica.



It wasn't as strong as an El Nino.



And people did come to the reading--



but not nearly as many



as on a torrential night



thirteen years before.