Left behind by Beyond Baroque.

Reposting this from Facebook:
Received a Beyond Baroque fundraising letter which speaks of "the spirit of openness and rebellion inherent in literature and art." Except for the HOLLYWOOD POETRY book, I noticed last spring that my chapbooks were removed from the bookstore (ironic since Scott Wannberg, for whom the store is named, supported poets of all stripes when he worked at Duttons Brentwood). Presumably, my earlier DIY work needed to make way for more saleable exemplars of openness and rebellion. I asked for the chapbooks (excepting those in the BB archives) to be returned; this didn't happen. I do appreciate the times I have attended readings and participated in the past--and how hard people work to continue its existence. But I feel distanced from its current programmng and governing philosophies, and have no further desire to donate.

Regarding deceased poets and the need to keep their work alive.

Several poets have passed away during the sixteen years I have been involved in poetry (including francEyE, Jack Shafer, Erica Erdman, Wanda Coleman, Scott Wannberg, Donn Deedon--and, most recently, Steve Baratta).

A few years back, when I was in the throes of feuding with Victor Infante over withering comments he made to me on my work, I didn't appreciate the essential wisdom of what he was saying about how certain poets are plunged into artistic oblivion after their deaths.

Here's an excerpt from a blog post (mainly on Charles Bukowski) he wrote five years ago; this concerns francEyE:
Lately, it seems, I've been in the midst of a lot of efforts to maintain the legacies of writers whom I've known, whether it's FrancEye, or Ted Walker, whose work never made it to the United States in a large way, despite being well-published in England, or any of the number of slammers who've died whose work I feel is in danger of disappearing, such as Ken Hunt and Angela Boyce. To say I'm concerned is an understatement, because frankly, despite the old adage that poets only become famous after they're dead, it's extremely difficult to sort poems out when the poet's not alive -- most frequently, you're dealing with the poets' families, who most likely have inherited the rights to the writing and know little about publishing, and that can be difficult and awkward.

Am I being alarmist? Perhaps, but I've been to a lot of poets' funerals, so I sincerely doubt it. The fact is, I sincerely believe there is a large number of poems created by the poets that have traveled through and around slam that are not just good, but are truly important, and I want someone to be able to read those poems 50, 100 years from now. It shouldn't have to be a treasure hunt.

HERDING OCCUPY L.A. OUT OF SIGHT OUT OF MIND BLUES

New poem HERDING OCCUPY L.A. OUT OF SIGHT OUT OF MIND BLUES

(for poet Scott Wannberg and his Canine of Truth Sparky)




get along little protesters



get out of the street



get onto the sidewalk



fold your banners



and pack up your tents



because you're making



THE LOS ANGELES TIMES



and television journalists mad as Heck



now the hounds are baying for Charlie Beck



to tear off his peaceful-interaction



make-them-disappear-by-attrition mask



and emerge as the Incredible Two-Headed Hybrid



of Darryl Gates and Ed Davis



crying havoc



and unleashing the tasers and batons



get along little protesters



business must do whatever it wants



we're not going to listen to you Occupy people



since our city is not a city of "the people"



but a city of, by and for



the Very Important People



of AEG



WE NEED A NEW FOOTBALL STADIUM!



get along little protesters



go play with the other weird fuzzy-haired,



fuzzy-brained hippie kids



in Occupy Orange County



or Occupy Long Beach



or wherever you can be more easily ignored



by the state, nation and world



go away little protesters



go home and eat low-fat granola



drink your soy lattes



watch your Noam Chomsky videos



and let us govern,



while the silent majority occupies sidewalks



outside theaters and big-box stores



we love the silent majority



they know to SHUT UP AND CONSUME



and take what they're given



no matter how bad it is now



or how much worse it will be



we'll be glad when



everyone forgets all about



this trouble-stirring business-unfriendly



nonsense of Occupying public space



that we'll always find reasons



to throw you out of



once we're tired of your madness



.

More tributes to poet Scott Wannberg.

Since Scott Wannberg's memorial (with food, drink, reminiscing, open-mike and music) is being held today at Beyond Baroque in Venice CA (http://www.beyondbaroque.org/) from 3:00 to 11:00 p.m., I'm porting over some memories of Scott from the RADIUS website:
http://www.radiuslit.org/2011/08/21/good-bye-to-all-that-thoughts-on-scott-wannberg’s-passing/
http://www.radiuslit.org/2011/08/21/poem-by-a-razor/#comment-2885

And here's probably the definitive tribute to Scott, from his longtime friend Rip Rense:
http://www.riprense.com/scott.htm

Fearful of poetry community business as usual.

The LA/OC poetry communities has had/will have a number of  positive people in its ranks.

Yet I fear that for every Scott Wannberg and Ellyn Maybe, there are twenty people that define positivity solely in terms of giving poets a leg up only as long as they obey the rules of the clubhouse.

New poem: POEM FOR SCOTT

Poem for L.A./Oregon poet Scott Wannberg, who recently passed away:

you were blessed




with a light inside you



that converted everywhere you traveled



into a warm, inviting living room



where we could gather



and hear you in poem, story and song







the cattle rustler,



the snake oil salesman,



the purveyors of matters trivial and supercilious,



the holy pretenders who sold



zircon-coated unthinking obedience as Truth--



you let none of them disturb/distress you



as you traveled through this life







when it's time to pass into the Afterlife,



I can't wait to see you in its living room,



faithful, truth-loving canine companion Sparky by your side,



with more poems, stories and songs



about what was,


what is,



and what will be



.

Scott Wannberg 11/11/2009 at Mac's Backs in Cleveland Heights

RIP Scott Wannberg--poet and friend to other poets.

Just opened an e-mail and received the sad news that Scott Wannberg--a fine poet and representative of the best aspects of Los Angeles poetry--has passed away.

Immediate memories of Scott are these: his long tenure at the Duttons Brentwood store, where he curated the chapbook section (poets were assured of being paid for their work); also, there were his live readings which often began with a cappella covers of songs by John Prine.
Rip Rense's 1994 article about Scott and his poetry:
http://www.riprense.com/Wannberg.htm
Kevin Roderick's article in L.A. OBSERVED:
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2011/08/scott_wannberg_poet_of_du.php
Carolyn Kellogg's eulogy in the LOS ANGELES TIMES:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2011/08/poet-scott-wannberg-has-died.html

For now, I'll recommend that you visit http://www.lummoxpress.com/ for Scott's poetry published by RD Raindog Armstrong and go onto your favorite online booksite to buy a copy of STRANGE MOVIE FULL OF DEATH--a book published by Viggo Mortensen's Perceval Press.

Eulogy for poet Frances Dean Smith aka francEyE.

It's likely that Frances Smith, also known as francEyE, will be known to future generations not as the talented Los Angeles poet she was--but for her relationship with Charles Bukowski, which produced their daughter, Marina. And this is unfair, since her poems were marked by truth and accessibility-to=everyone and don't deserve to be consigned to footnote status.

My memories of francEyE are mostly good ones. I loved the poetry she would contribute to readings at L.A. venues and on Scott Wannberg's Yahoogroups site Ongoing Dancers. And for a time, she was friendly to me and even let me drive her home on occasion from readings at a venue in the South Bay. All that came to an end early in 2005 when I had a confrontation with a local literary poet (someone who once said that my death "couldn't come soon enough") at that venue. francEyE was angered by this and, as a result, we pretty much avoided each other for the rest of the time she was in L.A.

After she entered the care facility in Northern California, I ordered a copy of an anthology of her work and was suprised and happy when receiving the book with her signature inside.

It's a statement that's been said before--but I, and other poets in LA/Orange County, can consider ourselves fortunate for living in her time.