Celebrating the Release of Collected Poems of Philip Whalen

Celebrating the release of The Collected Poems of Philip Whalen

Reed College, Eliot Chapel, 3203 SE Woodstock Blvd., Portland, OR
Saturday, March 29th, 7:30PM
Free and open to the public. A reception will follow the event.
For more information call 503-777-7755 or e-mail cep@reed.edu

Participants will include Pancho Savery, Michael Rothenberg, David Meltzer, David Abel, Terri Carrion, Hammond Guthrie, Rodney Koeneke, Moshe Lenske, Kaia Sand, Lindsay Hill, and Gay Walker.

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The mountain is THERE (between two lakes)
I brought back a piece of its rock
Heavy dark-honey color
With a seam of crystal, some of the quartz
Stained by its matrix
Practically indestructible
A shift from opacity to brilliance
(The Zenbos say, "Lightning-flash & flint-spark") Like the mountains where it was made

What we see of the world is the mind's
Invention and the mind
Though stained by it, becoming
Rivers, sun, mule-dung, flies—
Can shift instantly
A dirty bird in a square time

Gone
Gone
REALLY gone
Into the cool
O MAMA!

Like they say, "Four times up,
Three times down." I'm still on the mountain.

—from Sourdough Mountain Lookout

- thanks, Howie Klein for sending this