one 1, Beat Erasure Poem by Thomas R. Thomas

one 1
by Thomas R. Thomas

I met
my life
my life
on the road
to Los Angeles

I was
sweetly
intellectual

Then
for the first time
there was
Marylou

I
had arrived

SOURCE: “one 1*” is based on the first page of Chapter 1o in the novel On the Road by Jack Kerouac.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Thomas R. Thomas was born in Los Angeles and grew up in the San Gabriel Valley west of LA. Currently, he lives in Long Beach, California. For his day job, he is a software QA Analyst. He volunteers for Tebot Bach, a community poetry organization, in Huntington Beach. Thomas has been published in Don’t Blame the Ugly Mug: 10 Years of 2 Idiots Peddling Poetry, Creepy Gnome, Carnival, Pipe Dream, Bank Heavy Press, Conceit Magazine, Electric Windmill & Marco Polo, and the Silver Birch Press Summer Anthology. In November 2012, Carnival released his eChapbook, Scorpio, and Washing Machine Press released a chapbooklette called Tanka. In October 2013, World Parade Books published a book of his poetry, Five Lines. Visit the author’s website at thomasrthomas.org.

shadowed, Beat Erasure Poem by Alexis Rhone Fancher

shadowed
by Alexis Rhone Fancher

I am ice
I am water
I am frost
cut by glass
I am a
whistle thru my teeth
 
I lose my hat
 
My eyes are locked
my bones are soup
I am stone
I am mad
I stare out. broken.

SOURCE: “shadowed” by Alexis Rhone Fancher is based on “I Am a Shadow” by Diane di Prima.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Alexis Rhone Fancher is an L.A. based poet/photographer whose work can or soon will be found in Rattle, Fjords Review, The MacGuffin, Deep Water Literary Journal, BoySlut, Carnival Lit Magazine, Luciferous, HighCoupe, H_NGM_N, Gutter Eloquence, GoodMen Project, Bare Hands, Poetry Super Highway, The Juice Bar, Poeticdiversity, Little Raven, Bukowski On Wry, numerous anthologies, and elsewhere. Her photographs, published worldwide, include a spread in HEArt Online, and the covers of Witness and The Mas Tequila Review. A member of Jack Grapes’ L.A.Poets and Writers Collective, Alexis was nominated for two Pushcart Prizes in 2013. She is poetry editor of Cultural Weekly. www.lapoetrix.com

At Christmas, Beat Erasure Poem by Barbara Eknoian

AT CHRISTMAS
by Barbara Eknoian

I see innocent fall of snow
from roofs
bedangled icicles
tracks of people
and a great pall of wind
The grief of birch
bent and wintering in woods
Our baseball field is lost
The blizzard oversweeping all
I reach the top of the hill
view the pond at the bottom
ice skaters thronging by
I circle the pond, the houses
the French Canadian paisans
are stomping their feet on porches
Christmas trees on their backs
Dusk’s about to come
I’ve got to hurry,
the first heartbreaking light
comes on red and blue
in a little farm window
across the pond

“At Christmas” is based on Jack Kerouac‘s story “Home at Christmas,” found on page 5 of the Beat Collection edited by Barry Miles, available at Amazon.com.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Barbara Eknoian’s work has appeared in Pearl, Chiron Review, Silver Birch Press anthologies, Re)Verb,  New Verse News, and Your Daily Poem. Twice nominated for a Pushcart Prize, her recent releases include her first novel, Chances Are: A Jersey Girl Comes of Age (available at Amazon.com) and her poetry book, Why I Miss New Jersey (Everhart Press, available at Amazon.com). Her new mantra is Carpe Diem.

Orchestra, Beat Erasure by Ricki Hunsinger

ORCHESTRA
by Ricki Hunsinger

I wept in the muffled orchestra;
tones and rhythms
calling, trampled words
made thin.
The orchestra would resume
a void, filling up private lessons
with string quartets.

“Orchestra” is based on page 95 of Minor Characters, a memoir by Joyce Johnson.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Ricki Hunsinger holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Chatham College.  Her writing has been published by small independent presses.  She is currently a Baltimore-based freelance writer and assistant librarian.

$$ Abomunus Craxioms $$, Beat Erasure Poem by Catfish McDaris

$$ Abomunus Craxioms $$

by Catfish McDaris

Mummies are dancers

alcoholics make root beer

jazz down the river

licking stamps

fat automobiles laugh

 

Men die become seagulls and fly

roaches are not happy

people are not very happy

 

People get sicker quicker

the sky is the way out

laughter sounds orange

reality xists

“$$ Abomunus Craxioms $$” is based on the poem of the same name by Bob Kaufman, found on page 306 of  The Beat Book: Writings from the Beat Generation. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Catfish McDaris has been active in the small press world for 250 years. He lives in a cave at a nudist colony. His biggest seller is Prying: with Jack Micheline & Charles Bukowski. His latest book is a hardcover called Jupiter Orgasma from Lulu.com.

Rembrandt–Self Portrait, Beat Erasure Poem by Catfish McDaris

REMBRANDT—SELF PORTRAIT
by Catfish McDaris

Magnificent girl
peachwolf browngold
shepherd foxglove an angel
 
I believe in God
sorrow of men
death of a friend
life sadness
 
Each brush stroke
feeding the void
 
Paint the human
face the inhuman
gold jewels let
lightdrench the
saddest.

“Rembrandt Self-Portrait” is based on Gregory Corso‘s poem of the same name, found on page 15 of The Beat Book: Writings from the Beat Generation. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Catfish McDaris has been active in the small press world for 250 years. He lives in a cave at a nudist colony. His biggest seller is Prying: with Jack Micheline & Charles Bukowski. His latest book is a hardcover called Jupiter Orgasma from Lulu.com.

Fire, Beat Erasure Poem by Brinda Buljore

FIRE
by Brinda Buljore

Those who have burned

in the so-white fire

on the beach

now

small clowns

held to the flame

“FIire” is based on Lawrence Ferlinghetti‘s poem “Oh You Gatherer.” Read the original at poemhunter.com.

one 1, Beat Erasure Poem by Thomas R. Thomas

one 1
by Thomas R. Thomas

I met
my life
my life
on the road
to Los Angeles

I was
sweetly
intellectual

Then
for the first time
there was
Marylou

I
had arrived

“*one 1*” is based on page 1 of the novel On the Road by Jack Kerouac.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  Thomas R. Thomas was born in Los Angeles and grew up in the San Gabriel Valley west of LA. Currently, he lives in Long Beach, California. For his day job, he is a software QA Analyst. He volunteers for Tebot Bach, a community poetry organization, in Huntington Beach. Thomas has been published in Don’t Blame the Ugly Mug: 10 Years of 2 Idiots Peddling Poetry, Creepy Gnome, Carnival, Pipe Dream, Bank Heavy Press, Conceit Magazine, Electric Windmill & Marco Polo, and the Silver Birch Press Summer Anthology. In November 2012, Carnival released his eChapbook, Scorpio, and Washing Machine Press released a chapbooklette called Tanka. In October 2013, World Parade Books published a book of his poetry, Five Lines. Visit the author’s website at thomasrthomas.org.

Pound at Spoleto, Beat Erasure Poem by Donna Hilbert

POUND AT SPOLETO
by Donna Hilbert

saw Ezra

            mandarin statue

aquiline in abstraction

            a tear drop by the aqueduct

chestnut trees in bloom

“Pount at Spoleto” is based on Lawrence Ferlinghetti‘s poem of the same name, found  on page 174 of These Are My Rivers: New & Selected Poems 1955-1993. Watch Lawrence Ferlinghetti read the poem on youtube.com.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Donna Hilbert’s latest book, The Congress of Luminous Bodies, is availble from Aortic Books or at Amazon.com.The Green Season (World Parade Books), a collection of poems, stories, and essays, is now available in an expanded second edition. Donna appears in and her poetry is the text of the documentary Grief Becomes Me: A Love Story, a Christine Fugate film. Earlier books includeMansions and Deep Red from Event Horizon, Transforming Matter andTraveler in Paradise from Pearl Editions, and the short story collectionWomen Who Make Money and the Men Who Love Them from Staple First Editions (published in England). Poems in Italian can be found in Bloc notes 59 and in French in La page blanche, in both cases translated by Mariacristina Natalia Bertoli. New work is in recent or forthcoming issues of 5AM, Nerve Cowboy, Pearl, and Poets & Artists.Learn more at www.donnahilbert.com.

Drift, Beat Erasure Poem by Winston Plowes

DRIFT
by Winston Plowes

My heart hates me.
 
Growing just behind my throat.
 
Like swimmers
with the dizzy procession of waves.
 
We loved,
parts of us loved,
and the rest of us will remain two persons.

“Drift” is based on page 178 of Jack Spicer‘s collection My Vocabulary Did This to Me: The Collected Poetry of Jack Spicer (Wesleyan Poetry, 2008).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Winston Plowes is an award-winning poet who lives in the U.K. His poetry has won competition and and has appeared in Found Poetry Review, Ink Sweat & Tears, The Big Issue, Turbulence, The Best of Manchester Poets, Words Undone, and many other literary journals and has been aired on local and national radio.