Paul E Nelson presenting at Cascadia Poetry Festival 8, photo by Leszek Chudzinski
“Paul formally received the Mahayana precepts of Zen Buddhism in 2023, becoming a lay practitioner within the tradition, but I believe he had long lived in accord with them. His poetry, in its sensitivity, its humility, and its deep listening, embodies practice-realization — the understanding that practice and awakening are not separate. His writing was his zazen. This collection, FLEXIBLE MIND, is more than a book. It is a continuation of that practice. A testament to a man who lives by attention, who bows to language but does not cling to it, who seeks what lays beyond words by walking straight into them.”– Kosho Itagaki, Soto Zen Priest
57. Frog Song
After Susan Point’s Nowhere Left. 2000 https://www.mister-toad.com/PacificTreeFrog.html Ghetto - 1605–15; < Italian, orig. the name of an island near Venice where Jews were forced to reside in...
Stellar (Ella) (a Haibun)
Ships sail so far away, even farther, that their smoke is no more than the distant signal of a marine volcano. – Ramón Gomez de la Serna & further still the cosmos. & in the cosmos the soul...
Some February American Sentences
A form Allen Ginsberg invented to “Americanize” haiku, these are snapshots of the moment written by Paul E Nelson, one a day, for over eleven years. These are a sampling from most Februaries of the...
Pig War Residency
Jan 28, 2012 My residency here at the Whiteley Center ends tomorrow, alas. What a tremendous place to think, write &c. Sure, the photos give you a sense of that (my Pig War research photo album...
Tara Hardy Fundraiser 2.23.12
from Daemond Arrindell: Hi everyone, Two months ago, our dear friend and loved writer Tara Hardy went to the emergency room. She was extremely fatigued and little red spots were appearing on her...
Four Hoarse Men Sound Poetry
Greg Bem, Jason Conger, Joe Chiveney and I have been rehearsing a Sound Poem originally done by the Four Horsemen: bp nichol, Steve McCaffery, Rafael Barreto-Rivera and Paul Dutton. (Their version...
Lost in the Wilderness
Ever since my own LOST episode (details linked here) I have always followed stories of people lost in the wilderness around Seattle. I thought Yong Chun Kim was a goner for sure, when he was found...
City of Poets
It was a phrase used by C.A. Conrad when he visited Seattle and did a reading at SPLAB. He said he loved being part of our City of Poets. Our current Board President, Eze Anamalechi likes the idea...
Angel Hack (Haibun de la Serna #4)
Angel Hack by Paul Nelson 3 Angel Hack Never forget that it was an angel that invented swords. Ramón Gomez de la Serna Never forget it is the oldest Bodhisattva carries one aflame in his right hand...
Dragonfly Resurrection (Haibun de la Serna #31)
[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/33050303"] Dragonfly Resurrection by Paul Nelson 3 Dragonfly Resurrection Horse flies are smudges on the air. – Ramón Gomez de la Serna Dragonflies...
#APPF12 (2018) Afterword
I did not get a chance to write about my experience with the 12th August POetry POstcard Fest yesterday as I was leaving Ian, Jennifer and Gavia Boyden and their home on San Juan Island with my...
Audio Archive Donated to WRVM
It's official now. The historic radio interview archive that was created mostly between 1993 and 2004 will now be housed at and preserved by the White River Valley Museum in beautiful Auburn,...
BAAM Fest
I have only lived in the Rainier Beach neighborhood for thirteen months, but already have the distinct pleasure of sharing some of my poems at the annual BAAMfest. Cindi Laws is the organizer and is...
How does one make literary art about this time in history that avoids rhetoric and facile political positioning in this era of the spectacle? How does one avoid being consumed by the simultaneous collapse of so many systems — some being eviscerated by people in positions designed to protect such systems? Deborah Poe has some idea based on her submission to the upcoming anthology Winter in America (Still.
Deborah is the author of several books of poetry including keep, Elements, and Our Parenthetical Ontology, as well as a novella in verse, Hélène. Her visual works–video poems and handmade book objects–have been exhibited throughout the US. She lives on stolen Coast Salish land, specifically the ancestral homeland of the Duwamish, Suquamish, Stillaguamish, and Muckleshoot People.
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