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
528. Prayers & Street Chorizo
Yes, demons were a sub-theme of my work in the 2015 August Poetry Postcard Fest. More demons, another memory of the 2014 Subud World Congress in Puebla, Mexico, and an illusion to los feos...
World Poetry Day
World Poetry Day is March 21. Don't feel bad, I did not know that either and it has been apparently been happening since 1999. One company is offering a cup of coffee on that day in exchange for an...
Birthday Anagram for Solihin Thom
I have a YUGE amount of gratitude for my current state of health and joy to the man who suggested I investigate the spiritual practice of the Latihan Kejiwaan of Subud, Solihin Thom, who celebrates...
Left, Egalitarian Validation
How do you know if someone is a vegan? They'll tell you. I'm not a vegan, but when I first heard the phrase Left Egalitarian, it registered as quite accurate to describe my politics. (I've linked to...
Postcards for Peace
I participated in the first World Peace Poets postcard project this past February, after being invited by Carla Shafer. Rather than post every poem I wrote, I have put together a page which will...
527. Choose Your Pronoun
The latest poem to be posted from the 2015 August Poetry Postcard Fest:
Bioregional Cultural Investigation
We do what we know before we know what we do. - Charles Olson. Little did I know in 2012 that the first Cascadia Poetry Festival would be the start of a 20 year bioregional cultural investigation...
Seattle Not So Great
Great article by Danny Westneat (former Valley Daily News columnist) about whether Seattle is great. In the article, he refers to an Atlantic magazine article entitled: Eleven Signs a City Will...
Beached America (Bob Koehler)
Bob Koehler is a Chicago-based Peace Journalist who has written an op-ed for Buzzflash at Truthout entitled: "When a Nation Has Lost Its Soul, Its Politics Become a Tacky TV Performance." Koehler's...
526. Fennelity
Unlike Chicory, I’ve been eating fennel the last couple of summers. The intensity of this herb is astounding and a wonderful taste that one gets in Cascadia summer. I heard it grows wild north of...
FLEXIBLE MIND THIS CLOUD IS A LIFE
I have been fortunate to facilitate online workshops since Fall 2020. It is one of the great personal developments of the pandemic restructuring that we're experiencing right now and, of course, if...
Michael McClure Archives Simon Fraser University
On Friday, November 12, 2021, Adelia MacWilliam and I visited the W.A.C. Bennett Special Collections Library at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C. to investigate the extensive Michael McClure...
RIP Pat Martino (Observer of environment, including guitar)
Thirteen months ago I started facilitating workshops again and I never knew how much joy and inspiration could come from engaging people at a deep level via Zoom poetry workshops. And before I get...
The interview I conducted with Sam O’Hana, a Ph.D. student at CUNY, is immensely critical and immensely validating for the work we do at the Cascadia Poetics Lab. At its core, the discussion is about whether writing is for people of means, or if it can be people who have skill and something to say. It means the literary gatekeepers have failed us and have a role in perpetuating neoliberalism in North America which has paved the way for authoritarianism. The interview is available as a podcast here and as a YouTube video here. Below, I have pasted in the transcript and here is my introduction to Sam O’Hana and his topic.