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
510. Divine Comedian
This poem was inspired by something said in a talk given by Muhammad Subuh Sumohadiwidjojo, the man who founded the worldwide Subud spiritual community. I have been a member since 2004. The notion...
509. Dream Anagrams
This postcard poem went overseas, so good to give it two months before posting here. I think in future years I may send to the folks overseas first so that there is time for them to receive the...
Bowering/Stanley on Cascadia
I was pleasantly surprised to be tagged on Facebook in a post that promoted a podcast by New Star Books of Vancouver. The podcast featured two elders of the Cascadia poetry community, Vancouver...
508. Crater Glacier (Power Animal)
The largest category of (August Poetry Postcard Fest) cards I send out, in terms of the image, feature Coastal Salish art. I think this is one of the world’s most potent artistic traditions, on a...
After The Japanese (End)
I had no idea when I started this series that it would end with me writing poems about my Father's death on Mother's Day 2014. And so it goes. I am grateful to have a process that allows me to, yes,...
507. Goodbye Queets
Poem #2 in the 2015 August Poetry Postcard Fest. (Audio here.)
After the Japanese 95-98
Near the very end of this series of 100 poems my Father died. (May 11, 2014) I'd not experienced much death in my life to that point and Dad died in his bed and not in some hospital, which made me...
15 Year Anniversary of Lost in the Woods
This September (2015) marks the 15th anniversary of my Lost in the Woods episode. I went on a solo backpacking trip in the Olympic National Park, tried solo bushwhacking and ended up in need of a...
Some 2015 Postcard Highlights
Autumn came in with a bang yesterday, three weeks early. (Damage is said to be in the tens of millions of dollars.) It's odd, but early Spring and early Summer this year were greeted with great joy....
506. Curved Projections
This is the first "official" poetry postcard of mine for 2015, year 9. I sent out one "practice card" to someone from last year's list, but THIS year I decided to use Joanne Kyger's new book On Time...
Make it True Meets Medusario
Edited by Jose Kozer, Paul E Nelson, and Thomas Walton Make It True meets Medusario, a bilingual poetry anthology, brings together poets from divergent languages, cultures, and aesthetics to create...
A Time Before Slaughter: Pig War & Other Songs of Cascadia
By Paul E. Nelson In this epic poem, Paul Nelson re-enacts the history of Auburn, Washington, originally known as the town of Slaughter. Written in the spirit of William Carlos Williams, Charles...
American Prophets: Interviews With Thinkers, Activists, Poets and Visionaries
by Paul E. Nelson (Author), Allen Ginsberg, Wanda Coleman A book of sixteen interviews taken from the best of over 600 conducted by Seattle poet Paul E Nelson. The book includes an A-List of...
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.