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
Sam Hamill & Christopher Yohmei Blasdel N.1.14
On November 1, 2014, the home of my spiritual community was the site of an event that truly illustrates the mission of the cultural wing of said organization, working at the confluence of creativity...
Bioregionalism or Endless Garbage
There needs to be a new idea or a more fleshed out idea of what a human being is in reference to sharing the biosphere with other life. - Peter Berg This is part of what essentially is Peter Berg's...
Uncascadian
It was a long day, but one filled with vision and inspiration last Saturday (Dec 6, 2014) as I was part of a Board Retreat for CascadiaNow! I agreed to be Board President when asked by founder...
100 Poems After the Japanese
Having finished back in May a series of poems inspired by the classic Japanese anthology, I come to it now after letting the poems sit for a while, and re-read them in the spirit of seeing how my...
St. Paul Seattle N.30.14
It is a testament to the good of social media that an event like Seattle/St. Paul, which happened last night in St. Paul, Minnesota, with a poet I'd never met before, Mark Fleury, could happen. My...
The Biosphere & the Bioregion
I've just finished the new book on the Essential Writings of Peter Berg. The Biosphere and the Bioregion is the title and it is so prophetic and visionary, I am compelled to cull through all my...
Ferguson, Race, Privilege and Life in a Police State
Was inspired by seeing Jarret Middleton's thoughts about the lack of charges brought against Darren Wilson, the officer in Ferguson, Missouri, who fatally shot Michael Brown, a young black man whose...
501. Hawthorne Presence
WooHoo! The last 2014 August Poetry Postcard! (See all here.) And with only 221 days until the next call goes out. Hawthorn Presence uses an image I took on my cellphone of the house Denise Levertov...
Cover Poem Writing Exercise (Rewrite, New Arrangement)
Often times I’ll see a poem, or in the case below, one is sent to me, and feel that it needs updating, or could stand to be altered to fit the conditions of my particular place and time while yet...
500. Passing Lane
Passing Lane is another 2014 August Postcard Poem, but this one reflects a life firmly back home after my visit to Mexico, firmly into the routine of taking walks in my Hillman City/Seward Park...
My Personal Universe Deck
What's good for the goose... It was about 20 years ago (2000?) when I first learned about Michael McClure's concept of a Personal Universe Deck and 8 years ago when I took some of my retreat time at...
12.9.2020 American Sentence
The end of 2020 (aside from spawning millions of "good riddance" celebrations) marks the completion of twenty years of daily practice of American Sentences. These (usually) 17 syllable poems, a form...
FLEXIBLE MIND December 3, 2020
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.