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
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...
Upcoming Readings
I have been working like a dog on the Cascadia Poetry Anthology, Make It True the last few months, but the last few days especially and we're almost done. It's been a joy to work with Nadine...
499. Literary Bruxism
Driving the Redwood Highway is one of the most wonderful road trips I could ever imagine. Starting from Grants Pass, Oregon, stopping at Dutch Bros coffee to get an Irish Creme latté, you soon head...
498. Depth Untended
Sam Hamill on Denise Levertov
Amalio Madueño, the great Taos poet whom I met while attending the legendary Taos Poetry Circus for three years in the late 90s, came to Seattle Labor Day weekend to attend Sam Hamill's book release...
497. Levertov Butterfly Nation
Not too many postcard poems from 2014 left. (Whew!) This one features another Germán Montalvo image and is an homage to Denise Levertov. Long live the organic! (Well, until it decomposes.) A link to...
496. The Occasional Chicharrón
496. The Occasional Chicharrón has more Congress and Puebla reflections, another reference to Vargas Lugo’s butterfly nation flags and the impending USAmerican football season, the advent of which...
97. Clues From Hell
Part of my journal practice is to read the journal entry from the same day of the previous year. A year ago I was ending my residency at The Lake, the last home of Morris Graves. The Morris Graves...
Animating Cascadia Western Lit Conference Notes
I am set to leave for Victoria on the Clipper and make a presentation Thursday morning at the Western Literature Association's annual conference on a panel with Andy Meyer and Nadine Maestas. They...
The Great Columbia City Dog Shit Debate
It's fascinating to see what hits a nerve with people in our internet age. Seems like days have passed, but it was only yesterday that a neighbor posted to the Columbia City neighborhood Facebook...
A Reading of Projective Verse
This post has been edited to include video of the reading of the seminal Charles Olson essay Projective Verse: It was October 1995 and I had just finished lunch with Michael McClure, the day I met...
1.1.2021 American Sentence
1.1.2021 - 2020 was taken out to the alley & shot in the head. 12.31.2020 marked the completion of twenty years of daily practice of composing American Sentences. (17 syllable poems, a form...
The New Year (A Poem)
Photo from CrosscutThe New Year January 1 too old to be hungover you unwrap the new year like a new stick of butter hope you get it in the dish at the right angle and not scrape off butter from the...
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.