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
489. Bandera de la Mariposa
489. Bandera de la Mariposa is a reference to an exhibit at Museo Amparo in Puebla, Mexico that was running during the recent Subud World Congress. A beautiful museum in a restored colonial...
Poetry & Music (Paul Reads with Blunck)
What does it mean when the Existential Trio is actually a quartet? What happens to poems when they are read with music backing? Do they become songs? I've been very fortunate to have some excellent...
488. Hold the Thorns
Sam Hamill and Christopher Yohmei Blasdel
Please join us Saturday, November 1, 2014, at 7:30, for an evening of poetry and music as Sam Hamill and Christopher Yohmei Blasdel are reunited for one evening at Spring Street Center, 1101 15th in...
487. Sin Carne
This poetry postcard was written August 11, 2014, also at the 14th Subud World Congress. The Bhakti referenced is Subud Portland Co-Chair Bhakti Watts whose name means "devoted one."
Climate March, Poetry & Proprioception
I was delighted to learn that in addition to a Subud couple from Portland, my friend Stephen Collis also traveled to New York to participate in the huge Climate March on September 21, 2014. His...
486. Tormenta Gigante
My recent trip to Mexico was quite an experience. My real first visit since I was a little boy (I did see the airport in Cancun in 2005) my parents told me that back then all I wanted in Mexico was...
485. El Espejo
Another 2014 August postcard poem today and some of the background. One of the first really powerful moments for me at the 14th Subud World Congress when I did "testing" on a personal issue that has...
Levertov, Postcards & Language of Birds
As I have mentioned in previous posts, I used epigraphs by Denise Levertov for all my postcard poems in 2014, and deepened my appreciation for her gesture. I can see why she ended up in Cascadia,...
Cracker Climate Refugees Coming to Cascadia
Was going over last year's journal entry for this date and came across John Olson's wonderful birthday poem for me, as well as some of his comments regarding my essay Organic In Cascadia: A Sequence...
A Poet’s Obituary of Diane di Prima
Thank you Journal of the Plague Year for publishing this: My November 1999 interview with Diane di Prima: https://paulenelson.com/interviews/diane-di-prima-intervie/ Other Interviews:
Priscilla Long Interview
Priscilla Long is a Seattle-based poet, writer, editor and longtime independent teacher of writing. Her new book Holy Magic won the 2020 Sally Albiso Poetry Book Award and was published by MoonPath...
Diane di Prima R.I.P.
I met Diane di Prima when we brought her to the old SPLAB in Auburn in November 1999. I will never forget that her workshop was happening on a morning when the annual Veterans Day celebration...
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.