Friday, December 21, 2012

John Bennett: Small Press Friday

Photo by Tevaprapas Makklay



Paths to God - John Bennett
A Zen monk
on a
six-month
silent retreat
with a
smuggled-in
cell phone
& a
stock portfolio.   



A little something from John Bennett, who won't back down, who tells it like it is, and who has a low tolerance for BS.  Check out his work here at Hcolom/Vagapound Press and drop him a line @ dasleben@fairpoint.net.  I love his tribute to another small press icon, Kell Robertson, which you can find at the always in your face outlaw poetry network.  

John Bennett, who spends a good deal of his time doing what he notes of Kell: bringing Moloch to its knees. 



-------------



Artwork by Katsushika Hokusai




a monk beats his bowl--
by now a dent
in the mountain! 
 Issa
 translated by David G. Lanoue 




best,
Don 

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6 comments:

Ed Baker said...

FOUR amazing connections in your today's post:

- reading about an hour ago the section "The Western Hermitage" (p63) of Daniel Odier's book:
Meditation Techniques of the Buddhist and Taoist Masters
where he broaches this very point that Dr. Bennett so "right on" po ems about.

- a postcard of that red Mt Fuji piece taped to my now defunct color printer now for about 8 years

- Conrad open his forward to my Stone Girl E-pic with a terrific quote from John re: the work of 'outsiders'.

- just the other day I commented about how "old" our
American Brand of Zen has become... as I recall I called it "Ersatz Zen"

I could say more
however
the prune juice is working

Gotta go

Adam Luebke said...

Great piece. Bennett has inspired and perturbed my consciousness so many times. He stands in a category all his own.

Ed Baker said...

the Hokusai piece is pretty erotic....

look into his shunga pieces ....

even the colors ( blue, red, white, black) are telling.... mountains ARE goddesses....

Mt. Fuji is not only a "cherry blossom" she is also
Mother Earth"s milk-filled breast !

Issa's Untidy Hut said...

Ersatz Zen and prune juice. Ed, you've found the fountains of youth ...

Glad you liked all this and that the connections spark ...

Issa's Untidy Hut said...

Adam,

John is a rock of the small press ... amazing energy, focus, and work.

best,
Don

Issa's Untidy Hut said...

Ah, yes, the shunga pieces ... my, oh, my, fine work.

Bowing to Mt. Fuji, very low, indeed.