Cooksferry Queen: Issa's Sunday Service, #120

This past week, a friend insisted I keep at it with two things: John Keats' poetry and Richard Thompson's music. I'm happy to say that both clicked and, in the later case, after a few years of insistence.

A tip of the hat to Che for his insistence and always spot-on taste.

The album that won me over was Mock Tudor and what was to be discovered there? Not one, not two, but three songs that qualify for the Sunday Service and today's is a beauty: "Cooksferry Queen." The litrock connection comes from a line that has been referenced in a previous selection. The Alice books seem to be an endless source for rock bands; along with the Bible, they have by far have provided the most tunes for this regular feature.

I got a bit of a charge out of the description of the song on Songfacts:

"The song is about a thug who gets dosed with acid and adopts the paisley."

There are a number of different videos of this song floating around; here's one I like a lot.





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This week's archival poem comes from Lilliput Review #68, April 1995, by the esteemed small press legend, A. D. Winans. Enjoy.

Coffee Gallery Blues

I don't care how god
damn smart they are
I'm bored with their writing
for each other

Just the other day
one of them said
poetry isn't for
the masses

It's been raining
intellectual snobs
all day
long

A. D. Winans

the masses wait
but all in vain...
cuckoo

Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue

best,

Don

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Go to the LitRock web site for a list of all 120 songs

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A. D. Winans on Jack Micheline

Jack Micheline, pictured above with jazz legend Charles Mingus, was one of the great unsung poets from San Francisco in the later half of the 20th century. A. D. Winans, another small press poet from SF of considerable renown, remembers his friend in this fine three part article, here (part 1), here (part 2), and here (part 3).

Here is the write up on Micheline from The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry, along with a few poems. For more poetry by Jack, check out the webpage for his Selected Poems. From that page, comes the following touching piece, composed with fellow neglected Beat poet, Bob Kaufman:

Poem For The Children Of The World

A child walks in a dream
Her eyes dance in the night of stars
Someday when the moon is full
The gypsies come home
They will come home forever
And all the boats that never sailed will sail forever
And all the flowers that have not grown will bloom forever
A child walks in a dream
And all the stars that have not shone will shine forever
And all the children that could not dance will dance forever
A child walks in a dream

Jack Micheline and Bob Kaufman

Thanks to Ron Silliman for pointing to the original posting.

best, Don