Ron Whitehead archives
november 2010 january 2011


PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST
BY EMAILETTERS

 

 

 

Date: Sat, 6 Nov 2010 00:22:18 -0700 (PDT)

Subject: Ron's 31st cd the last great truthtellers 23 tracks to be recorded Iceland 11/23/10

 

the last great truthtellers

my final love song

 

dedicated to Hunter and Anita Thompson

 

front cover artwork portrait of Hunter S. Thompson by Russel Hulsey. back cover artwork giant mural of Hunter on side of The Monkey Wrench. back cover also includes 23 track list.

 

bottom front & back cover = a Published in Heaven The Moving Mystery Theatre DiY Do It Yourself production for The Global Literary Renaissance in this already gone baby bone ghost to ghost coast to coast fleeting vanishing memory called Iceland Kentucky in this already gone baby gone i said gone world (if executive producer comes on board to fund project name of their record label will also be added)

 

inside booklet will include = Track List and all credits, one Gonzo artwork each by Scott Shuffitt, J. B. Wilson, Andy Cook, Emil Walton, and Jeremy Dixon plus photos of all performers/everyone involved in recording surrounding the giant ancient gravemarker with runes on it in Reykjavik's oldest downtown graveyard, Olafur Gunnarsson & Ron & everyone on cd recording & @ birthday recording bash at base of The Viking Mountain, Birgitta & Icelanders & Tibetan refugees & 2 Icelandic policemen & Ron standing arm in arm in front of Reykjavik Chinese Embassy Free Tibet Rally plus other Iceland photos plus hopefully including Russel Hulsey portrait artwork of Anita Thompson.

 

all 23 tracks to be recorded in English and Icelandic (plus Never Give Up also in Spanish & Tibetan) all done in one Live take @ Storra Klopp/Big Rock Olafur Gunnarsson Clan home Ron's 60 birthday bash november 23rd 2010 (also Michael's 57th birthday bash). entire cd including music will be unlike any cd ever produced. Marlon Pollock will be sound engineer plus mix plus perform with Tonya & whoever else he chooses electronica techno euro heavy dance floor beat but Icelandic rap/hip hop of some of the pieces i'll read in English. want Michael & Danny Pollock (& whoever else they choose) to play their magical guitars going beyond Jeff Beck (You Had It Coming) Master Musicians of Joujouka soul journey into and beyond ecstatic states to angel realms cause army of angels gonna be singing with us. Hilmar Orn Hilmarsson HOH or Marlon will master. depending on who i find willing to come on board as Executive Producer and fund production i'd like to bring out 2,500 to 5,000 copies = half will be sold in Iceland half in USA. will pay/barter everyone involved in production process, including myself with limited number of cds. doing this for love, not money, and to honor my friends Hunter and Anita Thompson, and to build bridge tween The International GONZO FESTIVAL, 1st of which just held at The Monkey Wrench in The Highlands (where Hunter grew up) Louisville Kentucky & The 1st ever International STORM GENERATION FESTIVAL which i'm producing with Iceland's best next June summer solstice 2011 daylight 24/7 4 days/nights inside/outside Reykjavik. hoping STORM FESTIVAL will be filmed for one hour documentary/dvd plus photographed for coffee table size photo/text book.

 

the last great truthtellers

my final love song

 

dedicated to Hunter & Anita Thompson

 

produced by nobody nowhere produced by the wind weaving through cedar and pine

winding through cracks of old farmhouse attic walls whispering conjuring spirits of

loving kinfolk produced by holy softly singing creative spirits angels singing whispered 

lullabies in my heart waking me bringing gifted visions this cd produced beyond all

socalled time and space this cd already Published in Heaven

 

cd to be printed in Nashville Tennessee but with all the manuel labor done by prison cell

inmates jesus johnny cash mickey pollock olafur no guitars and me all of us locked up

slave outlaws outside Eddyville in The Kentucky State Penitentieary yes slave laboring outlaws arrested in Nashville Tennessee our return grehound ticket to Kentucky

free yes even before we got to The Ryman off that grehound bus 3am they arrested us cause suspicious we looked we be so the cops arrested us and hauled our asses back to Kentucky and locked us up in The Kentucky State Penitentiary where well now jesus johnny cash mickey pollock olafur no guitars and me we be breakin rocks but no matter what they do to us we always refuse we will not bow down we will never give up cause outlaws we will always yes outlaws we are and forever damn proud to be

 

new cd projected release date usa and iceland last week february or first week of march with official worldwide release just prior to and during 1st ever International STORM GENERATION FESTIVAL june summer solstice 2011.

 

ok. here's 23 track list with titles and performer suggestions. this of course can & will change depending on availability and desire of each invited to be part of this dream come true project. Michael & Marlon Pollock will oversee music production. also sending poem text for each track so someone (Michael?) can be translating them. thanks!!!.

 

Track 1) woodsmoke = voice only - Ron read English then without missing beat Iceland Viking Woman reads same in Icelandic (new Prime Minister, Birgitta, Elsa, Tonya, Johanna, Lay Low, Bjork, Marlon's X (don't remember her name she kicked ass singing with us at Airwaves, Haldor Laxness' grand daughter i read with one night at big event Michael produced not remembering her name now, anyway you all decide who be best of course yes be sweet for new Prime Minister to read this short piece & be included on cd)

 

woodsmoke

 

amethyst asphodel azure bronze copper

diamond dust ebony emerald gold indigo

jade jasper lavender opal pearl pine resin

sapphire silver turquoise water wine woods woodsmoke

 

(we'll take care of all proper credits when layout & design done. all poems written by

Ron Whitehead with exception of: Kentucky Reclamation by Shelley Vaughn Hora & Ron Whitehead plus The Storm Generation Manifesto by Olafur Gunnarsson & Ron Whitehead plus Never Give Up by His Holiness The Dalai Lama & Ron Whitehead plus Desert by Michael Dean Odin Pollock.)

 

Track 2) greyhound into and outta tennessee 

open with me softly singing almost whisper singing accapella 1st stanza of "Amazing Grace" then with only one beat or maybe none immediately female Icelandic Viking woman sings same in Icelandic (Johanna or Law Low or Marlon's ex or Bjork you decide)

 

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me,

I once was lost but now am found,

Was blind, but now I see

 

then Ron reads the poem in English immediately followed without missing a beat Olafur reads same poem in Icelandic while both Ron & Olafur read Michael

plays slide guitar and somebody Danny? plays steel guitar with Michael's friend (not remembering his name now) plays forlorn harmonica then at end of poem Ron & whoever female Viking woman sang 1st stanza Amazing Grace then at end of poem she & Ron together with Ron in English she in Icelandic sing accapella simultaneously together entire 1st verse of Amazing Grace to close poem Ron's singing will be more poet song almost whispered accompaniment to female Viking singer's voice.

 

greyhound into & out of tennessee

 

on a greyhound bus we rode

the viking hillbilly apocalypse revue

 

an outlaw band we were and be

on a greyhound bus we rode

 

into nashville tennessee straight

but staggerin from kentucky on

 

a greyhound bus we rode guitars johnny cash

jesus mickey pollock olafur and me

 

we be outlaws damn proud to be

we rode right but all wrong direct

 

with guns and bullets arrivin 3am

drinkin rattlesnake blood chasin

 

it with lightnin at 3am arrivin greyhound

station nashville tennessee gonna

 

determined to be popular as viking

hillbilly new jerusalem outlaws in

 

nashville tennessee ridin with rebel jesus

johnny cash mickey pollock guitars olafur

 

and me well yes we looked suspicious

and it sure as hell didn't take long

 

for the cops to stop and bust us

long before we made it to the ryman

 

in nashville tennessee so now we're

gettin off the greyhound return ticket

 

free yeah they shipped our asses back

to kentucky to the kentucky state

 

penitentiary so here we sit outside

eddyville without our guitars in prison

 

cells rebel jesus johnny cash mickey pollock

no guitars olafur and me and yes i admit

 

that we're outlaws damn proud to be

and so by god outlaws we'll always

 

by god be

 

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me,

I once was lost but now am found,

Was blind, but now I see,

 

T'was Grace that taught my heart to love

And Grace, my fears relieved,

How precious did that Grace appear

The hour I first believed.

 

Through many dangers, toils and snares

I have already come;

'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far

and Grace will lead me home.

 

The Lord has promised good to me.

Great Spirit's word my hope secures.

Great Spirit will my shield and portion be,

As long as life endures.

 

When we've been here ten thousand years

Bright shining as the sun.

We've no less days to sing Great Spirit's praise

Than when we've first begun.

 

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost but now am found.

Was blind, but now I see.

 

Track 3) a shower at 4:12am

Ron English then without missing a beat female (Laxness granddaughter? you decide)

voice only no musicial accompaniment

 

a shower at 4:12am

 

a shower at 4:12am

of meteors

in the northeast

full moon

 

Track 4) please don't say goodbye nothing is lost nothing forgotten

Ron English/MEGAS Icelandic with Michael playing high lost lonesome crying weeping electric guitar with MEGAS joining Michael after he be done reading pome 

 

please don't say goodbye

nothing is lost nothing forgotten

 

please don't say goodbye

climb into your rusted blue

'46 Dodge pickup and yes

head west dropping beer cans

through the hole in the floor

right next to the gear shift

scatter Budweisers cross Kansas

please don't look back don't

wave don't cry hold onto

to that damn vibrating pulling hard to the left

steering wheel and everytime you stop

for gas or to take a beer piss

make sure and check the air

in that bald right front tire

here's 23 dollars it's all i've got

and no shut the hell up i don't

want to hear it i want you 

to have it don't look back

you'll always be with me no matter

where you go and i with you 

please don't say goodbye

nothing is lost nothing forgotten

 

Track 5) Kentucky Reclamation

Ron English Marlon Tonya Michael Olafur Oli Palli several Icelanders can

split share sections of Icelandic (poem part only. i'll read prelude/opening in English only)with everybody joining in at end chanting in English & Icelandic go GONZO go go go

Michael & Marlon decide on music

 

Kentucky Reclamation

 

for Hunter Shaman & Anita Thompson 

& everybody at The Gonzo Monkey Wrench The Highlands Louisville Kentucky everybody who performed attended produced outlaw band of gypsy freak misfit truthtellers who produced The 1st ever International GONZO FESTIVAL all of us The Wandering FREAK PARTY CLAN Beduoin Viking Hillbilly Native Aboriginal Indigenous Yogi Creative Cave Dwelling Dragon Riding Soaring Third Eye Seeing Nabi Gypsy Fearless Warrior Searching Always Still and Forever Searching for IT IT IT NOT BOWING DOWN ALWAYS REFUSING NEVER GIVING UP RELENTLESS PERSEVERING STORM GENERATION Bodhisattva Indigo Spritual Stealth Guerilla Warrior Children with The Brazoned Blazened Tattooed Graffitied Creative Forces of The Universe Mark of Cain Clan the Real People The Real Seen and Unseen Creative Artists forever dwelling in The Shadow fully understanding knowing that The Creative Imagination is the shortest distance between two points and is The Bridge between the spiritual and material and all other realms who continually fight for the right to party & living fire breathing being having to fight also perpetually continually to be our dreams relentlessly fighting for the right to be ourselves our trueselves our realselves!!!!!!! Long Live ALCHEMICALLY CRUCIBLED VIKING HILLBILLY KENTUCKY ICELAND HILLBILLY THE VIKING MOUNTAIN NATURAL BRIDGE RATTLESNAKE BLOOD DRINKING CHASING IT WITH SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS OF LIGHTNING BACTERIA GERM VIRUS SIN EATER SHAMAN FEARLESS NO FEAR TODAY IS A GOOD DAY TO DIE TODAY IS A GOOD DAY TO LIVE BORN TO DIE BORN TO LIVE BIRTH THE JOURNEY DEATH FORGIVING GIVING ALL WE ARE BE NOW AND FOREVER GIVING WITHOUT ANY ANTICIPATION OF RECIPROCATION AVANT-GARDE WARRIOR ALIEN DDTED MUTAN FARMYBOY FARMGIRL ARCTURIAN LEAPING LAUGHING JOYFUL THANKFUL OFF THE EDGE DWELLING NOWHERE IN NOTHING WE DO NOT WANT WHAT IS NOT OURS INTERGALACTIC INTERDIMENSIONAL NABI UPLIFTING INSPIRING COMFORTING HEALING ENTERTAINING AWAKENING WHIRLING SHAPESHIFITING TRUTHTELLER GO GONZO GO GO GO GO MYSTIC VISIONARY STARING WITH WOLF EYES DEEP INTO THE EYES OF GOD ONE WITH GREAT SPIRIT CREATIVE FORCES OF THE UNIVERSE MOTHER EARTH FATHER SON SACRED SITED ELEMENTAL BEINGS ANGELS ANGEL POEMSONG POET PROPHET LIGHTNING STORM GENERATION 13 GRANDMOTHERS 13 CRYSTAL SKULSS HOLY INDIGENOUS SPIRIT'S OPEN NERVE IF YOU'RE NOT BRAVE ENOUGH YET TO BE ONE OF US OF OUR CLAN BUT WANT TO BE AND HAVE THE DESIRE ABILITY DEEP FEARLESS DETERMINED PERSEVERANCE WILL POWER LETTING GO ALL FEAR ALL PAIN YEARNING MEMBER OF OUR MYSTIC MEMORY THEATRE STORM GENERATION CLAN TO BE MORE THAN THE STORM TO BE THE EYE OF THE FUCKING STORM THEN WE'LL OPENHEARTEDLY MENTOR EMBRACE ACCEPT YOU AS WE HAVE BEEN MENTORED EMBRACED ACCEPTED TAUGHT TRAINED YOU WILL IF YOU HAVE THE FEARLESSNESS AND PROVE IT BY BEING IT DESIRE TO BE THE WHIRLING SINGING BLIND SEEING ALL & EVERYTHING INTERGALACTIC INTERDIMENSIONAL POET SHAMAN DRAGON FIRE BREATHING PROPHET TRUTHTELLER OF OUTLAW SORCERY THEN YOU DEAR BLOOD SISTER BLOOD BROTHER WILL BE ARE ONE OF US THEN THIS BE TOO FOR YOU!!!!!!!!!

 

Quebec and Lowell and NYC & San Fran & Orlando have Jack Jack I said

burn baby burn King of The Beats Jack Kerouac On The Road give me the wild ones

 

Paterson & New York City & Boulder have Allen Allen

I said Kaddish Allen Ginsberg I see the best fearless minds Howl baby Howl

 

St. Louis NYC Mexico City Tangier Paris NYC Lawrence The Bunkered Toad Clan has

William William yes dammit I said Junkie yes The Exterminator William S. Burroughs Naked Lunch

 

Italy France NYC North Carolina San Francisco has Lawrence Lawrence

I said dammit listen to me look deep into my eyes & listen I said

 

City Lights Bookstore & Books Mecca for independent thought thinkers

iconoclasts disappearing truthtellers 1st paperback bookstore in the usa on the farout

 

left coast 261 Columbus Avenue North Beath San Francisco I said dammit

the most important living poet on the planet today 92 years old but still hanging

 

come on Lawrence hang on with my friend John Tytell's help we got him nominated

for the Nobel Prize in Literature which he deserves more than anyone just like

 

Ginsberg & Burroughs did & others Gary Snyder Wendell Berry others that

for whatever reason were are considered too radical like me & all the fuck we want

 

to do & have devoted our lives to is to make the world a better place in which

to live for all of us & so like The Dalai Lama & Gandhi & Mother Teresa

 

& Rumi & Mama & Daddy & Thomas Merton & Gregory Chaney & William Blake

& Edgar Cayce & Muhammad Ali & Neal Cassady & Gregory Corso &

 

Diane di Prima & Anne Waldman & Ken Kesey & The Merry Pranksters which

includes yes our own my dear friends Captain America Merry Prankster

Ed McClanahan & Guerney Norman THE WHOLE EARTH CATALOG &

 

James Baker Hall & oh dear Great Spirit oh Creative Forces of The Universe whoever

the hell it is keeps sending me us poems & songs thank you i love you i love you

 

which brings us now finally to the time to closing time closing time in Louisville

Kentucky Louisville Kentucky & its about damn beyond time beyond closing time

 

where is time well the time the closing time has finally come at last arrived for us

to reclaim to refuckingclaim one of the greatest iconoclastic one of the most fearless

 

outlaw rebel writers of alltime of all I said of alltime to reclaim our native brother son

native son so now right now the time has come always right on time never too late

 

everything is always right on closing time yes we're here by God to reclaim reclaim

from Louisville The Highlands Louisville to Florida to New York to San Francisco round

 

the world to Owl Farm Woody Creek Aspen Colorado and beyond beyond beyond

always beyond beyond IT beyond all boundaries break on through to the other side

 

and keep on keepin on breakin on through to all the other sides nothing ever ends

the journey is IT IT so now right now we're here in Louisville The Highlands Kentucky

 

closing time we're here us yes us this band this band of misfits of delinquents of

outlaws yes to live outside the law you must be honest and oh hellyes honest fearlessly

 

honest we be regardless of the consequences truthteller poets writers honest fearless

outlaws we be and so we're by God right here right now reclaiming reclaiming our

 

native son practicing some long way too long overdue poetry of hillbilly outlaw

Kentucky Reclamation Sorcery reclaiming the one and only for Louisville The Highlands

 

Kentucky right here right now at Dennie Humphrey's The Monkey Wrench here in the

heart of The Highlands Louisville Kentucky right now right here at The Monkey Wrench

 

the new International GONZO Hangoutology Monkey Wrench Gang Headquarters

we're here reclaiming here at The 1st ever International GONZO FESTIVAL we're

 

reclaiming the one and only the one and only i said the one and only KING KING

OF GONZO KING OF GONZO GONZO GONZO Dr. Hunter Stockton Shaman yes

 

Shaman Thompson The Now and Forever KING OF GONZO DR. HUNTER STOCKTON

SHAMAN I said dammit dammit I said SHAMAN THOMPSON so KEEP LOUISVILLE

 

GONZO KEEP LOUISVILLE GONZO KEEP LOUISVILLE KEEP LOUISVILLE GONZO

KEEP yes you heard us we said KEEP KEEP KEEP LOUISVILLE LOUISVILLE

 

LOUISVILLE KENTUCKY go GONZO go go go

and always remember to ask yourself WHAT WOULD HUNTER DO

yes always remember to ask WHAT WOULD HUNTER SHAMAN THOMPSON DO!!!!

go GONZO go go go WHAT WOULD HUNTER DO go GONZO go go go go

 

 

Track 6) the fullness of my flawedness guilty of everything failure has been is and always will be my greatest success

Ron English then GAK Icelandic

 

the fullness of my flawedness guilty of everything failure has been

is and always will be my greatest success

 

i embrace

the fullness

of my

flawedness

guilty of everything

failure has been is and always

will be my greatest success

i embrace the fullness of my flawedness

 

Track 7) i had a lick of sense

Ron English Reuben Icelandic

Reuben guitar

 

i had a lick of sense

 

once upon a time

i had a lick of sense

but it sure didn't take me long

to spend it

 

Track 8)  swooping crane

Ron English Bragi Icelandic

Michael minimal note solitary guitar

 

swooping crane

 

river's edge...sunrise fog

thick fog...dimly see...cane pole

jug of red wine

listen...listen...distant

train...distant train..swooping crane

 

 

Track 9)  learning to talk with crows

Ron English Thor Icelandic

 

learning to talk with crows

 

a long time ago in a land far away

in the wooded wilderness of my pioneer Kentucky boyhood

Daddy taught me how to talk with crows

his foot on the one he shot a murder of them circling above

 

Track 10) Daddy taught me how to meditate to listen to be fearless

Ron English Hilmar Orn Hilmarsson HOH Icelandic

some kind of musical accompaniment/eery spooked in the forest alone with

wild animals but choosing determined to be being fearless music

  

Daddy taught me how to meditate to listen to be fearless

 

I

 

as Daddy grew closer to death

 

as Daddy grew closer to death i searched for and found

a winding dirt hill country backroad backroad to wander

where i hear a bobwhite a warbling wren distant crowing roosters

and the grinding crashing gnashing sounds of machines vanish

 

II

 

after Daddy left his body i slept

 

after Daddy left his body and stepped fully into

the spirit world i bicycyled the overgrown lost and forgotten western

Kentucky tree laned backroads of my youth searching my life

i now sleep on the floor next to the staring eyes of a horned animal skull

 

III

 

Daddy taught me

 

Daddy taught me

how to be fearless

with animals and people

including packs of wild dogs

 

IV

 

Daddy taught me how to sit still alone

 

Daddy taught me how to sit still alone

in the woods at sunrise and sunset

to not move for hours listening waiting

hunting wind leaves tall trees crows hawks wild animals

 

 

Track 11) one good strong Mother

Ron English Johanna or Elsa or Birgitta or Tonya or Bjork or another Viking Mother

minimal music/a few notes/Michale guitar?

 

one good strong Mother

 

the strongest and best man

aren't nearly as strong

or as good

as one good strong Mother

 

Track 12) zero tolerance, a sermon

Ron English Marlon & Tonya excerpt phrases lines & rap/hip hop longside

my reading with Michael playing guitar (& Michael decide whoelse to add) &

Marlon/Tonya electronica/techno (whatever else) heading twards building

cranking up the volume to way beyond dance floor universal ecstatic whirling

sufi beyond wild blind visionary wailing lightning visionary beat

 

zero tolerance

a sermon

 

it's too late to go off the grid well

the last final closing time escape

even if when you're i'm we're arrested

shot disappeared buried rotting in open graves

the last final closing time escape

from the grid well if you still have

the desire the courage to get off the grid

or the awareness even of what the fuck

the grid is the only way left now

to get off the grid and well you've

dug deep enough to become fearless

enough to face to embrace your own

inevitable death well the last final only

escape from the grid is right here right now

in the completely naked open honest

last stand thought word heart soul action

creative spiritual high noon blazing desert

sun turquoise sky no more hiding escaping

and i mean no more hiding escaping to

anywhere as in any i said anywhere

on this terribly beautiful green mother

luna moth Mother Earth the greed powermongers

their satellites and their giant computers know

exactly where i you we are they know

whatever they think they need and want to know

they trust no one not even their Mamas and

certainly not themselves so absolutely without

any doubt any equivocation they trust no one

no one especially us us the real people

the real genuine honest open and fucking

proud of it freaks we are the freak party

the freak clan the freak tribe they sure

don't trust us freaks yes i'm we're freaks and

damn proud to be they trust no one they are

so far gone they won't experience redemption

until and after innumerable interminable lifetimes

as less than microscopic pain pus filled

rotting nothingness buried buried for lifetimes

in the heart of Saturn's ass rotting stinking Saturned

pieces less than microscopic fragments of Saturn's

assholed upper coloned shit so ladies and gentlemen

all beings visible and invisible seen and unseen the time

has arrived yes closing time is here but well yet well my

heart my intuition tells me wakes me every morning

at 3am to let me know that by choosing love instead

of fear that regardless of what the majority of fear

motivated humans are doing that by fearlessly choosing

despite any and all failures stubbornly continuing persevering

choosing love as primary motivator then some of us somehow

will miraculously make it through the darkness this rapidly

increasing intensifying avalanching transition which is only

gonna pick up speed some of us gonna go on make it through

start anew all new some of us have already broken through

started rebirthed anew and let me tell you it feels damn good

i mean real damn good to choose love to live to come out of

whatever closet you're hiding fearfully hidling in come out and

fearlessly be your self true self be your dream therefore and

so from this moment i mean right now and anybody who even

has an inkling of the beginning of an understanding of time

well you already know that time actually doesn't i said so-called

time especially Gregorian time doesn't actually exist yet another

brainwashed Constantinian Gregorian Machiavellian machinated

lie lie greed powermonger lie which doesn't actually exist and even

now this moment fleeting moment is already gone baby gone

coast to coast to coast ghost to ghost to ghost and even gone

baby way gone way beyond beyond any and all vanishing points

what the hell is reality where the hell are we why have we murdered

over 160 million humans in the past century in one endless bloody

greed powermonger war ceaseless senseless war after another

tell me please tell me why so what gives you yes you the right to

deprive life of all its poetry its mysticism its terrible beauty so as

of this nonexistent moment i yes nada nobody i declare that

henceforth and forevermore in the neverforever i declare that i have

zero tolerance for everything i have zero tolerance for proving

myself to anyone i pledge allegiance to only being my ever

changing ever evolving non-existent paradoxically non-existent

3rd dimensional intergalactic interdimensional true self true honest

failure my greatest success recognizing as i say it that failure

is merely yet another learning experience opportunity to grow

my soul grow my guilty of everything self which is nada nothing

you are i am we are nothing nobodies but the temporal ephemeral

will of the wisp auroura borealis here gone here gone perpetually

appearing momentarily then disappearing even more rapidly vanishing

dreamed vapor of hope and love of honesty and the pathless land

of truth at least as much as we can fearlessly be and what is that

well somehow somewhere deep inside me a still small voice

incessantly whispers assuring reminding me despite any and all

anxiety and despair reminds me to be to remain hopeful to choose

despite my continual so-called failures to choose relentlessly

choose love to be open honest fearless reminds me that i have

a pure honest soft gentle kind huge enlarged heart but yes i have

failed continue to fail time and again at all of the above so many

times that despite any and all of my pure intentions my daily

prayers meditations visualizations i have zero tolerance zero

tolerance for all governments and laws and religions and marriages

and divorces and churches and undertakers and suburbs and

malls and pollution and drug tests drug laws sobriety tests

background checks standardized tests and seat belts and

underwear and panties and schools and pharisees and

judgmentalists and advertisements and lobbyists and electoral

colleges and mitch mcconnell and rush limbow neutered gangreenrich
and karl not a rover and the evil empire and war and flies and

mosquitoes and self-righteous arrogance elitism and suicide

bombers and death squads and injustice in all its manifestations

the only government for me is the government of individual

responsibility and helping my friends and neighbors and

practicing hangoutology we are all yes we are all dirty filthy

dirty potatoes floating in the same tub of oil and chemical

filled polluted dead zone water beargrass creek the ohio the

mississippi all streams creeks rivers ponds lakes seas oceans

and yes now certainly the gulf of mexico destroyed and i say

fuck bp and regardless of what the british prime minister and

their parasite queen say in their sweet talking bullshit lies

attempting miserably to cover up their intentional felonies

i say bp should be persecuted what after 790plus felonies

crimes against the environment against mother earth against

all of us including their bp parasite queen greed powermonger

government oil companies retarded idiot selves always paying

enough corrupt assholes off to get off come out squeaky clean

go on being more than lethally mean same as the mountaintop

removal coal mine operator owners continue to do they too should

be persecuted first degree felony forced to face the karmic

consequences of their greed powermonger actions and stopped

right now same as bp bp and the british government and their

parasite queen should pay every damn penny for the already

damaged uncleanable cleanup and just as our own beargrass

creek should be rerouted redirected directly into the louisville

mayor's office until he we stop dumping raw sewage and who

knows what else into it and clean it up restore it to its pristine

crystal pure clean natural state well every damn drop of oil we're

able to clean up to gather suction syphon up from the gulf of

mexico and its beaches and tributaries every drop should be

loaded onto planes and flown across the atlantic ocean and

dumped dropped from the air directly onto the houses of

parliament and all the parasite queens leeched mansions

and onto all bp's top headquarters yes we can only come

clean by openly honestly without frontin without lying yes

if it ain't real it ain't no fuckin deal we can only come clean

by openly honestly embracing the consequences of our

actions and embracing our past our roots our history no

matter where we come from no matter how we grew up

no matter what's happened what's happening to us then

and now there comes a time in all our lives and that time

my friends is now right now in this fleeting moment called

now the time has come arrived finally to quit blaming

anybody everybody past present future including yes

ourselves for the facts the events the happenings of our

lives and to accept and embrace and take full responsibility

for our choices decisions actions for what's going on right

now inside and outside ourselves our lives accepting

embracing facing the reality of each of our selves our own

lives and taking action fearless action to correct our mistakes

our lack of thoughtfullness considerateness mindfullness

our selfishness the time has come for forgiveness for

givingness for discerning bighearted mindful wisdom for

loving for compassion not just for our family and friends

but for everyoine including ourselves the high time has

come at long last to take it upon ourselves to change

what we don't like about ourselves to build a bridge one

step at a time from where we are to where we want to be

to living to being our dream what do you want to be more

than anything else i'm not talking about duty bound false

responsibility i'm talking about mindfully compassionately

choosing taking the step by step determined actions

building the bridge to what more than anything you want

to be to be your dream so my dear sweet friends ask dig

question everything everyone including me and especially

yourself cause truth really is a pathless land and we all

have to find the fearless stubborn determined perservering

courage to be our real selves to live to be our dream

perseverance be central to success if i can do it anybody

can no matter what never give up develop your relentless

will power regardless of any and all odds obstacles

circumstances dig relentlessly dig into your deepest heart

and soul self dig unceasingly until you arrive until you are

you be your dream so yes sweet friends and beautiful

teacher enemies may all our hearts be filled with the amazing

grace of forgiveness washing away karma so there are no

enemies so yes we're all dirty potatoes floating in the same

tub of filthy polluted water but we have innumerable options

and alternatives like openheartedly honestly fearlessly with

nothing to hide no secrets calling ourselves and each other

by our real names sharing the poems stories songs events

of our lives respecting and honoring our beautiful differences

while realizing that somewhere in all of us we have more in

common than different so my dear sweet friends i choose to

come clean to have zero tolerance for all the phoney ass

fearbased lying stealing raping pillaging murdering greed

powermongered brainwashed walmart zombie sleepwalking

bullshit that has brought our terribly beautiful green woman

luna moth mother earth to her knees possibly probably to

the soon to arrive well hell the storm has already started its

already here but hopefully regardless of how changes occur

even while dying i we can reach that deep place in ourselves

that peaceful pool of tranquility and forgiving giving having

complete peace with each other with all and everything past

present future seen unseen have be complete peace harmony

so when we die which will be any and every fleeting moment

now then this gifted lifetime will be gone baby eternal presence

yes but gone baby gone even while dying i you we reach a

place in ourselves in ourselves and with each other so when

that time that notime arrives that crossing over the crucibled

alchemical river of fire that time of walking through one door

one room into the next when that happens and it will soon

for all of us we all be born to live born to die so when we die

we have nothing nothing but sweet peaceful tolerance in our

open gentle soft kind mindful loving compassionate forgiving

giving thankful no longer beating hearts and yes even while

vanishing we have no complaints only thanks only thanks

thanks thank you thank you for everything thank you

 

 

Track 13) Riding with Rebel Jesus, The Wanderer

Ron English Marlon Icelandic

Michael & whoever else Michael wants to add play Spanish riding cross lost deserts

outlaw guitar

 

Riding With Rebel Jesus, The Wanderer

 

holed up in Oaxaca we'd reached the end of the line

the government was against us an army waited for us outside

Jesus wasn't nervous he never was but neither was I

holed up in Oaxaca we'd reached the end of the line

 

Jesus was a wanderer wherever it was we'd been there a time or two

Bogota Buenos Aires Rio de Janeiro Machupicchu in Peru

Tucson Arizona New Orleans Louisiana Havana Cuba Mexico City

Jesus was a wanderer wherever it was we'd been there a time or two

 

riding with rebel Jesus people turned their heads and stared

who was that they asked did you see his eyes did you see his hair

Jesus the wanderer was a mystery to all

Jesus the wanderer was a mystery to me

riding with rebel Jesus people turned their heads and stared

 

how much longer can we hold out how much further can we go

we're hold up in Oaxaca with the army outside our door

looks like the journey's over our wandering days are done

how much longer can we hold out how much further can we run

 

holed up in Oaxaca we'd reached the end of the line

the government was against us an army waited for us outside

Jesus wasn't nervous he never was but neither was I

holed up in Oaxaca we'd reached the end of our time

 

 

Track 14) when loving others

Ron English Michael Icelandic

minimal guitar notes

 

when loving others

 

when loving others

sometimes necessay

to live

alone

 

Track 15) go down

Ron English Jonsi or someone Icelandic

avalanching chasmed crashing sliding guitar music

 

go down

 

sometimes necessary

to go down

when climbing

mountain

 

Track 16) the older i get/death be gentle death be sweet

Ron English Olafur Icelandic

minimal sliding vanishing Michael guitar notes

 

the older i get/death be gentle death be sweet

 

the older i get

the more i realize

i know

nothing

 

death be gentle death be sweet

 

death be gentle death be sweet

I close my eyes and drift to sleep

 

walking slow through ice and snow

freezing rain ice and snow

 

trees hills hawk crow

sledding voices in distance speak

 

on the bridge gentle rapids below

red wine freezing rain ice snow

 

magic doorway into woods

silent secret oak and pine

 

nearly frozen creek slows slow

leaning resting gainst the oak

 

seeing you each one of you

dance we dance a gentle waltz

 

lovers children family friends

through whispering woods we waltz

 

round and round my enlarged heart

I hold you close as you hold me

 

we dance we dance a whispered waltz

through frozen rain and ice and snow

 

nestled gainst the silent oak we go

we drift we waltz round my heart

 

my lovers children family friends

we drift we dance the wintered waltz

 

my eyes they close slowly close

my eyes they close the dance we drift

 

death be gentle death be sweet

I close my eyes and drift to sleep

 

death be gentle death be sweet

I close my eyes and drift to sleep



Track 17) a samurai sword

Ron English Bragi Icelandic

Michael/Marlon decide on music

 

a samurai sword

 

life is

a sand

poem song

painting

a lightninged

tornadoed sky

a rolling explosion

of thunder

the sharp

edge of

a samurai sword

 

Track 18) Dr. Hunter Shaman Thompson is Dead, a Tribute

Ron English Marlon repeating certain phrases in Icelandic death chant

Viking burial ship to sea burning style with Michael playing solitary

death wake Viking burial burning body boat sea death journey crying wailing moaning

farewell fearless brave lonely heartbroken alone fading vanishing to smokey bay

vapor nothingness

 

 

Dr. Hunter Shaman Thompson Is Dead


A Tribute

 

My friend and hero Hunter S. Thompson is dead. I followed his life and
work from the release of Hell’s Angels till now. I will continue to
follow it. My friend Gene Williams and I sold Hunter’s books we sold the
first Rolling Stone magazines in the underground bookstore, For Madmen
Only, and in the headshop, The Store, we operated on South Limestone in
Lexington Kentucky (now Sqecial Media). I never dreamed I’d eventually work with Hunter and with members of The Beat Generation: Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, Herbert Huncke, Gregory Corso, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, David Amram, Diane di Prima, Amiri Baraka, and others. Their works changed my life. Dreams do come true.

Hunter shot himself. He is gone. He died in his kitchen in his cabin at
Owl Farm Woody Creek Colorado. I read his Nixon obituary, “He Was A
Crook,” and other works to him in that kitchen. I took my children to
visit him. He loved young people. He loved his family. I drank and did
drugs with him. We watched basketball. One night, years ago, in early
May my son Nathanial and I arrived, driving 24 hours non-stop from
Kentucky, just in time to watch the NBA playoffs with Hunter. Don
Johnson called several times wanting us to come over. Kentuckian Rex
Chapman was playing for the Phoenix Suns. The Suns were down by nine
points with one minute to go in the game. I looked at Hunter and said
I’ll bet you that Rex will hit three threes and tie the game, that the
Suns will win by one point in three overtimes. Hunter looked at me and
laughed. Rex hit three threes and tied the game. But Phoenix lost in
three overtimes, by one point. I got damn close. Hunter paid closer
attention to me after that. We talked about life about our families
about literature. Hunter was a good kind man. He was full of life. He
was tough. He was a real human being. He was spirit, holy spirit, no
matter what anyone says.

Hunter is one of America’s one of the world’s greatest writers. He
stands shoulder to shoulder with Mark Twain, John Steinbeck, Jack
Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, all five America’s Best prose writers,
bar none.

I had the honor of producing, with the help of Douglas Brinkley and many
young people and friends, The Hunter S. Thompson Tribute at Memorial
Auditorium on 4th Street in Louisville Kentucky in December 1996. We had
a sold out standing room audience of over 2,000. I brought in Hunter,
his Mom Virginia, his son Juan, The Sheriff of Pitkin County, Johnny
Depp, Warren Zevon, David Amram, Douglas Brinkley, Roxanne Pulitzer,
Harvey Sloane, Susi Wood & a bluegrass band, and many more. The Mayor gave Hunter the keys to the city. The Governor named Hunter, Johnny, Warren, David, Doug, and me Kentucky Colonels. It was aspectacular event.

Hunter is one of America’s one of the world’s greatest writers. He
stands shoulder to shoulder with Mark Twain, John Steinbeck, Jack
Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, all five America’s Best prose writers,
bar none.

Jonathan Swift, George Orwell, William S. Burroughs, and Hunter S.
Thompson are literary giants, visionaries who have much in common.

People continue to say that there will be no audience for Thompson’s
work, that no one will understand or care. Yet as I travel across
America across the world working with young people, of all ages, I
witness a movement, amongst young people, away from the constraints of
non-democratic puritan totalitarian cultures. I see a new generation
that recognizes the lies of the power elite, a generation that is
turning to the freethinkers the freedom fighters of the 50s and 60s,
recognizing honoring them as mentors.

Art is a kind of innate drive that seizes a human being and makes her or
him its instrument. The artist is not simply a person acting freely, in
pursuit of a merely private end, but one who allows art to realize its
purposes through her or his person. Artists have moods, free will,
personal aims, but as artists, they are bearers of a collective
humanity, carrying and shaping the common unconscious life of the
species.

  I have heard more than once that Hunter S. Thompson is a madman. That
oh look at what he could have done if he lived a more sane life. Nobel
Prize winner Elie Wiesel, pre-eminent Jewish author, recipient of the
Nobel Peace Prize, in The Town Beyond the Wall, says: “Mad Moishe, the
fat man who cries when he sings and laughs when he is silent...Moishe—I
speak of the real Moishe, the one who hides behind the madman—is a great man. He is far-seeing. He sees worlds that remain inaccessible to us.
His madness is only a wall, erected to protect us- us: to see what
Moishe’s bloodshot eyes see would be dangerous.” In Jewish mysticism,
the prophet often bears the facade of madness. Hunter S. Thompson stands in direct lineage to the great writers and prophets. And as with the
prophets of old, the message may be too painful for the masses to
tolerate, to hear, to bear. They may, and usually do, condemn, even
kill, the messenger. Hunter stood as long as he could. He fought a
valiant fight. He was a brave yet sensitive soul. He was a sacred shaman
warrior. He saw. He felt. He recorded his visions. He took alcohol and
drugs to ease the pain generated by what he saw what he felt. He lived
on his own terms. He died on his own terms. Did the masses kill Hunter?
Did he kill himself? He found the courage to stand up against the power
mongers and the masses. At least thirteen times he should have died but,
miraculously, didn’t. He chose to take his own life. He completed the
work he came to do.

If life is a dream, as some suggest, sometimes beautiful sometimes
desperate, then Hunter’s work is the terrible saga of the ending of time
for The American Dream. With its action set at the heart of darkness of
American materialist culture, with war as perpetual background, playing
on the television, Hunter S. Thompson, like the prophets of old, shows
how we, through greed and powerlust, have already gone over the edge. As
Jack Kerouac, through his brilliant oeuvre, breathed hope into
international youth culture Thompson shows how the ruling power-elite is
not about to share what it controls with idealists yearning for a world
of peace love and understanding.

We must look beyond the life of the artist to the work the body of work
itself. That is the measure of success. Like those who have re-examined
Orwell’s 1984 to find a multi-layered literary masterpiece, we must look
deep into Thompson’s work and find the deep multi-layered messages. His
books, especially the early ones and his letters, are literary
masterpieces equal to the best writing ever produced.

Knowledge, from the inception of Modernism, and through post-modernism
and chaos to The Ocean of Consciousness, is reorganized, redefined
through Literature, Art, Music, and Film. The genres are changing, the
canons are exploding, as is culture. The mythopoetics, the privileged
sense of sight, of modern, contemporary, avant-garde cutting edge Nabi
poets, musicians, artists, filmmakers are examples of art forms of a
society, a culture, a civilization, a world, in which humanity lives,
not securely in cities nor innocently in the country, but on the
apocalyptic, simultaneous edge of a new realm of being and
understanding. The mythopoet, female and male, the shaman, Hunter S.
Thompson returns to the role of prophet-seet by creating myths that
resonate in the minds of readers, myths that speak with the authority of
the ancient myths, myths that are gifts from the shadow.

 

 

Track 19) Mama taught us

Ron English Tonya Icelandic

Michael/Marlon/Tonya decide on music (lullaby?)

 

Mama taught us

 

Mama taught us

how to give

without anticipation

of reciprocation

Mama taught us

 

Track 20) The Storm Generation Manifesto/Ron prelude w/The Viking Mountain

Ron English Olafur Icelandic

music building Michael (& Danny? & others?) blazing guitar(s) building Hendrix All Along The Watchtower & wild electronic techno pounding beat with Marlon joining in end with Marlon/Tonya Icelandic rap/hip hop repeating building to lightning thunder God's Open Nerve Storm energies

 

The Storm Generation Manifesto

 

we tip our hats to the lost and the beat

we go our own way

we are the storm generation

we are the fucking storm

we are a new generation of artists

we are poets writers painters sculptors composers musicians singers dancers playwrights filmmakers

we are creative expression

we blow away lies and injustice

we are graphic

we are honest

we tell it like it is

we are fierce

we are brutal

we are compassionate

we are gentle

we are kind

we have soft hearts

we are free

we are spirit

we are sex

we dwell in the realms of the creative imagination

we are the creative imagination

we know that the shortest distance between two points is creative distance

we pay attention to the long forgotten wisdomed voices of the forest

we vanquish the overtly materialistic greedy who intentionally destroy mountains

we honor mountains and oceans and eagles and wolves

we cherish mother earth and all her terrible beauty

we are non-violent spiritual warriors

we are lightning

we are thunder

we are songed poems

we are fearless visionary poets

we have wolf eyes

we are more than the eye of the storm

we are the fucking storm

we refuse

we will not bow down

we will never give up

we are God's open nerve

we are The Storm Generation

we are The Storm

The Storm

we are the fucking Storm

The Storm

 

Track 21) surrender and serve

Ron English Viking woman (Prime Minister? Birgitta? Michael/Marlon decide)

music open tuned joujouka Michael guitar with Marlon/Tonya electronica/techno prayer dance whirling dervish earth heart chant beat

 

surrender and serve

 

for Queen Jayne

 

i am here to serve you my dear sweet friend to serve you to uplift

and inspire to comfort and heal to entertain and awaken to serve you

my dear sweet enemy i pray all our hearts be filled with forgiveness

the amazing grace of forgiveness washes karma away washes karma away away

birthing us out of ignorance we all be guilty of everything we all stand chastised

naked none of us have reached our potential but by waking up from our long

sleep from our delta wave deep dream slumber desert sleepwalkers wanderers

we suddenly instantly realize where we are and begin to serve to forgive to give

without anticipation of reciprocation surrendering to light to love forgiving giving

all and everything and more with open hearted love compassion gratitude

we surrender we serve we surrender we serve we surrender we serve

 

Track 22) dreams never die

Ron English Arthur Icelandic

Arthur plays guitar or whatever music he chooses

 

dreams never die

 

dreams never die

they are always passed on

and continue to grow

in and through new dreamers

 

Track 23) Never Give Up (opens w/Americana stripped down version of Desert)

Ron English Birgitta Icelandic need someone to read Spanish plus youngish Tibetan cat translate & read poem in Tibetan same as @ Airwaves

music builds with Michael/Danny/Marlon/Tonya/Reuben & whoever else building then end of poem goes thru roof combination heavy euro dancefloor heavy electronica/techno dance floor beat but also with through and beyond ecstasy desert mystic guitars with Viking women wailing singing Never Give Up refrain & plus Spanish & Tibetan speakers & i join in repeating in each our own language Never Give Up as trance chant plus prelude to Never Give Up is American stripped down version of Desert by Michael singing playing acoustic guitar & his friend playing wailing harmonica plus i read poem part which leads directly without missing a beat right into Never Give Up

 

 

NEVER GIVE UP

 

(in English/Icelandic/Spanish/need Tibetan

and Spanish & Tibetan readers)

Never give up
No matter what is going on
Never give up

Develop the heart
Too much energy in the world
Is spent developing the mind
Instead of the heart
Develop the heart

Be compassionate
Not just with your friends
But with everyone
Be compassionate

Work for peace
In your heart
And in the world
Work for peace

And I say again
Never give up
No matter what is going on around you
Never give up 

 

Ekki gefast upp

 

 

Ekki gefast upp

sama hvað gerist

Ekki gefast upp

 

Ræktaðu hjarta þitt

Of mikilli orku í

heiminum er eytt

í ræktun hugann

í stað hjartans

Ræktaðu hjarta þitt

 

Sýndu umhyggju

ekki aðeins gagnvart

vinum þínum

heldur gagnvart öllum

Sýndu umhyggju

 

Stuðlaðu að friði

í hjarta þínu og

um heimsbyggð alla

Stuðlaðu að friði

 

Og ég endurtek

Ekki gefast upp

Sama hvað gengur á

Sama hvað gerist

í kringum þig

 

–Ekki gefast upp

  

Icelandic translation by Birgitta Jonsdottir

  

 

NUNCA TE RINDAS

 

por Su Santidad El Dalai Lama y Ron Whitehead

 

Nunca te rindas

No importa lo que ocurra

Nunca te rindas

 

Desarrolla el corazòn

Demasiada energìa se gasta en tu paìs

Desarrollando la mente

En lugar del corazòn

Desarrolla el corazòn

 

Sè compasivo

No sòlo con tus amigos

Sino con todos

Sè compasivo

 

Trabaja por la paz

En tu corazòn

Y en el mundo

Trabaja por la paz

 

Y de nuevo digo

Nunca te rindas

No importa lo que ocurra a tu alrededor

nunca te rindas

 

translated by Maria Ines Mogaburu and Lorena Lobita

 

 

unlisted bonus track = Champagne and Reefer = Michael/Danny/Marlon/Tonya blowout


 

 

"love is the ultimate outlaw" from Tom Robbins' STILL LIFE WITH WOODPECKER.

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

"love is the ultimate outlaw" from Tom Robbins' STILL LIFE WITH WOODPECKER.

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

"love is the ultimate outlaw" from Tom Robbins' STILL LIFE WITH WOODPECKER.

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date: Sun, 7 Nov 2010 20:00:09

Subject: The Sound of Falling Snowflakes by Ron Whitehead 11/07/10

 

The Sound of Falling Snowflakes

 

1962. I was 12.

 

One afternoon, late, a little before dark, snow started falling. 

It snowed all night.

 

My brother Brad and I slept in the unfinished attic. Through the night

I listened listened listened

to winter's wind whistling through the cracks in

our walls, I listened listened listened to winter's

 

wind and snow weaving songs accompanied by the cedar

and pine trees surrounding and protecting our home conjuring

the spirits of loving kinfolk who floated at 3am floated

through whispering hello there in our unfinished attic bedroom.

 

Before daybreak, Christmas Eve, I heard Mama and Daddy

downstairs, Daddy loading the furnace with coal then going

out the back door headed to the barn to feed the animals,

Mama in the kitchen cooking breakfast. She was

singing, quietly, "Amazing Grace." Mama was a

a good singer. She had a gentle alto voice. I smelled

bacon and biscuits and gravy and coffee. Yes I was already

drinking coffee. Started when I was 6.

 

I woke Brad up. Brad was a sound sleeper. I said, "Hey,

wake up. Let's go see how much snow we got. Hey, get

up. We've got to go milk the cows, chop the ice on the

pond, and bring in the coal. And then we've got to

go to Beaver Dam and get Mama and Daddy Christmas

presents. Hey Brad, wake up. Maybe it snowed enough to go

sleigh riding. Come on, Mama's cooking breakfast. I'm

going down." 

 

Brad was a sound sleeper. I said again, "Hey, wake up.

Let's go see how much snow we got. Hey Brad, wake up.

Come on. Mama's cooking breakfast. I'm going down.

Going down the stairs I heard him shaking himself awake

rising shining finally smelling Mama's delicious country

cooking her delicious breakfast. He was quickly right

behind me jumping down several stair steps at a time,

hungry as he could be."

 

Brad and I had breakfast with Mama and Daddy. As always Mama's

cooking was better than delicious ever thought to be. We ate every

crumb. Brad, as usual, licked his plate.

 

Daddy left for work at the mines. Brad and I helped 

Mama clean the kitchen then I stepped into the living

room. The blue and green lights on our Christmas tree

filled me with peace with happiness. I said a short prayer.

"Thank You Dear God for my family. Thank You."

 

I put on my hat, coat, gloves and grabbed my old ash walking stick

and my .410 shotgun, told Mama and Brad that I'd be back

in an hour, then stepped out the back door and went

hunting, hunting, for what I wasn't sure.

 

It had snowed over a foot during the night and giant

flakes were still falling. The snow wasn't letting up.

 

I walked and walked and walked. I was in awe of the

beauty, all the beauty oh my the beauty that surrounded

me. I lost track lost track of of time of place.

 

I found myself in a field surrounded by woods. All

round me the wind whispered whispered whispered through

the limbs the branches of the barren trees, the wind whispered

whispered whispered through the fur of the evergreen trees.

A lone crow cawed in the distance in the distance searching

its way home home home where is home? Where am I? What

is this place? 

 

It was then I realized that I was hearing a sound

louder than any other, a loud but gentle and soft

sound, the sound the whispering sound of falling

snowflakes, the sound the still quiet whispering sound

 

the sound of falling snowflakes

falling snowflakes

the sound of falling snowflakes.

 

 

Ron Whitehead

 

copyright (c) 2008 & 2010 Ron Whitehead

 

updated 11/07/10

 

 


 

"love is the ultimate outlaw" from Tom Robbins' STILL LIFE WITH WOODPECKER

 

"The answer is never the answer. What's really interesting is the mystery. If you seek the mystery instead of the answer, you'll always be seeking. I've never seen anybody really find the answer -- they think they have, so they stop thinking. But the job is to seek mystery, evoke mystery, plant a garden in which strange plants grow and mysteries bloom. The need for mystery is greater than the need for an answer."
--Ken Kesey"

 

"we move forward by the aid of symbols. we change those symbols as we move forward. what gives you the right to deprive life of its terribly beautiful mysticism its poetry its lies what is truth do you know wise fool do you know? i sure as hell don't and i don't think you or anybody else does truth is a shapeshifting pathless land be here now? now is already gone where are we really? ask the howling wind" Ron Whitehead, outlaw poet & damn proud to be

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

go GONZO go go go

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date: Tue, 9 Nov 2010 12:37:54 -0800 (PST)

Subject: sharing/private to Ron/congrats on new book/Cd/Dont EVER retire Iceland will SAVE the WORLD!

"love is the ultimate outlaw" from Tom Robbins' STILL LIFE WITH WOODPECKER

 

"The answer is never the answer. What's really interesting is the mystery. If you seek the mystery instead of the answer, you'll always be seeking. I've never seen anybody really find the answer -- they think they have, so they stop thinking. But the job is to seek mystery, evoke mystery, plant a garden in which strange plants grow and mysteries bloom. The need for mystery is greater than the need for an answer."
--Ken Kesey"

 

"we move forward by the aid of symbols. we change those symbols as we move forward. what gives you the right to deprive life of its terribly beautiful mysticism its poetry its lies what is truth do you know wise fool do you know? i sure as hell don't and i don't think you or anybody else does truth is a shapeshifting pathless land be here now? now is already gone where are we really? ask the howling wind" Ron Whitehead, outlaw poet & damn proud to be

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

no expectations

you had it coming 

 

go GONZO go go go

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 



--- On Sun, 4/4/10, Amramdavid@aol.com <Amramdavid@aol.com> wrote:


From: Amramdavid@aol.com <Amramdavid@aol.com>
Subject: to Ron congrats on your new book + Cd Dont EVER retire Iceland will SAVE the WORLD!
To: ragnar.egilsson@gmail.com, asdissif@mac.com, birgitta@this.is, tmopinsight@yahoo.com
Date: Sunday, April 4, 2010, 8:26 PM

Dear Ron

Just got your fine note abiut your new book and CD

Never say the LAST ONE!!

Let poloticians retire. We must keep working until the last breath!!

I am turning 80 this November and STILL JUST GETTING STARTED!!

Today got great fotos on faceBok of Asdiss, Ragnar and their friends from iceland who came to Greenwiuch village a month ago and sat in with our band and were FABULOUS!!

And told me about birgittaand all she is doing.

she sent me great video sample she made of cncert i did at town hall in Rajavik(sp??) and it is on my selected YouTube site.

what fantstuc musicians and poets were there, with no rehearsal were perfect!!!!

since we were both blessed to be in iceland, (you ten years before me) which is one of the Seven wonders of the world, we both have a responsibility to STAY ALIVE until we are 115 and than have an excuse to slow down!!

because of beig there, e have to spread the word of what was shared with us by the icelanders.

All that beautiful HEALTHFUL creative fire still burns bright, (like Willian Blake's poem "Tyger , tyger burning bright...'}

When agnar and Asdiss and the other  read poetry and sang a song with our band last month,  they transformed the basement of a New York cafe into putting us all  on the sparkling waters of their poetry sailing ship with the ghost of Eric the Red and EXPLORING NEW VISTAS!!

So you must continue to do the same!!

And i will try to as well.

If you occasionally feel discouraged, old, worn out, depressed and unappreciated...that's just a natural reaction to the malaise of American Society having another nervous breakdown BUT........
SO WHAT!!!
Our job is to  spread joy and positive energy and inspire other people!!

Spend more time with people who appreciate you and love what you do.

There is an army of fake New Age gurus with limos ripping off insecure people who desire something fulfilling but dont realize it is all out there FOR FREE if you PAY ATTENTION!!

So let you poetry and your natural loving kindness be your representative and IGNORE all Philistine
influences.

I'm counting on you to read a poem for my 100th birthday

That gives you 20 years to travel the world and between gigs dash off a sonnet for your old back up
player

Love to the kids, your sister (who can REALLY sing) and your own self!

wish i could be there in Lu'vil for your book/Cd launch.

When the "Beyond Beat"
conference starts this friday, we'll have a red wine toast to you (and all icelandic cats (and kitties) from  the little house Orlando .
where Kerouac lived in onw room with hu mother 53 years ago,  before "
On the Road" was published!

Below  is an outline of the program plus one i fif a few weeks ago in lowell for Jack's 88h birthday.

wish you were there.

Big hugs and don't forget that Icelandic  energy!!

it will carry you through anything!!

David
amramdavid@aol.com
www.davidamram.com
home 845.528.4305
mobile 914.299.3497
928 Peekskill Hollow Road, Putnam Valley NY 10579

Best YouTube selections
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=DE566F6F01A2403A


Orlando Sentinel
Sunday April 4, 2010


Friends of Kerouac to discuss Beat Generation


Joy Wallace Dickinson
Florida Flashback



David Amram (right) plays in January 1957 at a New York club where Jack Kerouac performed with him a few days later, not long after Kerouac learned that his book 'On the Road' would be published the following September. Amram will be in Orlando on April 10 and 11, 2010, for "Beyond Beat - The Turning Point: A Symposium on Jack Kerouac in Florida."

Amram is not only an amazing musician but a creative force of nature who must be experienced in person. His collaborators have ranged from Sir James Galway to Dizzy Gillespie, Arthur Miller to Thelonious Monk, as well as Kerouac throughout the course of his career.

A New York Times article about Amram's 70th birthday party a few years ago mentioned friends from the late author Frank McCourt (Angela's Ashes) to musician Wynton Marsalis to the comedian Jerry Stiller.

Beyond Beat: The Turning Point
A Symposium on Jack Kerouac in Florida
When:
April 10-11
Saturday:
Grand Bohemian Hotel, 325 S. Orange Ave., Orlando.

April 10


•2 to 4 p.m. "Beyond Beat" panel. David Amram, Joyce Johnson, John Tytell and Mellon Tytell talk about their relationships with Kerouac and the Beat movement in literature and art.

•7 to 9 p.m. Reception and films. Filmmaker Alan Saperstein presents two short documentaries made during appearances by David Amram and Chris Felver in 2009 at Bellamy Road in Melrose.

April 11:

Timucua White House, 2000 S. Summerlin Ave., Orlando.

•7 to 9 p.m. "Jack Kerouac: The Florida-New York Connection." David Amram celebrates the legacy of Jack Kerouac's years in the Sunshine State; guest artist Frank Messina presents spoken-word pieces.

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





This photo by Bert Glinn  appeared in color as a two page blowup in the July 1957 Esquire Magazine 14 page article "Upper and Lower Bohemia"

The caption underneath the photo mentioned that during late hours poets would read their work accompanied by Amram's music.

One of those readers was author Jack Kerouac who came a few nights after this photo was taken and read with Amram just before leaving for Tangiers. This was eight months BEFORE "On the Road' was published the following September of 1957.

Kerouac and Amram, with poets Philip Lamantia and Howard Hart did the first in a series of New York City's first-ever "official" public jazz/poetry readings, at the Brata Art Gallery, the Circle in the Square Theater and Brooklyn College in the Fall and winter of 1957=58, all described in detail in Amram's book "Offbeat: Collaborating With Kerouac"  (published by Paradigm Publishers and now available in paperback. along with Amram's two other book "Vibrations" and "Upbeat: Nine Lives of a Musical Cat"

Below is the program "This is Beat", which I created at the request of the "Lowell Celebrates Kerouac Commitee " for the March 11-12 weekend  celebration of  Kerouac's 88th birthday.

The program I created is preceded by  Kerouac's own  description of what "Beat" meant to him,  when he was interviewed by author Ben Hecht on the subject.

I==================================================

 

THIS IS BEAT

. I want to speak for things. For the crucifix I speak out, for the Star of Israel I speak out, for the divinest man who ever lived, who was a German (Bach), I speak out. For sweet Mohammed I speak out. for Buddha I speak out, for Lao-tse and Chuang-tse I speak out, for D. T. Suzuki I speak out...why should I attack what I love out of life? This is Beat. Live your lives out? Naw, love your lives out."

Jack Kerouac

(This excerpt of Kerouac' comments is read at all Amram's concerts and spoken word events for  people to all ages to clarify how Kerouac himself felt about what "Beat" meant to him personally. It was transcribed verbatim from a radio  interview with Ben Hecht interviewing Kerouac in Chicago.
It was sent to Amram by John Sampas, Jack's brother-in-law and executor for the Estate as an excerpt from a transcribed version of the entire interview,. published by Grey Fox Press.  

==================================================



"This is Beat"

For Kerouac's 88th birthday celebration in Lowell Mass
March 12-13 2010

An evening of words and music with David Amram, Kerouac's first musical collaborator and guest readers and musicians from Lowell's classical and jazz community, celebrating the birth of Jazz/Poetry with Kerouac and Amram
in 1957 at the Brata Art Gallery, featuring works of the European masters of the past and master jazz artists of the 40s and 50s, all of whom  influenced Kerouac's writing.

------------------------------------------------------------------
A NOTE from David Amram


Kerouac grew up in Lowell hearing Bach and Mozart, French Canadian folk music and the jazz masters performing on Moody Street, where all the major artists played during the heyday of jazz in Lowell.

When Kerouac went to New York City to attend Horace Mann and then Columbia University, he began frequenting Harlem and went to Mintons to hear Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk and Charlie Parker. Because of his Lowell boyhood and exposure to many cultural traditions, he was already tuned in to this new music and its polycultural sophisticated nature.

Kerouac was one of the first writers to understand the relationship of Formality and Spontaneity, and how the treasures of the Old World, (the classics of Europe) had a relationship to the treasures of the New World (USA jazz, blues, Native and Latin American and Immigrant American musical forms that combined tradition with improvising)

As a native of Lowell, he had a sense of community, family, the church,  the beauty of everyday life and respect for every person who crossed his path people that remained the gyroscope of his life, wherever he went in his endless travels.

He never lost his hometown roots or relinquished his values in order to attempt to be cutting edge or trendy. Like all great artists, he followed his heart and remained true to himself.

Tonight's program celebrates that enduring yea-saying spirit that fills the pages of Jack's books.

The  evening  also honors today's artists from the greater Lowell area who are all blazing trails of their own, inspired by the same indefinable essence that makes Lowell such a special place today.

It is a pleasure to collaborate with them in Lowell in the same way that I did with Jack in NYC over 50 years ago.

David Amram
Putnam Valley NY

Below is the URL for a great interview, done from Chicago during my 75th birthday celebrataion in 2005, concerning what Jack and I did together, to provide information about our collaborations and the struggles as well as the triumphs we experienced during the Era of the 50s. and what it all means today.

http://www.emptymirrorbooks.com/beat/david-amram-interview.html




 

 

 

 

 

 

Date: Thu, 11 Nov 2010 21:42:44 

Subject: the last great truthtellers, my final love song, a rant by ron whitehead

 

 

 

the last great truthtellers

my final love song

a rant

 

dedicated to hunter and anita thompson

 

by ron whitehead

 

 

"an outlaw can be defined as somebody who lives outside the law, beyond the law,

not necessarily against it. by the time i wrote hell's angels i was riding with them

and it was clear that it was no longer possible for me to go back and live within the

law. there were a lot more outlaws than me. i was just a writer. i wasn't trying to be

an outlaw writer. i never heard of the term, somebody else made it up. but we were

all outside the law, kerouac, miller, burroughs, ginsberg, kesey, me. i didn't have a

gauge as to who was the worst outlaw. i just recognized my allies, my people."

                                                               dr. hunter s. thompson

 

if you whoever you are come to the

rock n king and queen of gonzo roll round table

 

if you think you are ready we'll see if you are

male or female woman or man gonzo knight

 

worthy and believe me you'll be gonzo time and again tested

pushed unexpectedly balance skewed plummeting crosslegged

 

onto into the fiery river alchemical fire breathing dragon we'll push you off the crucibled edge into mysteried paradox the uncertain unknown notknowing flowing falling flow

 

into the coal burning to ash diamond creating alchemical crucibled fire

the gonzo crazy wisdom crucible madman madwoman crazy wisdom ancient

 

shocking kabbalahed i chinged taoed paradoxical prophet poet aboriginal indegenous

rattlesnake blood drinking chasing it with lightning sin eater outlaw sorcerer white magic

 

iconoclastic whirling dervished eye of the fucking storm god's open nerve wolfeyed

forever eternal transforming transmuting transitional everchanging mutating

 

transmogrificational blazing burning destroying orphic phoenix always rising skin

scales shedding dying dead lazarus resurrecting phoenix rising blazing rebirthing

 

river everflowing gonzo river of notknowing closing time nowhere nobody nothing

who what where when how don't ask just act the poetry of outlaw sorcery act now

 

move act warrior no questions you've asked them all now the time the nonow notime

has come to act to move without doubt only action now in this eternally already gone

 

gonzo gone baby gone fleeting already vanished everflowing river moment of already gone now act move now if you whoever you think you are come arrive to apollo's temple gnothi

 

seauton know thyselfdoor good neophyte seeker of truth ready to journey the journey into through dark underworld darkest night into blazing seering sunspot zoroastrian sun

 

worshipper blind sun starer blinding light if you whoever you think you are come have the courage finally to come arrive if you come with even a smelled sensed felt ounce a

 

barely glimmering frail dimly sparkling yet visible to us even slightly auraed trail of even the faintest hint slivering smell of lingering whimpering fear doubt well we're right here

 

waiting loathing smiling smelling sensing seeing feeling knowing your intent your

essence and despite your pissing in your pants fear you're fearless you've dug deep

 

enough deep into youself dug beyond the brainwashed lies they've yes many lies with

what they believe are the best of brainwashed intentions doing their brainwashing or

 

at least attempting doing their beating you till you're bloody best to believe exactly what

they've been forced and out of finally out of giving up and into fear believe they're doing

 

what's right what's best the best thing for you and you notknowing believing wanting to

believe loving wanting to love despite the brutal bloody brainwashing interrogations

 

sadistic sessions still somehow you stubbornly inwardly then outwardly resisted stood

bravely fiercely despite all the bloody beatings the loving brainwashing teachings

 

endoctrinations educations sermoned tortured interrogations all filled with brainwashed fearbased lies lies to create to create more slaves yessa massa no questions

 

asked yessir i'll gladly do exactly as i'm instructed sir well you my friend dug deep deep down and found finally found the courage to resist to question to stand up against the lies

 

the lies the greed powermonger fearbased lies despite any and all odds regardless of any and all circumstances consequences always knowing now that born to fearlessly live born

 

to fearlessly die give me honesty freedom liberty or give me death questioning finally questioning everydamnthing finally questioning everyone including me and especially

 

yourself cause finally you woke up and at long last realized that truth really is a pathless land that there are no guarantees there is no safety no safety nets and it's way beyond a

 

waste of time to blame anyone for anything and to choose fear as primary motivating choice tool belief you wake up you've finally awakened to realize that love really is all

 

there is the only choice decision action to make to take to be and that no matter what you've done how many times you've socalled failed realizing accepting that yes ok i'm

 

guilty as we all are of everything that failure has been is and always will be my our greatest success and you i we've learned to pay attention to listening listening the

 

greatest art of all listen pay attention to our socalled failures which are actually our best greatest gift wisdom teachers so now you know to listen pay attention and learn from 

 

socalled failures mistakes sins missing the mark sins no more than missing the mark are all they be so now you take the arrow out place it on the string in the bow and shoot

 

straight hitting the target the mark this time dead center you've learned the lesson now you're finally determinedly prepared your way knocking continually on the door

 

realizing knowing perseverance is central to success so you've persevered against any and all odds terrible insurmountable nearly dying multitudinous near death experiences

 

journied often into to the other side conversing asking questions listening singing learning practicing hangoutology finally understanding in your deepest heart and soul that if it ain't

 

real it ain't no fuckin gonzo deal so finally here you are knocking having earned bravely fearlessly the right to gonzo open honest be so now the door is opened open now to for

 

you you've broken iconoclast broken through to the other this side we now embrace and welcome you to the land the space the notime but rhythmed whirling dancing spinning

 

eye of the fucking storm notime nospace welcome to the fucking storm to the rock n fuckin gonzo round table roll gonzo round table here welcome the last great truthtellers

 

welcome embrace you to no fear rock n fuckin gonzo roll now be mannish boy girlish woman listen to us now we be goin takin you to your honest heart rhythmed roots and

 

walkin dancin poet singin you back to here now to this fleeting already gone angel song moment nomoment notime nothing only rhythm the beat the green mother luna moth

 

mother earth father son rhythmed angel song so mannish boy grown and beautiful siren singing dancing fearless girlish woman son and daughter of give me gonzo honesty liberty

 

and rhythmed dancing poemed whirling dervished chanting singing or give me death so mannish boy girlish woman children of mississippi black delta of white kenfuckintucky

 

hillbilly blues well hellyes they had a wildass night in memphis and birthed an even wilderassed fire breathing baby they named christened rock n fuckin gonzo roll beethoven

 

roll your ass over and dig this shit yes this handsome mannish boy this beautiful girlish woman changed the face of everything for everybody even those weaklings like you yes

 

i'm talkin to you who resisted outta status bullshit chickenshit brainwashed fearbased quo i'm talkin to you who bowed down trembling pissing your pants scared shitless

 

submitting afraid gave in to the lies took the path of what you fearfully thought to be safety security homeland security yet another terrible greed powermonger brainwashed lie

 

homeland security there is no security there are no guarantees you submitted yes i'm talkin to you and yes what we have here is a failure to communicate but i am fearlessly

 

openly honestly talkin to you you who couldn't go gonzo go go with the fearless

warrior chanting poemed singing dancing letting go go ancient crazy wisdom

 

rock n fuckin gonzo roll flow fearlessly crossing the river of alchemical crucibled

fire flow of rock n fuckin gonzo roll the real lightning rhythmed energy deal music

 

of angels angel bands if it ain't angel song gonzo real it ain't no fuckin deal rock

n gonzo roll music the deep ancient alltime notime prophet poet singing dancing

 

chanting sin eater shaman truthtelling crazy gonzo rock n roll wisdom wasn't

born in a day far seeing allseing visionary dreamland shadowland lightning bolt

 

dweller in of the realms of the creative imagination the shadow land tween realms

matter and spirit receiving transmuting translating lightning visioned images into

 

some deep level of poem song storied images translatable by for gifts to the tribe

the clan rock n ancient gonzo wisdom roll truthtelling rolling thunder black elk speaks

 

hunter shaman anita thompson howlin wolf muddy waters hound dog taylor shambala

sacred gonzo warrior roll lightning thunder roll gift to us go go go joyfully ecstatically

 

celebrating all of us lazarus dancing wildly out of the walmart zombied living dead cave

singing chanting life's terrible beauty poem song singing reborn we are awakened born

 

awake for the first time released from the brainwashed greed powermonger lies alive again

finally in recognizing these human forms temples our bodies temporal temples for our

 

souls for our forever guided guiding teaching learning growing joyously ecstatically dancing whirling gratefully singing rock n gonzo roll celebrating souls our temporary lives

 

thankfully wildly singing with angels with each other thankful for this brief poemed

storied songed dance bone dance opportunity to grow our singing souls listening

 

listening with every whirling dancing atom of our beings listening finally

understanding knowing somehow that listening be the greatest art of all

 

cranking it up now all the way all the way till we blow our eardrums and the

windows all the way all the way breakin on through breakin on through

 

to all the other sides well hellyes all of you status quo suburban fearfilled

weaklings rock n fuckin gonzo roll ain't no superficially polite fake frontin

 

lyin pc tea party parlour tricks dog n pony phariseed i said false phoneyass

show no so go go go pull your pants down and let the lice out no oh hellno

 

please don't cause i'm sure the fresh air would kill you just fuckin go get your

weak lame ass outta here cause you're still too weak not strong enough yet to

 

handle to face the terrible beauty the angel band song poemed storied

fire breathing giant viking hillbilly blazing bonfire of gonzo rock n rolled fearless

 

truthtelling prophet poet singing dancing whirling in this nowhere nobody beyond

beauty ecstatic nothing we are lightning thunder we are more than the storm

 

we are the rock n fuckin gonzo roll eye of the fucking storm fierce calm regardless

of any and all consequences truthtellers telling speaking singing fiery truth yes

 

today is always a good day to die which as sin eater shaman lightning our home

lightning we be today is always yes a good day to die which paradoxically means

 

that simultaneiously today this already gone moment fleeting vanishing memory

gone baby gone is yes i said already gone gone gone moment is a damn good

 

gone life moment to live to live fully to live gonzo fearlessly off the edge yes if it ain't

real it ain't no fuckin deal so if you're frontin lyin for whatever insecure posin fearbased

 

tryin to appear to be somebody you're not well my friend the only one you're hurting

killing is yourself ball and chain round your own ankle imprisoning yourself in your own

 

selfmade prison of lies but if somehow you've heard and heeded slowly but finally thank

gods heeded the calling to break out of your selfimposed prison of fear of frontin of lies

 

then welcome to your new tribe clan family of gonzo rock n rolled fearless truthtelling

prophet poet lightning writing fearless truthteller wild crazy wisdom holy spirit path of

 

sacred warrior iconoclasts living outside the law no laws necessary needed wanted

only celebration of all and everything music rock n gonzo roll wild holy spirit

 

poem story music dancing song being all one flow rivers flow the ever changing flow

transforming transitioning not resisting embracing letting go being the ever changing

 

transmogrificational river what is the shape of water flow relaxing perineums

breathe deep let go slow calm deep quiet ohm flow go of life of the universe

 

louder now the flow louder now gonzo truth really is a pathless land land of

rock n gonzo fuckin roll letting wild abandon go go go holy dark light night

 

taoed paradoxed notknowing wild nature jump off the edge embrace mystery

paradox uncertainty notknowing letting go letting go all that is false duty bound false lies

 

security status quo suburban hollow walking dead duty bound false

lies lives notliving walking dead waiting to retire from to what do you really know

 

time closing time time has come to let go all the fearbornbasedbrainwashed lies

let go all that is bullshit false lies what is truth do you know what gives you

 

liars the right to deny life its terribly beautiful mystery paradox uncertainty poetry

stories songs truthtelling bout fearless letting go all that is false question everything

 

don't follow anyone especially me question yourself especially what is truth why do

you believe all you believe what is your world view why do you believe what you believe

 

question question everything find your own answers the older i get the more i realize

i know nothing and neither does anyone else neither do you we're all guessing hoping

 

praying to who for what but i am curious and i do have visions i do hear voices i do hear

music the language of angels i do hear at 3am i hear at 3am when the veil tween worlds

 

is thinnest especially then i hear the singing voices of angels yes angel song whispering

in my ears my heart singing in my soul talk to me talk to me words i can't possibly

 

understand do your patti smith fuck you scream in dutch as we rock n fucking gonzo

roll from amsterdam to tangier do your debbie harry lullaby ironic fuck you scream in

 

arabic as we keep on rock n fucking gonzo rollin from reykjavik to louisville from iceland

to kenfuckintucky and beyond beyond holy fire settin our wildasses free free to be our

 

dreams our dreams come out of whatever closet they've scared you into truthtellers

now finally in this fleeting vanishing already gone now truthtellers we finally

 

be settin ourselves free regardless of any and all fucking consequences circumstances

yes born to die why not in what little fleeting vanishing time we've got why not live love

 

be free free yes set yourself free rock n fuckin gonzo roll truthteller freak party clan we

be give me honesty freedom liberty give me gonzo truthtelling poem story prophet singing

 

ass kicking you we have four seconds to realize what our purpose on the planet crank up

the volume be yes it's time to kick out all the jams to set ourselves to set our poemed

 

lives be free it's beyond time it's rock n fuckin gonzo kick out the jams roll baby roll go

go go rock n gonzo roll rock n fuckin roll give me gonzo truthtelling poetry art stories films

 

a beautiful inside outside beautiful woman and non stop river of red wine blood of the 

truthteller far seeing fearless prophet crazy wisdom poet or give me death let it all hang

 

out question everydamnthang truth really is a pathless land find out for yourself what 

truth is don't follow anybody including me rather listen listen listen to the waves in the

 

distance the buddah's pure luminous body listen listen listen to the music the music

the angelic music listen to the rock n roll go gonzo go go go rock n fuckin roll channeled

 

from yes angel realms into through your our hearts spirits souls crank it up all the way

way beyond listening to feeling to breaking glass to vibrating walls cells to intergalactic

 

interdimensional pedal to the metal gonzo red shark top down burning rubber and 

asphalt never slowing below 110 miles per hour bats chasing our asses trunk and us

 

loaded astral traveling soaring roaring till and beyond the wheels fall off and burn gonzo

poems stories songs courageously fearlessly living being being on fire being our dreams

 

no lines dividing no lines flying soaring in through all liminal boundaries in through all

nothingness beyond beyond all and everything embracing letting go simultaneously

 

the paradoxical bone dance of life of death the tao the way light dark i ching yee shing

the book of changes manger du livre eat the drink the snort the inject the book of

 

changes neverending changes the perpetual eternal don't resist or you're fucked

flow go go let go coast to coast ghost to ghost go go gonzo go hunter louisville the

 

highlands kentucky shaman and anita thompson gonzo two of the last great truthtellers

fearlessly go go gonzo go we all be dirty ddt chemically polluted filthy dirty ddt drenched

 

mutated stronger than ever bring me your bacteria germs sins viruses your nuclear 

wastes your raw sewage your cow manure and i this gonzo kentucky hillbilly aboriginal

 

indigenous outlaw shaman fire breathing rattlesnake blood drinking chasing it with

multiple nonstop double triple shots of lightning outlaw poet and damn proud to be

 

proud to be kentucky gonzo hillbilly friend fearless truthteller lightning bolt eye of

the fucking storm outlaw shaman hunter and anita thompson blood brother sister

 

truthteller freak party clan tribe poet and beyond damn proud to be yes we all be

dirtyass potatoes floating in the same tub of polluted water and the more the more

 

we bang bang bang into each other by openly honestly brutally compassionately

honestly no fucking phoneyass pc sharing eyeball to eyeball heart to heart soul

 

to soul sharing the poems stories songs events of our lives broken bleeding lives

our many lifetimes the more we come clean the more we respect and honor our

 

beautiful differences while simultaneously realizing epiphicanically recognizing

that we have much more in common than we have different music the language

 

of angels gift to us gonzo crazy wisdom gonzo humans the wildness the terribly

dangerously beautiful crazy wisdom of gonzo music art poetry writing gonzo

 

writing honest gonzo give me gonzo honesty freedom liberty or give me today is

always a good born to die day to die to live gonzo free gonzo reminds us of who

 

we are who we can be the real deep too often buried closeted hidden frigid fear

frozen brainwashed lied lying deep lied to us gonzo crazy truthteller wisdom

 

reminds us of who we are the truth the essence essential wake up now truth

pathless land of gonzo truth we are the fearless truthtellers truth of our inner

 

most interconnected being beings onebeingness we are so much more than our

physical bodies so much more than the physical world that's why we turn to music

 

to the language of angels to rock n fuckin gonzo roll to crazy iconoclast break

on through to the other break on through all lies bullshit brainwashed fear greed

 

powermonger lies to gonzo fearless gonzo truthteller  lightninged poems stories

songs being being honest open gentle soft kind forgiving giving broken bleeding

 

healed heart gonzo being letting go all frontin all lyin to open hearted gonzo being

to no more trying out of fear lying trying to be anybody else to being finally

 

regardless of any consequences of finding and being you your real honest soft

hearted laughing crying singing no complaints only thanks real self real you no

 

matter whatt emotional state you i we find ourselves in from destitution desolation

row to orgasmic ah aha ecstasy and everything in between we always turn to

 

gonzoed music sweet poemed gonzo angel song we sing with angels we sing and

rmember as hunter did ad anita does in their gonzo storied poem songs that the

 

poet prophet the poemed singer songstoriedpoem singer songwriter poet writer must

be enemy of the state reminding forever fearlessly regardless of born to die consequences

 

reminding the greed powermongers that be that power inevitably corrupts that we are all one no servants no masters all in this shoulder to shoulder eyeball to eyeball together

 

all one so keep never give up keep on keepin on truthtellers fearless we be singing prophetic poemed anti-government love poems songs stories the only government

 

for me is the government of individual responsibility and helping my fearless truthteller

friends neighbors so please please keep on rockin in the gonzo free world celebrating

 

truthtelling no matter the consequences fearless be be get ready for the bullet it's already

on the way to dance in your my our skulls so go go gonzo go ahead and dance and sing

 

the dance the fearless born to fearlessly peacefully forgiveingly giving forgiving all and everything dance of gonzo birth the journey death all we all be one the terriblly beautiful

 

dance of life so forever eternal dear eternal presence forever have the fearless rock n alchemically fuckin gonzo crucibled roll rock n roll courage yes i'm talkin to you you

 

young punk you ancient young poet singin poet prophet punk always ranting and raving

telling truthtelling it like it is keep on singing keep on rock n gonzo rollin in the free world

 

cause it never ends we always gotta fight not only for the right to party we gotta perpetually even when we're living being our dream our dreams we still gotta still every

 

damn moment fight for the right to be ourselves to be freebirds lonely alone too often

solitary standing lonely heartbroken alone tightrope walking birds bird on wire of

 

desperation with no safety net under us safety security brainwashed lies false promises illusions they be in a doomed gloomed world go ahead and fearlessly jumpo off the edge

 

let finally let go there are never were any guarantees quit stop blaming anyone everyone

for anything everything thgere are never were any guarantees accept recognize be

 

you your true self born to live born to die the same we are the same it all be security one

of the greatest brainwashed lies illusions of all especially the lie of homeland security so

 

gonzo fearless truthteller be embrace mystery paradox not knowing uncertainty only maybe possible salvation music rock n gonzo roll salvation be saves rock n gonzo

 

truthtellin roll saves us be saves us from ourselves from death in life so remember

louisville kentucky native son father of gonzo our gonzo father he be remember

 

anita thompson yes to spend three hours with hunter much less marry and live with

him beautiful fearless fire breathing warrior she sure as hell be so remember

 

remember the last great truthtellers standing i see them clearly standing fearless

tall straight all alone in the distance on that hill determined to keep on singing keep

 

writing always taking it to the front lines to the streets iconoclasts rebels not only

taking it breaking it to the streets to and beyond all liminal arbitrary relative liminal

 

who set these up boundaries so fearlessly breaking on through all the illusionary

liebased walls created by greed powermongers so whether anyone listens whether

 

anyone gets it whether anyone cares anymore there they are standing alone lonely forlorn

poet prophets singers lightinged shaman crucibled alchemical fire breathing dragons

 

truthtellers healers tellin it like it is regardless of anything regardless of the bullet

they see the bullet on the way from round the corner soon planting itself rolling dancing

 

whirling round n round inside their gone adios obrigado ola gone never gone never giving

up skulls bones bones dancing bones bones in love we be we wear these garments dwell

 

in these temples briefly we are short lived temporary sun worshippers delicate we are

delicate soft hearted bleeding hearts delicate pale pink blossoms on van gogh's almond

 

tree our fine attire covering briefly covering bones the bones of life loving bones bones in

love the dance a waltz fragrant spring wind carries us to the end of the the rock n gonzo

 

dancing singing whirling night so as we close time going nearly blind but i still see them standing urging urging us to "unscrew the locks from the doors unscrew the doors from

 

the jambs" (whitman) i hear them whispering shouting "poetry fettered fetters the human race" (blake) then well now i see barely see but hear them more clearly yelling from that


hilltop yelling "urge and urge and urge always the procreant urge of the world" (whitman)

then i still i hear blind now i hear them still more clearly yelling "through the windr of a

 

wonder in a wilder is a welter as a wirble of a warble is a world" (joyce) and so yes tho i'm finally blind i feel them still boldly fearlessly standing in the ever growing vanishing

 

distance so young ones remember truthtelling wasn't born in a day it took lifetimed

years of pain suffering drinking drugging usually with loaded gun at temple or in mouth

 

tween shots of tequiila and bumps lines snorts of cocaine and everydamnthangelse

imaginable to ease the temporarily ease the pain of life the suffering of living of loving

 

others yes when loving others sometimes necessary to live along working night and

day to never overcome the nightmare deep heartbreakingbroken pain of loss yet yet

 

somehow don't ask me how i can't put it into words at least yet yet somehow

stubbornly finding always finding a way to pull myself ourselves slowly surely from the

 

floor from death's inevitable door cause well cause we're stubborn determined badasses

but also cause we're listenin carefully listening to that still small voice coming from

 

our hearts from somewhere who knows where but we're listening to that nearly silent

whispering whispered voice telling us no not yet there's more to do so we summon

 

all our strength our more than we ever knew we had more than we ever had before

strength will power undeterred determined beyond our wildest imaginings wildest dreams

 

strength will power more than we ever knew possible more than we ever knew was possible more than we ever dreamed we had knowing now that somehow instinctively

 

intuitively knowing that somehow our band our now army band of angels guides are

giving us strength we didn't never knew we had have lifting enabling us to get back up off

 

the floor onto our knees then now stand slowly surely now standing regenerating 

reenergizing reinvigoratings us for at least one more final stand one more determined

 

unrelenting relentless determined final refusing to bow down stand no matter what never

giving up always somehow with the help of unseen forces finding a way to keep on

 

keepin on so now although blind suddenly i we see clearer than ever i we see hunter and

anita two of the last great truthtellers i we see you far away on that hill no on that

 

mountaintop like me like us pulling themselves outta the muddy ditch wiping the pig shit

like i we just did outta from our their eyes reaching down picking up pen paper guitars

 

and slowly stubbornly standing slowly stubbornly standing standing straight tall and

step by step stepping back into onto the old swift faster than bats faster than lightninged

 

light stepping into onto the top already blown off and long gone red i said red the one and

only red shark ready forever ready getting back up onto the road the eternal forever 

 

journey to IT road the red no top only turquoise blue sky yellow sun blazing sky the now

rusted red shark with the hole on the floor which we forever drop drop cans cans and

 

bottles bottles and other illegal but now used and empty objects through the hole in the

floor flying heading always heading cross one country then another nearly always west

 

south southwest headed always inching etching ourselves twards IT IT IT to the next gig

hunter at the wheel anita riding shotgun but often changing places anita at the wheel

 

hunter riding shotgun warding off the bats both of them packing loaded driving like me

like grandaddy dick grandaddy render taught me when i was eight years old taught me

 

to drive driving with my left knee with their left knees so they can write and read and sing

and get naked and make desert night devil's curve love occasional orgasm crashes into 

 

guardrails sides of mountains moving down mowing down a cactus or two but never

stopping or slowing down no time getting ever closer to closing time to IT IT to IT rock

 

n gonzo keep on rockin in the free world freebirds rolling on down that starry night devil's

curve road through arizona full moon dry lightning filling the starry night sky night 

 

heading south by southwest naked wind desert sagebrush tumbleweed horned 

leaping bounding jackrabbit desert devil's curves snake river desert wind blowing

 

howling purifying cleansing templed bodies ancient souls lifetimes ago in atlantis

bought the ticket still by gods taking the ride two of the last great truthtellers speeding

 

up winding faster full moon naked starry desert howling wind night so bright hunter turns

off the headlights turns up mr. tambourine man six foot long horned horny jack rabbit

 

with three foot long ears and antlers leaps in a single bound across the devil's curve

snake river road in nick of time hunter says good god what was that and speeds up

 

he mumbles where the hell are we and takes the next sharp curve at 120 miles per hour

snake river glistening over to the right anita like hunter like me long ago let go and

 

jumped still jumping off the edge so now she relaxes and naked enjoys the music

the starry full moon night the howling ride to oh there she glimpses a petroglyph and

 

momentarily wonders as they hunter and anita move ever faster faster in the glittering

glimmering ecstasy beautyfull naked naked closing in on IT on closing time then she

 

anita starts whispering singing a patti smith no wait listening no it's a nick cave no

wait no hell no it's sam and dave's hellyes that's what it is now i know for sure cause

 

she's singing louder and louder as hunter takes the next even sharper devils' curve

faster and faster beautiful naked fearless anita at 3am full moon blazing stars howling

 

wind blazing stars her choir she's now finally closing finally once and forever closing

time singing louder and louder angelically singing sam and dave's hold on i'm coming

 

singing naked wild letting go completely letting go singing louder and louder as hunter

drives faster faster anita with angels all naked singing sam and dave's hold on i'm comin

 

 

p.s.

 

surrender and serve

 

for queen jayne

 

i am here to serve you my dear sweet friend to serve you to uplift

and inspire to comfort and heal to entertain and awaken to serve you

my dear sweet enemy i pray all our hearts be filled with forgiveness

the amazing grace of forgiveness washes karma away wahes karma away away

birthing us out of ignorance we all be guilty of everything we all stand chastised

naked none of us have reached our potential but by waking up from our long

sleep from our delta wave deep dream slumber desert sleepwalkers wanderers

we suddenly instantly realize where we are and begin to serve to forgive to give

without anticipation of reciprocation surrendering to light to love forgiving giving

all and everything and more with open hearted love compassion gratitude

we surrender we serve we surrender we serve we surrender we serve

 

ron whitehead, aha

10/22/10, final revision 11/12/10

 

copyright (c) 2010 ron whitehead

 

from ron's next book

PRAYERS FOR THE MODERN TRAVELER (2011 release)

 

   

 "One simple way, then, to re-enchant our lives is to divest ourselves somehow

of this 'busy' complex. We might do work that we love, give up the futile task of

proving ourselves to anyone, keep money within perspective, and do whatever

is necessary to enable us to walk away from our work and activities if our soul

requires it."  Thomas More, from THE RE-ENCHANTMENT OF EVERYDAY LIFE

 

surrender and serve

 

i am here to serve you my dear sweet friend to serve you

to uplift and inspire to comfort and heal to entertain and awaken to serve you

my dear sweet enemy i pray all our hearts be filled with forgiveness

the amazing grace of forgiveness washes karma away washes karma away away

birthing us out of ignorance we all be guilty of everything we all stand chastised

naked none of us have reached our potential but by waking up from our long

sleep from our delta wave deep dream slumber desert sleepwalkers wanderers

we suddenly instantly realize where we are and begin to serve to forgive to give

without anticipation of reciprocation surrendering to light to love forgiving giving

all and everything and more with open hearted love compassion gratitude we serve

 

ron whitehead, AHA, final revision 10/22/10

copyright (c) 2010 ron whitehead

from my next book PRAYERS FOR THE MODERN TRAVELER (2011 release)

 

"love is the ultimate outlaw" from Tom Tobbins' STILL LIFE WITH WOODPECKER.

 

"Who the fuck do you think wrote the Book of Revelation, a bunch of stone sober clerics?"
                          Dr. Hunter S. Shaman Gonzo Thompson

 

go GONZO go go go & keep on rockin fuckin gonzo rollin in the free world

  

 

 

 

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

no expectations

you had it coming 

 

go GONZO go go go

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

"love is the ultimate outlaw" from Tom Robbins' STILL LIFE WITH WOODPECKER

 

"The answer is never the answer. What's really interesting is the mystery. If you seek the mystery instead of the answer, you'll always be seeking. I've never seen anybody really find the answer -- they think they have, so they stop thinking. But the job is to seek mystery, evoke mystery, plant a garden in which strange plants grow and mysteries bloom. The need for mystery is greater than the need for an answer."
--Ken Kesey"

 

"we move forward by the aid of symbols. we change those symbols as we move forward. what gives you the right to deprive life of its terribly beautiful mysticism its poetry its lies what is truth do you know wise fool do you know? i sure as hell don't and i don't think you or anybody else does truth is a shapeshifting pathless land be here now? now is already gone where are we really? ask the howling wind" Ron Whitehead, outlaw poet & damn proud to be

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

no expectations

you had it coming 

 

go GONZO go go go

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2010 06:01:52

Subject: dangerous places to have sex in kentucky, the black mink ballet by ron whitehead

 

 

dangerous places to have

sex in kentucky

 

the black mink ballet

 

for Queen Jayne Approximately 

 

 

down the stairs she comes
skin crawls on the back of my neck
her long hair pulled back in tight
knot turquoise earrings dangle from

  

her delicate lobes her black mink closes
neck to knees black high heels reflect
bright february midday sun flooding
through tall glass doors

  

her dark eyes deep undiscovered pools
of still dark water pierce my turquoise
we take each other in when fingers touch
electricity shocks in taxi her legs cross

  

and all i see is skin brown hot sun
halfway up her thigh her scent teases 
senses in large old empty Kentucky
theatre we sit on ragged velvet seats in

  

left corner of back row everything  
you always wanted to know 
about sex but were afraid to ask 
plays i put my left arm round her shoulders

  

she touches my left leg she is inside
next to wall my right hand touches her
crossed legs she uncrosses opens them
an inch with fingertips i slowly caress

  

her legs moving higher higher until i find
that under the black mink there is nothing
but the softest skin i've ever touched as the
movie opens with a doctor talking about sex

  

she unbuttons the black mink as our lips
tongues meet my hand moves up 
to her throat i hear the doctor say we will
now look through a oneway mirror

  

into a laboratory room where a man 
and a woman with wire monitors 
begin to make love their breathing quickens
ours grows deeper we take turns pulling sucking

  

each other's tongues down throats i lick her
chin her cheeks eyes forehead nose and
stick my tongue into her nostrils i lick her ears
pull each one into my mouth run my tongue in

  

clean her eardrums as my right hand caresses
her nipples breasts moves down her stomach
my left hand pulls black mink off folds it over
the back of her seat then my fingernails flow scratching

  

her head neck shoulders spine squeezing
her lower back kidneys round and round hips
down her crack she raises her left leg so my fingers
can continue and at the first hole i encounter from

  

behind i pause circling pressing the center as my
right hand moves cross her stomach in and out
her navel through the no hair i play pulling
labia my lips tongue kiss and lick

  

her breasts nipples removing traces of salt
from underneath and as doctor explains the
necessity of clitoral stimulation my hands
fingers find their way to her wetness while

  

pull her left breast deep into my mouth down
my throat my right index finger finds her flushed
clitoris and moves round round back forth up down 
as my left hand fingers spread her dripping liquids

  

all round gently stroking in out both her holes
deeper and deeper exploring touching her inner
world as her breathing quickens i take her right
breast deep into my mouth my throat then while

  

my hands caress my tongue moves to her
stomach swabs out her navel moving down until
it is licking her clitoris up and down pulling it
in sucking licking fingers deep in her when

  

she whispers in vibrating voice i want you in
my mouth i turn my hand my mouth never
stopping slowly move my feet my legs to
standing position my head between her legs

 

she undoes my pants pulls them down and
breathing hard rubs both hands under my
shirt round my chest down my back round my
hips between my legs probing my ass takes

  

me into her mouth but now my neck is about to
break so i slowly walk my feet my legs up the
chair i was sitting in up the wall behind us and
change dances from my pockets to the floor

  

making loud noise coins roll the long roll to the
front of the theatre stopping at the stage to
support myself i pull my fingers out I drink in
all her dripping flowing licking sucking probing

 

with my tongue in 69 yin yang ourobouric position
hands on armrests holding me in place in old
kentucky theatre backrow midday february 
on the screen man and woman moaning i slip

  

into another place as she pulls pulls with her
tongue mouth throat i do the same drinking
her sacred elixir as she drinks mine i run my
left hand fingers deep inside her vagina and butt

  

move my tongue quicker softer pulling her
clitoris in in and now no talking from the screen
but music music soft rhythm growing i grow 
harder pulsing throbbing as she licks sucks my balls

  

taking each into her mouth licks my ass taking
my cock back in the singing the rhythm grows
a tune I recognize a swaying dancing beat her holes
are pulsing harder harder she is dripping down

 

the chair and as i walk my tongue mouth back
to her breasts her erect nipples my hands massage
her wet vagina and with shaking knees we stand
she leans on chair in front i slide in behind and

with a finger run up her throbbing anal orifice my
lingum enters her yoni slow gentle deep faster brutal
pounding and before I move my hands to her waist
to pull push and lift her body i thrust she moves
 
her right hand to her clitoris and takes over her left
hand massaging my balls my cock both of us
breathing hard loud moaning with eyes nearly
blind rocking rolling in our heads i hear a multitude

  

singing a great dance song fills the theatre as we  
sustain climax together with blurred hazy vision i squint
just make out the stage and see jesus wilt
chamberlain patti smith swaying jesus at tenor

  

wilt at bass patti on guitar poemed chanting lightning
leading a lost beat hippie storm generations hobo choir 
asylumed souls singing sam and dave's hold on i'm comin

 

ron whitehead

revised friday august 13, 2010

 

copyright (c) 2003 & 2010 Ron Whitehead   

   

Paul K, The Godfather of Rock (Detroit/NYC/Kentucky):

"Ron Whitehead is America's greatest living poet."

 

"love is the ultimate outlaw" from Tom Tobbins' STILL LIFE WITH WOODPECKER.

  

John Rocco (New York City): "Ron Whitehead is the comet crashing outlaw shaman lunatic poet who keeps us all together!"  Thanks, Ron!

  

Olafur Gunnarsson (Iceland): "Ron Whitehead's newest book/cd/dvd, THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems, is by far his finest work...and anyone who contradicts that is a damn fool...if such a fool exists. The Storm Generation has truly been born!"

  

 

 

 

 

"love is the ultimate outlaw" from Tom Robbins' STILL LIFE WITH WOODPECKER

 

"The answer is never the answer. What's really interesting is the mystery. If you seek the mystery instead of the answer, you'll always be seeking. I've never seen anybody really find the answer -- they think they have, so they stop thinking. But the job is to seek mystery, evoke mystery, plant a garden in which strange plants grow and mysteries bloom. The need for mystery is greater than the need for an answer."
--Ken Kesey"

 

"believe what you must...it does not matter...for the white dove...has flown over my head...

for miles as i drove my tractor...cross the coal barren wilderness"

                                                                                  ron whitehead

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

no expectations

you had it coming 

 

go GONZO go go go

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2010 06:50:14

Subject: death in the suburbs, status quo dementia by ron whitehead

 

death in the suburbs

 status quo dementia

 

title of the above

isn't even worth

mentioning

so i won't waste much breath

death in life

walking dead

in the suburbs

status quo dementia

the rise and fall of

the final reich

lord help me jesus

i'm crying

lord help me jesus

i'm dying

blessed are the peacemakers

where have all the peacemakers gone

long time passing

where have all the peacemakers the beatitudes gone

long time gone

 

 Ron Whitehead, outlaw poet, aha

kentucky, where diamonds are created

and too damn many idiots dwell

11/19/10

 

copyright (c) 2010 Ron Whitehead

 

"love is the ultimate outlaw" from Tom Robbins' STILL LIFE WITH WOODPECKER

 

"The answer is never the answer. What's really interesting is the mystery. If you seek the mystery instead of the answer, you'll always be seeking. I've never seen anybody really find the answer -- they think they have, so they stop thinking. But the job is to seek mystery, evoke mystery, plant a garden in which strange plants grow and mysteries bloom. The need for mystery is greater than the need for an answer."
--Ken Kesey"

 

"believe what you must...it does not matter...for the white dove...has flown over my head...

for miles as i drove my tractor...cross the coal barren wilderness"

                                                                                  ron whitehead

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

no expectations

you had it coming 

 

go GONZO go go go

 

 

 

  

 

 

"love is the ultimate outlaw" from Tom Robbins' STILL LIFE WITH WOODPECKER

 

"The answer is never the answer. What's really interesting is the mystery. If you seek the mystery instead of the answer, you'll always be seeking. I've never seen anybody really find the answer -- they think they have, so they stop thinking. But the job is to seek mystery, evoke mystery, plant a garden in which strange plants grow and mysteries bloom. The need for mystery is greater than the need for an answer."
--Ken Kesey"

 

"believe what you must...it does not matter...for the white dove...has flown over my head...

for miles as i drove my tractor...cross the coal barren wilderness"

                                                                                  ron whitehead

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

no expectations

you had it coming 

 

go GONZO go go go

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2010 23:54:49Subject: beatup/thrown out of Zanzabar while paying tribute to my friends Seluah

 

 

tonight was nother brokenheated why do i stay here night! went to Zanzabar to celebrate sixth anniversary reunion of my friends Seluah especially cause Andrew Killmeier had moved back from Los Angeles and other friends all either former students or participants in the thousands of shows i produced over past 20+years. including drummer Ed Grimes who well he and other members of his diminutive circle have from beginning some of the most two faced people i've ever known. smiling faces etc. and all i've ever done is been super nice to all of them. yes failing as i often have but always without any personal malice always with purest intent to uplift and inpire to comfort and heal to entertain and awaken to do the best i can.

well so tonight i go to Zanzabar, a club i'll never ever step foot in again, to pay tribute to honor my friends Seluah, plus my friend and former student the brilliant and super nice guy Tim Furnish's band Parlour was playing after them followed by Mazerati, a band i'd listened to but don't know and hadn't heard Live but anybody who knows me knows i'm always looking for great new bands poets dancers artists photographers sculptors filmmakers etc.

so. i get to Zanzabar at least hour early so i can get good spot to listen. have many wonderful conversations with Andy/Andrew Killmeier and other members of band, one with his beautiful pregnant wife and congratulated both of them and rubbed her belly sending giving good vibes energies to all 3 of them, plus many people came up and talked to me, including many former students, saying hello and thanking me for making it out. i thanked them all and had wonderful brief encounters conversations. real glad to be there to support gratefully graciously old young friends, also knowing that my longtime good buddy another best friend and genius writer Gui Stuart was sposed to make it.

so. the show finally starts. Zanzabar is packed. i'd paid the $10 i didn't really have to get in. didn't want to ask to be put on guest list. knowing there would be 3 bands plus this six year hometown reunion knowing everybody would be asking to be on guest list.

so. Zanzabar is packed. Seluah, after many delays cause Ed Grimes is having so many sound issues, finally starts.

they play two songs. then Ed having more sound issues. being the lover of European/Mediterranean culture i am and having taken and done so many show throughout Europe from Mediterranean to Scandinavia. well, and no i wasn't drunk i was clear as crystal dinner bell. after 2nd song and Ed trying to work out sound issues. Andy bends over to check his tuning. and i decide, at that moment & being the expert marksman and baseball/softball/basketball/quarterback i've always been i decided to break Ed's dead unnecessary sound check interval by tossing my empty wine glass four feet over Andy's head (he was bent to ground checking his sound tuning etc) to back of stage hoping it would shatter in Mediterranean European common custom of celebrating life music my friends. well fuck the wall turned out to be a stage curtain so the glass didn't even break but rolled out onto stage near where Andy was. immediately 2 or 3 bouncers were all over me and picked me up badmouthing me jerking me around and i didn't fight back cause i hadn't come to fight i'd come to celebrate my friends Seluah's reunion and thought i'd spend Ed Grimes lameass check check check awe shit it still ain't right quadruplebypass checking of sound system which was just fine so i did the European celebratory thing and tossed my empty wine glass twards back of stage which ended up being a curtain and damn thing didn't even break so now the ever growing number of bouncers roughed me up picked me up manhandled me and tossed me out the back door down several steps onto the sidewalk threatening me entire time. soon as i was able to gather myself and pick myself up i realized that thankfully i'd kept my bookbag on me but my $200 Quest Outdoors winter weather proof jacket someone had given me was left inside but they'd thrown somebody else's backpack and jacket and couple other things out, along with me. didn't realize that i had cuts and bruises sll over me. i was embsrrassed and heartbroken. the place was packed. many of the young people there were former college students or had participated in my thousands of events i'd produced over 20+years. i'm just now seeing and feeling all the blood and bruises.

soon as i got up off the sidewalk at bottom of stairs the bouncers had thrown me out of calling me every name in the book and threatening to call the cops cause i'd endangered the lives of the band. soon as i got up 2 attractive young ladies came up and said oh Ron is that you Ron. i didn't recognize them but said yes it's me hello how are you doing i just got mistakenly thrown out of my friends' show and here the bouncers also threw out somebody's backpack and jacket and other stuff and will you please take it in plus they kept my $200 allweather jacket and would you please take this person's stuff in and ask them to toss my jacket out. the 2 ladies were friendly as they could be and took the other person's stuff in but my jacket was not forthcoming. i had as tshirt on. it was freezing. and now i was realizing that i was bleeding and bruised from head to toe.

i ripped my $10 ticket into 4 pieces and opened the front door. all the bouncers were waiting for me. i threw the ticket pieces in. i said you have no idea who you're fucking with. i came here to celebrate my former students my friends musical reunion. i'm not fucking drunk. i'm here to pay homage to some of my children the bouncers laughed and said your children well Ed Grimes laughed when we threw your ass out and asked everybody to join in in celebrating that Ron Whitehead had been thrown out.

hm. well. some things never change. i told the bouncers that you have no idea who you're dealing with that i taught college for 20 years and these are many of my students and you dumbass nazi puritans i'm not drunk i'm here to celebrate life and their lives and their music and their response was you better get the fuck outta here before we call the cops and have your ass hauled off to jail and i said whether you know it you cats are already nazis and one of them said fuck you and walked back in and another younger one had long ponytail hair and i said young man you i can't believer you have that long ponytail hair you just as well go ahead and shave your head cause you're already a little kkk nazi. i said i merely came here tonight to celebrate the lives the music of my former students of my friends i have never nor will i ever, unlike you, ever do any harm to anyone. i turned and walked away. without my jacket. freezing my ass off. called a taxi. with money i didn't have. didn't tell any of them that i'd had yet another stroke couple days earlier. fuck. it was all overwhelmingly heartbreaking.

i'll never step foot in Zanzabar again.

makes me wonder why i stay in kenfuckingtucky in amerika land of the not free land of the fearful greed powermonger nazis. whew.

now. i gotta take this ravaged savaged body to get some rest. otherwise i'll be checking all the way out.

dear God bless my enemies. may all our hearts be filled with forgiveness so there are no enemies. hard to believe i turn 60 on tuesday november 23rd. never expected to make it past 25. so. there must be more for me to do. my band of angels has obviously become and army of angels. despite everything. i have no complaints only thanks.

goodnight everyone. i love your

Ron, enlarged lungs enlarged heart all cut up banged up and bruised but toughass never give up poet

"love is the ultimate outlaw" from Tom Robbins' STILL LIFE WITH WOODPECKER

 

"The answer is never the answer. What's really interesting is the mystery. If you seek the mystery instead of the answer, you'll always be seeking. I've never seen anybody really find the answer -- they think they have, so they stop thinking. But the job is to seek mystery, evoke mystery, plant a garden in which strange plants grow and mysteries bloom. The need for mystery is greater than the need for an answer."
--Ken Kesey"

 

"believe what you must...it does not matter...for the white dove...has flown over my head...

for miles as i drove my tractor...cross the coal barren wilderness"

                                                                                  ron whitehead

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

no expectations

you had it coming 

 

go GONZO go go go

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

"love is the ultimate outlaw" from Tom Robbins' STILL LIFE WITH WOODPECKER

 

"The answer is never the answer. What's really interesting is the mystery. If you seek the mystery instead of the answer, you'll always be seeking. I've never seen anybody really find the answer -- they think they have, so they stop thinking. But the job is to seek mystery, evoke mystery, plant a garden in which strange plants grow and mysteries bloom. The need for mystery is greater than the need for an answer."
--Ken Kesey"

 

"believe what you must...it does not matter...for the white dove...has flown over my head...

for miles as i drove my tractor...cross the coal barren wilderness"

                                                                                  ron whitehead

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

no expectations

you had it coming 

 

go GONZO go go go

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date: Mon, 22 Nov 2010 22:37:12

Subject: on this my 60th birthday, a remembrance, and a wish by ron whitehead

 

 

on this my 60th birthday

a remembrance

and a wish

 

"my best years may be gone,

but i would wish them back,

not with the fire i have in me now."

   samuel beckett

 

every year on Thanksgiving Day my Dad the 10th degree badass 10th degree smartass best strongest fiercest man i've ever been blessed to know and spend 17 years in boot camp training with who my dear sweet Daddy crossed over 16 months ago may he be blessed forever well every Thanksgiving Day Daddy told the story bout the worst whiteout blizzard to ever hit Kentucky which included lightning and thunder and him driving from Centertown with Grandaddy Dick Render Mama's Daddy my favorite grandparent and that's nuthin gainst the others cause i loved all of them unconditionally same as all my family and friends Daddy said goin down Hoover Hill a car slid off the road over the steep side into nowhere but he couldn't stop and he and Grandaddy were movin drivin fast as Daddy could to get to the horspital in Owensboro where the last public hangin in amerika was held he they Daddy and Grandaddy Dick had to get there fast as possible cause even tho Daddy had been off at the mines he got the call that Mama was in Owensboro had somehow made it to the horspital and she was havin me their firstborn and first grandchild both sides Whitehead and Render families and it was Thanksgiving Day November 23rd 1950 and the wind was howlin fierce just like tonight and it was a whiteout blizzard and lightnin was strikin and thunder was rollin and i was on my way from that dreamland ocean of Mama's womb fallin from that grace into this terribly beautiful world yes i'd already envisioned knowin what terrible beauty what trials and tribulations what joy and sorrow awaited me what so many opportunities for me to experience pain and love and grow my soul and someplace inside me altho yes i was a speechless baby slidin down the birth canal i was wondrous knowin already knowin feelin seein the failures the successes the heartaches the bleedin broken heartbreaks the wondrous ecstatic happiness the splendrous joys in the grass the happiness i saw all of it and slidin down Mama's birth canal i was already excited to experience it awe awe awe...

 

Ron Whitehead, November 23, 1950 to November 23, 2010

how i got here and how i made it this far is way beyond me and all i got to say to everyone i've hurt and everyone i've helped and everyone i've known and everyone i've loved and still love is please forgive me my nonmindfullness my anger my missing the mark which is the original meaning of sin missing the mark and know that all i have is thanks total complete gratitude and thanks thank you for everything for every moment event being person past present future seen and unseen thank you all of you for this amazing grace this gift this opportunity despite any and all continual failures thank you for all the opportunities to grow to grow my soul thank you

i love all of you

and i yes wonder as i wander how in the world i ever got to here i don't know how anybody makes it past the age of five in this world i sure didn't think i'd make 25 and somehow here i am miraculously here i am 60 years old how in the world did this happen my band of angels has obviously grown into large army of angels each of whom i'm thankful for and well dammit this also obviously means that i've got more work to do more hell to raise more people to scare more truthtellin to do and oh you don't even have to say it yes i know it's truthtellin from my perspective which is just as skewed as yours whoever you are cause well truth may be constant but truth really is a pathless land and we all got to find our way there all i got to say is don't follow me question everything especially yourselves find out for yourselves what truth means for you and yes even tho i we constantly hurt others even when we don't want or mean to we do i'm gonna work every day and i hope all of you do to regardless of our stupid mistakes missing the mark time and again i hope all of us work perpetually work to not hurt ourselves or anyone or anything else cause love yes i said love really is all there is fear be the greatest illusion of all love is all there is love thank you and happy birthday to you and if you haven't already well my birthday wish is that you search for and find a dream even more than one and then take one step at a time from where you are to where you really truly want to be to living to being your dream.

good night. sweet dreams. happy birthday to all of you to all my family and friends and i have no enemies so if you think i'm your enemy well that's your thought not mine so on this my 60th birthday i'm sending nothing but love to everyone to all and everything

i love you, Ron

november 23rd, 2010

1:14am EDT

ron whitehead

919 cherokee road

louisville, kentucky 40204

cell 502 475 7772

emails tmopinsight@yahoo.com & ron@tappingmyownphone.com

official website www.tappingmyownphone.com

plus facebook and facebook fan club

 

 

"believe what you must...it does not matter...for the white dove...has flown over my head...for miles as i drove my tractor...cross the coal barren wilderness"

                                                                                  ron whitehead

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

no expectations

you had it coming 

 

go GONZO go go go

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

"love is the ultimate outlaw" from Tom Robbins' STILL LIFE WITH WOODPECKER

 

"The answer is never the answer. What's really interesting is the mystery. If you seek the mystery instead of the answer, you'll always be seeking. I've never seen anybody really find the answer -- they think they have, so they stop thinking. But the job is to seek mystery, evoke mystery, plant a garden in which strange plants grow and mysteries bloom. The need for mystery is greater than the need for an answer."
--Ken Kesey"

 

"believe what you must...it does not matter...for the white dove...has flown over my head...

for miles as i drove my tractor...cross the coal barren wilderness"

                                                                                  ron whitehead

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

no expectations

you had it coming 

 

go GONZO go go go

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date: Wed, 24 Nov 2010 18:56:05

Subject: A Prayer, after Burroughs by Ron Whitehead

 

 

 

A Prayer

 

after Burroughs

 

 

like a bird on a wire

like a drunk in the midnight choir

I have tried all my life

to be free

     Leonard Cohen

 

 

thanks for the wild turkey and the half pound of ground round

destined to be shit out through wholesome usa guts

 

thanks for a continent a world to despoil and poison

thanks for Native Americans Afghanis Iraqis and Mexicans 

to provide a modicum of challenge danger and entertainment

 

thanks for vast herds of bison to kill and skin

leaving the carcasses to rot thanks for bounties

on wolves bears and coyotes thanks for the usa dream

 

to vulgarize to falsify until the bare lies shine through

thanks for the kkk neonazis mountaintop removal bp 

destruction of the gulf of mexico for a new secret

fear based government that is dismantling

 

our Constitution our Bill of Rights and increasing

censorship thanks for niggerkillin lawmen feelin

their notches thanks for decent churchgoin protestant men

 

and women thanks for a condomed nazi pope with

their mean pinched bitter evil faces thanks for innumerable

religious neon signs saying god bless our troups what happened

to the beatitudes to blessed are the peacemakers gods save

me from your followers who don't understand that Jesus

never killed nobody who don't understand that every bomb

they drop in the middle east to steal their oil we could feed

the at least 14 million starving usa children who don't

understand that there's only One Commandment not 10

who don't understand who don't understand

 

thanks for Kill a Queer a Lesbian a Muslim Kill Obama for Christ

bumper stickers thanks for laboratory AIDS thanks

 

for Prohibition and the bogus War On Drugs thanks

for a country where nobody's allowed to mind

their own business thanks for a nation of snitches

 

thanks for nafta for filling the privatized prisons for

building new prisons and filling them so corporations

can continue to have slave labor thanks for the greatest

disparity tween rich and poor than ever in usa his story

Yes Thanks for all the memories

 

thanks for the last and greatest betrayal of

the last and greatest of human dreams yes

happy thanks for taking for not giving

 

 

Ron Whitehead

with Special Thanks to my friend William S. Burroughs

 

copyright (c) 2010 Ron Whitehead

"One simple way, then, to re-enchant our lives is to divest ourselves somehow

of this 'busy' complex. We might do work that we love, give up the futile

task of proving ourselves to anyone, keep money within perspective, and

do whatever is necessary to enable us to walk away from our work and

activities if our soul requires it."

Thomas Moore, from THE RE-ENCHANTMENT of EVERDAY LIFE

 

"You seek the truth as if you were the opposite of yourself." J. Krishnamurti

 

"The profession of book writing makes horse racing seem like a solid stable business."

      John Steinbeck

 

"Marrying a man is like buying something you've been admiring for a long time in a show window. You may love it when you get it home, but it doesn't always go with everything else in the house."  Jean Kerr

 

"I'd marry again if I found a man who had $15 million and would sign over half of it to me before the marriage, and guarantee he'd be dead within a year."  Bette Davis

 

"believe what you must...it does not matter...for the white dove...has flown over my head...

for miles as i drove my tractor...cross the coal barren wilderness"

                                                                                  ron whitehead

 

"Who birthed God(s)? What was her name? How do you know?" the bone man

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

no expectations

you had it coming 

 

go GONZO go go go

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date: Wed, 24 Nov 2010 19:52:59

Subject: Hiawatha by Ron Whitehead (Happy Thanksgiving)

 

 

Hiawatha

 

   Mama and Daddy are here in the kitchen with Mama's parents, Mamaw and Grandaddy, and some of their kids, my aunts and uncles: Adeline, Linda, Kendall, Becky, Donna, Danny Boy, Stevie, and Timmy. My brother Muscle and our sisters P & E. Edie's just 4 months old. Friday night. Daddy's home from the mines. November 1957. Thanksgiving weekend. I turned 7 yesterday, Thanksgiving Day. My relatives are visiting from Louisville. I'm excited by all the family energy by the laughing the loud conversation the singing. We love music. There are many singers and musicians in our family. Mama and Grandaddy are singing "When They Cut Down The Old Pine Tree." Grandaddy is playing ukelele. He's The Dixie Yodeler. Daddy asks me to recite the "Tree" poem. I'm shy in certain situations but I finally find the courage.

 

"Trees" by Joyce Kilmer

 

I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree.

 

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest

Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

 

A tree that looks at God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

 

A tree that may in Summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;

 

Upon whose bosom snow was lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

 

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.

 

   I spend most of my time in nature and feel close kinship with trees so I memorized "Trees" right after I first read it. Everyone is clapping and yelling. The kitchen is full of family. People fill the two doors, one leading to the utility room and the other to the living room. They're all leaniing in, looking over shoulders, to see and hear. I turn to Daddy. "Do 'Hiawatha'," I say. I love that poem and I love to hear Daddy recite it.

 

"The Song of Hiawatha"

 

part XXII

 

Hiawatha's Departure

 

By the shore of Gitche Gumee,

By the shining Big-Sea-Water,

At the doorway of his wigwam,

In the pleasant Summer morning,

Hiawatha stood and waited.

All the air was full of freshness,

All the earth was bright and joyous,

And before him, through the sunshine,

Westward toward the neighboring forest

Passed in golden swarms the Ahmo,

Passed the bees, the honeymakers,

Burning, singing in the sunshine,

    Bright above him shone the heavens,

Level spread the lake before him;

From its bosom leaped the sturgeon,

Sparkling, flashing in the sunshine;

On its margin the great forest

Stood reflected in the water,

Every treetop had its shadow,

Motionless beneath the water.

    From the brow of Hiawatha

Gone was every trace of sorrow,

As the fog from off the water,

As the mist from off the meadow.

With a smile of joy and triumph,

With a look of exultation,

As of one who in a vision

Sees what is to be, but is not,

Stood and waited Hiawatha,

 

   Daddy knows the entire poem but he just quotes the last section tonight cause it's a long poem and others are gonna sing and play. Everyone is spellbound by the music of the poem. I've seen TV and movie westerns but "Hiawatha" helps me look deeper into what I imagine the Indians to be. Why are they called Indians I wonder. What are they really like? This is a special moment here now listening to Daddy tell the poem, seeing everyone pay close attention listening to the story. I'm waking up to a new mystery. To many mysteries. I want to know about the lives of these strange people everyone calls Indians. Why do I feel close to them?

 

   I realize now that I'm a poet. I'm not sure what it means but my heart knows and that's enough for now. Daddy is a farmer and a coal miner. He's worked all his life for Peabody Coal Company and has never missed a day of work. He's the strongest hardest working man I've ever known. Daddy loves poetry. He knows many poems by heart. He encourages me to learn poems and I do. I already know quite a few. Daddy always asks me to do Word Power with him when the new READER'S DIGEST comes in the mail. Words, poems. The spirit in poetry brings Daddy and me close. My heart grows big. I hold back tears. I am thankful.

 

Ron Whitehead

thanksgiving 2010

 

copyright (c) 2010 Ron Whitehead

"One simple way, then, to re-enchant our lives is to divest ourselves somehow

of this 'busy' complex. We might do work that we love, give up the futile

task of proving ourselves to anyone, keep money within perspective, and

do whatever is necessary to enable us to walk away from our work and

activities if our soul requires it."

Thomas Moore, from THE RE-ENCHANTMENT of EVERDAY LIFE

 

"You seek the truth as if you were the opposite of yourself." J. Krishnamurti

 

"The profession of book writing makes horse racing seem like a solid stable business."

      John Steinbeck

 

"Marrying a man is like buying something you've been admiring for a long time in a show window. You may love it when you get it home, but it doesn't always go with everything else in the house."  Jean Kerr

 

"I'd marry again if I found a man who had $15 million and would sign over half of it to me before the marriage, and guarantee he'd be dead within a year."  Bette Davis

 

"believe what you must...it does not matter...for the white dove...has flown over my head...

for miles as i drove my tractor...cross the coal barren wilderness"

                                                                                  ron whitehead

 

"Who birthed God(s)? What was her name? How do you know?" the bone man

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

no expectations

you had it coming 

 

go GONZO go go go

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2010 21:36:30

Subject: Ithaca by Ireland friend founder Poetry Ireland Theo Dorgan/sent after Sarah divorce

 

Ithaca

 

for Leonard Cohen

 

"what's for you

will find you."

   Belfast saying

 

by Theo Dorgan

 

When you set out from Ithaca again,

let it be autumn, early, the plane leaves falling as you go,

for spring would shake you with its quickening,

its whispers of youth.

 

You will have earned the road down to the harbour,

duty discharged, your toll of labour paid,

the house four-square, your son in the full of fatherhood,

his mother, your long-beloved, gone to the shades.

 

Walk by the doorways, do not look left or right,

do not inhale the woodsmoke,

the shy glow of the young girls,

the resin and pine of home.

Allow them permit you to leave

they have been good neighbours.

 

Plank fitted to plank, slow work and sure,

the mast straight as your back.

Water and wine, oil, salt and bread.

Take a hand in yours for luck.

 

Cast off the lines without a backward glance

and sheet in the sail.

There will be harbours, shelter from weather,

There will be long empty passages far from land.

There will be love or kindness, do not count on this

but allow for the possibility.

Be ready for storms.

 

When you take leave of Ithaca, round to the south

then strike far down for Circe, Calypso,

what you remember, what you must keep in mind.

Trust to your course, long since laid down for you.

There was never any question of turning back.

All those who came the journey with you,

those who fell to the flash of bronze,

those who turned away into other fates,

are long gathered to asphodel and dust.

You will go uncompanioned, but go you must.

 

There will be time in the long days and nights,

stunned by the sun or driven by the stars,

to unwind your spool of life.

You will learn again what you always knew -

the wind sweeps everything away.

 

When you set out from Ithaca again,

you will not need to ask where you are going.

Give every day your full, unselfconscious attention -

the rise and flash of the swell on your beam,

the lift into small harbours -

and do not forget Ithaca, keep Ithaca in your mind.

All that it was and is, and will be without you.

 

Be grateful for where you have been,

for those who kept to your side,

those who strode out ahead of you

or stood back and watched you sail away.

Be grateful for kindness in the perfumed dark

but sooner or later you will sail out again.

 

Some morning, some clear night,

you will come to the Pillars of Hercules.

Sail through if you wish. You are free to turn back.

Go forward on deck, lay your hand on the mast,

hear the wind in its dipping branches.

Now you are free of home and journeying,

rocked on the cusp of tides.

Ithaca is before you, Ithaca is behind you.

Man is born homeless, and shaped for the sea.

You must do what is best.

 

Theo Dorgan, dear friend and founder of Poetry Ireland

 

copyright (c) 2010 Theo Dorgan

 

 

 

 

"what's for you will find you."  Belfast saying

 

"vex the world"  Jonathan Swift

 

"dirty old town" Shane MacGowen

 

"believe what you must...it does not matter...for the white dove...has flown over my head...

for miles as i drove my tractor...cross the coal barren wilderness"

                                                                                  ron whitehead

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

no expectations

you had it coming 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date: Sun, 28 Nov 2010 09:54:16

Subject: Ron's Tapping My Own Phone: poems & stories reviewed by Bob Holman

 

 

Tapping My Own Phone: poems & stories

Ron Whitehead's New CD Reviewed

by Bob Holman

 

 

 Related Articles

• American Omphalos: Ron Whitehead, a review of Beaver Dam Rocking Chair Marathon: fragments of a lost text: The Bone Man Saga
• 
Featured reviews of poetry books and recordings
• 
About Poetry Store
 

 Elsewhere on the Web

• Tappingmyownphone.net, Ron Whitehead's Web site
• 
Wasteland Press
• 
Beaver Dam Rocking Chair Marathon at Tilt-A-Whirl Press
 

Ron Whitehead’s voice is Kentucky. A latter-day Beat, Whitehead is on a crusade of positivity for poetry -- his Insomniacathons, 24 - 48 hours of nonstop poetry, his publication of books and broadsides and now CD’s for Published in Heaven Press, and his own writings including most recently Blood Filled Vessels Racing to the Heart, now all slide over to give room for that voice, the distilled essence of his own poetry. This cause for joy is his new CD, Tapping My Own Phone: poems & stories, which evokes the myths and natures of Appalachia in all its lost-in-the-holler glory and the Beat zone of poesie in full utopian regalia.

There are thirty poems here. Ron’s voice, a combination of full drawl, magnolia sweet, and Wendell Berry’s Mad Farmer’s blue hot rage, drives the disc and vitally fashions a new post in the American ear.


Appalachia in all its lost-in-the-holler glory


The big stories are at the center. Meet Granddaddy Dick whose tales always seemed to tell more -- “They had a way of setting you to thinking. You find yourself inside the story, then the next thing you know you're adding stuff till it becomes real, and takes off down the road on its own, and you have to run to catch up or get left behind.” Let him tell you about “Moxley and Irene,” who’ve been off their swamp island but once and live on snakes, snapping turtle, possum and moonshine whiskey. Irene was a decent witch, but when she found that picture of an old woman in his pocket she threw it down and broke it. She’d never seen a mirror before.

From the front seat of the family car, watch Uncle “Jasper Joyce” hold services in a revival tent. Whitehead’s language soars with the St. Vitus dancers writhing to the tune of glossolalia -- “swoopers become hoppers,” and finally the snakes themselves are pulled out, rattlers and moccasins, and handled.


The big stories are at the center


“The Coal Miner” is divided into two sections. In one, a hardscrabble man leaves us with his dream of finishing first or second in some kind of contest in his first week of vacation so he might take the family off to Panama City for his dream vacation the last week. Part two begins in the midst of a rocking chair contest, days measured by noon sirens, the Coal Miner following the “slow gravitational pull of his life.” Whitehead leaves a page turn in -- insistent anti-polish? Or his own rocking chair? Coal Miner’s children pop the wash cloth on his face and counsel, “Stay awake, Daddy.” The over-the-top ending is Whitehead’s only attempt at Southern Gothic.


Rants. . . he gives us all the classics


Ron Whitehead is best known for his rants, and he gives us all the classics: “GIMME BACK MY WIG: The Hound Dog Taylor Blues,” “Tapping My Own Phone,” “The Shithouse Manifesto,” “San Francisco, May 1993” (a paean to Ferlinghetti), "Asheville" (which bridges Ginsberg's death and a generation of poetry slammers), and most especially the narrative rant of “MUSIC SAVED MY LIFE and JESUS SAVED MY SOUL.” But the stormy drang of it doesn’t translate as well to CD -- you miss the vision of Bone Man tension, and there’s only so much up on the CD range.


A ton of tiny gems and surprises


It’s the hilarity and rawboned realism of “Mama” as she takes the children out to shoot a Christmas tree that’s the true story of this CD’s power, or the beautiful litany cum echo of the simple “How Many More Times” that’ll stop you in your tracks. Ron leans into his angelic countertenor at times, and in “The Ending of Time” we find him fronting The Black Pig Liberation Front. There are a ton of tiny gems and surprises: a hallucinogenic trip with Burroughs (“Calling the Toads”), the hypermelodic “ah” in Buddha in the ethereal Louisville of “Listen.”

 Compare prices
 to buy the CDs

• Tapping My Own Phone
Books I and II

• 
Won't You Dance With This Man?
Books I and II

• 
In With the Out Crowd
Books I and II

This anthology is an encyclopedia, a handsome collection of the voices that drive the man who drives the poetry bus. This year sees Whitehead’s Tapping My Own Phone (Tilt-A-Whirl Press), Slim Moon’s Won't You Dance With This Man? (Kill Rock Stars) and my own In With the Out Crowd (Mouth Almighty). Some of the voices who have been behind the scenes are being heard out front with their own work. Take a listen. This is the edge that just may lead home.

Bob Holman

 


For more about Ron Whitehead's work & how to find it, go on to Paul McDonald's reviews of Tapping My Own Phone and his book, The Beaver Dam Rocking Chair Marathon.

 

A Ruin I

 

at Howth I stand looking to sea

one purple crocus at my door

a ruin I have few walls

left to secure myself from storm

bold I stand vines to mortar stretch

 

spring, a ruin I wonder enthralled

by wind and rain sun and sea

ships see I come and go

but I remain a ruin

 

rumination filling cracks gaping

low and high windows doors roof

all gone only angel song and me

a ruin I you me all one we be

 

Ron Whitehead

copyright (c) 2010 Ron Whitehead

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

no expectations

you had it coming 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date: Sat, 4 Dec 2010 13:47:24

Subject: scroll to bottom & check out new 1-minute "Mama" Christmas video

 

 

A Ruin I

 

at Howth I stand looking to sea

one purple crocus at my door

a ruin I have few walls

left to secure myself from storm

bold I stand vines to mortar stretch

 

spring, a ruin I wonder enthralled

by wind and rain sun and sea

ships see I come and go

but I remain a ruin

 

rumination filling cracks gaping

low and high windows doors roof

all gone only angel song and me

a ruin I you me all one we be

 

Ron Whitehead

copyright (c) 2010 Ron Whitehead

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

no expectations

you had it coming 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 



--- On Fri, 12/3/10, Amanda Arnold <aarnold6433@gmail.com> wrote:


From: Amanda Arnold <aarnold6433@gmail.com>
Subject: video again!
To: "Ron Whitehead" <tmopinsight@yahoo.com>
Date: Friday, December 3, 2010, 8:22 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=megFzcdU4ro

 

 

 

 

 

Date: Sun, 5 Dec 2010 09:19:23

Subject: "Mama" video audio corrected plus Ron updates

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzA3ID6ayhY

 

hello my dear family friends!!!!! i hope everything's going great for all of you. couple of you had problems with audio on my new "Mama" video. audio been corrected. hope this works for you. special thanks to Amanda Arnold for filming and producing and to Cynthia Norton for being in film with me and to Nancy and Howard Wilson for providing location and Hindu Vedic cedar tree and especially to Mama for making it all possible and for blowing that Christmas tree down. Merry Christmas.

i love you. your loving son, Ronnie Paige Whitehead

 

p.s. my email has gone haywire. all files got erased including hundreds of my poems stories and more. whew. haven't started yet to try and retrieve them. hope i can. by choice i'm techno idiot. nearly corrected. at least i can email again.

if you've emailed me recently and gotten no response that was why. i couldn't send an email for a week. so please resend.

 

Happy 58th Birthday today to one of my heroes my Brother Brad!!!!! UK got screwed by refs yesterday. grand larceny. live on national tv. university of north carolina and duke will both fall into atlantic ocean any day now. y'all better move while you got the chance. ha.

 

Happiest Holidays Everybody! every day is a holyday a day of celebration for me. i hope wish same for all of you. wherever i am i'm in church. my life is an open prayer.

sending love and creative energies always,

Ron, kentucky outlaw poet and damn proud to be


Ron Whitehead

919 Cherokee Road

Louisville, Kentucky 40204

502 475 7772

tmopinsight@yahoo.com

ron@tappingmyownphone.com

www.tappingmyownphone.com

plus facebook and facebook fan clubs

 

David Amram for President

Frank Messina for Vice-President

A Ruin I

 

at Howth I stand looking to sea

one purple crocus at my door

a ruin I have few walls

left to secure myself from storm

bold I stand vines to mortar stretch

 

spring, a ruin I wonder enthralled

by wind and rain sun and sea

ships see I come and go

but I remain a ruin

 

rumination filling cracks gaping

low and high windows doors roof

all gone only angel song and me

a ruin I you me all one we be

 

Ron Whitehead

copyright (c) 2010 Ron Whitehead

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

no expectations

you had it coming 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

A Ruin I

 

at Howth I stand looking to sea

one purple crocus at my door

a ruin I have few walls

left to secure myself from storm

bold I stand vines to mortar stretch

 

spring, a ruin I wonder enthralled

by wind and rain sun and sea

ships see I come and go

but I remain a ruin

 

rumination filling cracks gaping

low and high windows doors roof

all gone only angel song and me

a ruin I you me all one we be

 

Ron Whitehead

copyright (c) 2010 Ron Whitehead

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

no expectations

you had it coming 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date: Sun, 5 Dec 2010 11:52:07

Subject: sharing message: David Amram/Ray Rizzo/Ron Whitehead

 

 

 

 To ron and Ray Lu-vil calling hope to see you both Jan 17 at Joe;s pub not running from the law or for President!!

Sunday, December 5, 2010 2:37 PM

From:

View contact details

To:

"david amram" <amramdavid@aol.com>

Cc:

raskizzo@gmail.com

good sunday comin down to you my dear dear friend David!!!! you know the AMRAM FOR PRESIDENT is all in fun but great fun and i tell people all the time "I'm glad somebody's in charge here cause it sure as hell isn't me. I don't want to be in charge of anything. and don't follow me anywhere. i'm guilty of everything (thanks Huncke). if i haven't done it well my imagination is so strong that if anybody even whispers something in passing i immediately imagine myself doing it. ha. and man oh man. i'll never forget the day we met. and everything we've done shared together since then. but up till i met you i always thought ain't nobody can keep up with this kentucky farmboy. and anybody tries, and many have, then by God i'll showum. then i met you. good Lord Almighty. human dynamo doesn't come close. force of nature yes. lightning yes. ha. man oh man it's such a gift to be your friend and to have practiced so much on and off the stage hangoutology with you.

thank you David!!!!! you're a gift of a friend way way beyond measure. meer dan woorden.

sending love and creative eergies to you and your entire Clan always

sure hope i can make it to nyc january 17th. i'll ask Ray for details.

your friend forever

Brother Ron, phoenix rising yet again poet

--- On Sun, 12/5/10, david amram <amramdavid@aol.com> wrote:


From: david amram <amramdavid@aol.com>
Subject: To ron and Ray Lu-vil calling hope to see you both Jan 17 at Joe;s pub not running from the law or for President!!
To: tmopinsight@yahoo.com
Cc: raskizzo@gmail.com
Date: Sunday, December 5, 2010, 12:43 PM

Dear Ron: (with c.c. to ray rizzo)

 

Thanks for the nice note.

 

I'm still an Obama supporter.

 

I think he is equipped for that line of work.

 

At the moment, with all 80th birthday activities, my cup runneth over BUT.....

I am not running from or FOR anything.

LESTER YOUNG is till the president of the tenor sax(that's why they called him "Prez" and Sonny Rollins is the NEW Prez (on his own terms with his own great musical vocabulary.)

I am playing with Pete Seeger thus afternoon and then off to Lowell for yet another 80th bash with symphony orchestra playing Bach, Ellington and me, as well as reading s of Jack with music!

 

Hoping to be part of  a program at Joe's Pub in NYC Jan 17th with your buddy from Lu' vi lRay Rizzo for Motherlodge.

 

He said you might be there too!

 

(Pardon me Ray for not answering your right away! Call me and I'll be there Jan 17th)

 

My sked is NUTS!!

 

! am trying to answer months of e-mails now that holiday madness has slowed down crazed activities and have attached a writeup by Regina Weinreich ( for Huffington Post of my big senior-bopper super 80th birthday blast in NYC,  which hopefully can inspire everyone in whatever area they devote themselves  to let them know that you can spend your life working hard at what you love to do, and that what we learn and do with others DOES have REAL VALUE for your own  life, if you can find a way to share it with others.


                                                               HUFFINGTON POST


November 13, 2010

David Amram at 80


No one can believe David Amram is now 80. Yes, you can do the math. But, to see him cavorting about the ample stage in front of a packed Symphony Space on Thursday for his birthday celebration was surely to see a man in mid-life: Hence the title, “The First 80 Years.”
 
In typical Amram style, performances of this quintessential American composer and ethnomusicologist's “greatest hits” were not self-reflexive, but rather homages to the greats he performed with, learned from, those who inspired him: Odetta, Joe Papp, Woody Guthrie, Frank McCourt, Max Roach, Dizzy, and Kerouac. In memory of Floyd Red Crow Westerman, he played with Tokasin Ghosthorse on Lakota Courting Flutes. The Queens College Orchestra conducted by Maurice Peress played Amram's “Symphonic Variations on a Song by Woody Guthrie” and I could feel his Whitmanesque expansive juxtapositions. Similarly his Home on the Range was bebop Americana.

Perhaps my favorite part of the evening was the medley of his music for movies: Splendor in the Grass,” the original “Manchurian Candidate” where John Frankenheimer just directed him, Take it where it takes you. And of course, Pull My Daisy,” Working with Robert Frank and Alfred Leslie and also a version created for a documentary I worked on in the 1980's, “The Beat Generation: An American Dream.” Scatting his signature “senior” spontaneous bop, he sounds good, a hip guy in a suit with pipes and pennywhistles hanging off his neck making it up as it suits him. The actor John Ventimiglia brought this sequence home with his reading of the last paragraph of Kerouac's On the Road:” And don't you know that god is Pooh Bear. 
   
Surrounded by family, his kids, Adira, Alana, Adam, his ex wife Lora Lee, and many fans and friends including Jacques D'Amboise, Barbara Kopple, Ira Gittler, Malachy McCourt, Ray Mantilla and John McEuan of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, David Amram hosted the evening without sentimentality, without excess, eschewing the typical testimonials for such a grand occasion. After all, we've got the next 80 to anticipate and cherish.

Regina Weinreich

----------------------------------------------------------
 
I am so grateful that the sold out house at my  Nov 11th big pre-80th blast-out at Symphony Space went so well and that all the people performed so beautifully.  

All the collective joy of the great musicians I have worked with over the years made it worth putting all those  miles on my speedometer, in order  to have this happen.

But I didnt have much time to celebrate the Nov 11th big blastout because two days later I was at a  conference in upstate NY (on the 14th,)  for young singer song writers (where i appeared on a panel called "The Elders" with Oscar Brand (90) and Theo Bikel (86)  and myself (80)

We hoped to inspire them to work hard and joyously and realize you can continue every day to be a better artist,regardless of what  you have to do to pay your rent.

And to see that life remains an adventure every day when you pursue knowledge and share your blessings with others.

Then I went back to the farm on Sunday and  Tuesday,  on  the night of the 16th, I went to Brooklyn,  where  Alana was having her record debut, and  played with her and her band.

At midnight (the beginning of Nov 17th) i  officially turned 80 and my three kids were all there!

Then I crashed out at Alana's house and drove to Queens a few hours later in time for a noon concert with the College Symphony Orchestra,  where my Symphonic Variations on a Song by Woody Guthrie  was played again by these outstanding young musicians.
 
To complete the 24 hours of the day that I turned 80, I drove like a maniac upstate to the farm, packed my bags and instruments for Texas, drove back to Greenwich Village  and played that night of 17th in New York, and then after four hours  of sleep at my other daughter's house in Brooklyn, got to the airport that morning (the 18th)  with the symphony in El Paso,  where my saxophone concerto, "Ode to Lord Buckley" was being played.

Then, after two great performances with their symphony and programs i did for the local university and preludes for supporters of the El Paso Symphony (an amazingly good orchestra) I flew back to New York Sunday the 21st, and  opened up a new series of concerts Nov 24th in Long Island and then staggered off to Thanksgiving the next day.

The last two years, many similar  crazed activities have been documented by film maker Lawrence Kraman, who is now starting to edit over 100 hours of film for the feature documentary he is making , called "David Amram: The First 80 Years"

And i am starting on my fourth book, (with the same title as the film) and new chamber music and orchestral work.

And playing with my quartet.

So the Golden Years are not that relaxing so far.

But who wants to relax??

When any of us are told that there are too many people in the arts, and that the internet has overloaded us with too much information and leveled the playing field, I always remind gloomy doomsayers that there are never too many sunsets, and that there is never enough beauty, so we must all STAY CREATIVE!!

 I send love and hope our paths cross soon somewhere!!!

Until then, wishes for joy, and holiday cheer,  interspersed with chuckles.

David
 
amramdavid@aol.com
www.davidamram.com
home 845.528.4305
mobile 914.299.3497
928 Peekskill Hollow Road, Putnam Valley NY 10579
Best YouTube selections
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=DE566F6F01A2403A
www.twitter.com/David_Amram_
URL for trailer for film "David Amram: The First 80 Years"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5v6MeanQ28


 

 




A Ruin I

 

at Howth I stand looking to sea

one purple crocus at my door

a ruin I have few walls

left to secure myself from storm

bold I stand vines to mortar stretch

 

spring, a ruin I wonder enthralled

by wind and rain sun and sea

ships see I come and go

but I remain a ruin

 

rumination filling cracks gaping

low and high windows doors roof

all gone only angel song and me

a ruin I you me all one we be

 

Ron Whitehead

copyright (c) 2010 Ron Whitehead

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

no expectations

you had it coming 

 

 

 

A Ruin I

 

at Howth I stand looking to sea

one purple crocus at my door

a ruin I have few walls

left to secure myself from storm

bold I stand vines to mortar stretch

 

spring, a ruin I wonder enthralled

by wind and rain sun and sea

ships see I come and go

but I remain a ruin

 

rumination filling cracks gaping

low and high windows doors roof

all gone only angel song and me

a ruin I you me all one we be

 

Ron Whitehead

copyright (c) 2010 Ron Whitehead

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

no expectations

you had it coming 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date: Mon, 6 Dec 2010 11:06:02

 

Subject: Ron Whitehead's brief resume/bio/testimonials/updated

 

 

Ron Whitehead

919 Cherokee Road

Louisville, Kentucky
40204

USA

 

502 475 7772  tmopinsight@yahoo.com

ron@tappingmyownphone.com

www.tappingmyownphone.com

also facebook and facebook fan clubs



Ron Whitehead resume, bio, testimonials

 

Objective

Visiting Writer/Professor/Full Time or Adjunct Professor of Writing/Literature/Humanities/Readings/Performances/FilmWork/
Recording/Editing/Writing/Publishing/Speaking/Producing

Experience

20 plus years teaching University of Louisville, St. Catharine College, Bellarmine University, Spalding University, Jefferson Community College. 23 years lecturing, presenting papers, chairing sessions at national and international literature symposiums: University of Iceland (Reyjkavik), University of Nijmegen (The Netherlands), University of Braga (Portugal), Trinity College (Ireland), New York University, Hofstra University, numerous others. more info included in brief bio (included).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Education

1982-86                                   University of Louisville                  Louisville , Kentucky.    BA English  3.75GPA

 1985                                   University of Oxford                  
Oxford ’s International Graduate School.  4.0GPA

1990-92                              University of Louisville

MA Humanities   4.0GPA
      

Interests

see brief bio plus testimonials (included)

hundreds of references, and transcripts, available upon request.
also glad to interview via phone, internet, in person.

 

 

 


Ron Whitehead's brief bio:

 

Ron Whitehead is poet, writer, editor, publisher, organizer, scholar, professor. He grew up on a farm in Kentucky. He attended The University of Louisville and Oxford University. As poet and writer he is the recipient of numerous state, national, and international awards/prizes including The All Kentucky Poetry Prize, The Yeats Club of Oxford's Prize for Poetry, and many others. He was nominated, twice, for The Pulitzer Prize. In 2006 Dr. John Rocco (NYC) nominated Ron for The Nobel Prize in Literature. He was recently inducted into his high school's (Ohio County High) Hall of Fame, representing his 1968 graduating class.

 

Ron has taught college/university for 20 plus years at The University of Louisville, Spalding University, St. Catharine College, Jefferson Community College, and Bellarmine University. He has presented numerous talks, lectures, and writing workshops around the world at colleges, universities, and institutions which include Trinity College (Dublin, Ireland), The University of Iceland (Reykjavik, Iceland), The University of Braga (Braga, Portugal), The University of Nijmegen (Nigmegen, The Netherlands), New York University (New York, New York), Hofstra University (New York, New York), The University of Louisville (Louisville, Kentucky), The University of New Orleans (New Orleans, Louisiana), and many more.

 

In 1992 Ron and Kent Fielding founded The Global Literary Renaissance, a non-profit organization, supporting the global literary (& all arts) community. Ron was Director of the Global Literary Renaissance for 14 years.

 

Ron has produced 3,000 music and poetry events throughout Europe and the USA including many 24, 48, 72 & 90 hour Non-Stop Music & Poetry INSOMNIACATHONs plus he produced The Official Hunter S. Thompson Tribute (featuring Hunter, Johnny Depp, Warren Zevon, Roxanne Pulitzer, David Amram, Hunter's mother, Virginia, & son, Juan, & many others), the London International Poetry & Song Festival (with Richard Deakin, 2001 & 2008), The New York City Underground Music & Poetry Festival (with Casey Cyr, David Amram, Nora Roberts, & Steve Dalachinsky, 2000), The Netherland's 10-day International Meer Dan Woorden Festival (with Jan Pankow), LIVE at THE RUD Benefit Concert (with Jim James, of My Morning Jacket plus Carl Broehmel, Sarah Elizabeth, and Andy Cook), plus many many more. After he produced INSOMNIACATHON 2008 (April 2008) he  retired from producing events but has since produced many other events including the 1st ever International GONZO FESTIVAL @ The Monkey Wrench in Hunter's hometown of Louisville Kentucky. The 2010 event featured Anita Thompson, John Yarmuth, Frank Messina, and numerous other poets writers speakers singers musicians bands artists films. Although Ron plans on traveling the world more than ever presenting performances/readings/talks plus doing more and more film work writings and recordings he hopes to have finally producing events which in many ways are similar to attempting to herd cats. ha. the amount of non-stop 24/7 energies before during and after production has nearly killed Ron several times.


Ron has edited, published, and recorded over 2,000 titles including work by His Holiness The Dalai Lama, President Jimmy Carter, Seamus Heaney, Jack Kerouac, David Amram, Diane di Prima, Lucien Stryk, Allen Ginsberg, John Updike, BONO, Frank Messina, Yoko Ono, Andy Warhol, Amiri Baraka, Rita Dove, Thomas Merton, Wendell Berry, Edvard Munch, William S. Burroughs, Hunter S. Thompson, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Gregory Corso, Herbert Huncke, James Laughlin, Douglas Brinkley, Lee Ranaldo, Robert Hunter, Anne Waldman, Ed Sanders, David Minton, Bob Holman, Cathal O'Searcaigh, Eithne Strong, Theo Dorgan, Jim Carroll, Casey Cyr, Denis Mahoney, Steve Dalachinsky, Jean Genet, Jan Kerouac, Christopher Felver, Brother Patrick Hart, Robert Lax, Rob Zoschke, Sarah Elizabeth, Michael Pollock, Olafur Gunnarsson, Jim Irsay, Norb Blei, Michael Madsden, John Ventimiglia, Colin Shaddick, Jan Pankow, Gerald Nicosia, Dan Barth, Attila Gyenis, Duncan Barlow, Gray Zeitz, Nancy & Howard Wilson, Bragi Olafsson, Jim James, Zoe Artemis, W. Loran Smith, Susi Woods, Brett Eugene Ralph, Mark Reese, Danny O'Bryan, Jeffrey Lee Puckett, Ed McClanahan, Jordan Green, Annie McClanahan, Rani Newman, Dylan Whitehead, Birgitta Jonsdottir, Scott Mertz, Richard Taylor, Guy Mendes, Mama Ya, Louis Bickett II, Frank X Walker, Crystal Wilkinson, Todd Autry, Roz Newman, Helina Berryman, Christian Hansen, Andy Cook, Jen Burks, J. B. Wilson, Tyrone Cotton, Belinda Mason, Jim Wayne Miller, Leon Driskell, Joe Slavin, Suzette Henke, Sarah Epstein, Harald Naess, Richard Kain, Chief Arvol Looking Horse, Brother Paul Quenon, Frederick Smock, Annalisa Papaleo, Xavier Noel, Stephen Donaldson, Mickey Hess, and many many others.

 

Ron's work has been exhibited round the world from New York City to Louisville to New Orleans to San Francisco and from India to Czech Republic to Italy to Portugal to Ireland to The Netherlands to Iceland and beyond. The UN/UNESCO "Poetry On The Peaks" program selected The Dalai Lama/Ron Whitehead "Never Give Up" message/poem poster as its theme for 2002. Thousands of copies were donated and shipped to cities, mountain villages, Buddhist, and other communities, groups, and organizations round the world. The "Never Give Up" poem has been published in numerous publications including NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, a book by His Holiness The Dalai Lama, and many others. Ron's "Never Give Up" poem can also be found on t-shirts, cards, posters, and banners all over the world. 

 

For the past 20 plus years Ron has been not only living but being his dream GOing non-stop on fire producing birthing creativity in all its manifestations. He is the author of 20 books and he has work on more than 30 CDs plus dvds and numerous videos. He is getting more and more involved in all aspects of film work.

His 20 BOOK titles include:

THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems which also includes a cd and dvd plus 4 new videos (available on internet) published by Gill Scott Holland's Holland Brown Books and available via www.hollandbrownbooks.com
WESTERN KENTUCKY: Lost & Forgotten, Found & Remembered (with Sarah Elizabeth)
THE THIRD TESTAMENT: Three Gospels of Peace (with art by Lawrence Ferlinghetti & David Minton), three volumes, originally published by Hozomeen Press, now available in one book 
BEAVER DAM ROCKING CHAIR MARATHON, books 1 & 2 in one volume
THE WANDERER
  

4th person singular: THE ADVENTURES of BRAIN MAN (work in progress)

Dangerous Places to Have Sex in Kentucky, The Black Mink Ballet (autobiographical work in progress)
GROWTH OF THE SOUL: Kentucky, Where Diamonds are Created: I Refuse,

I Will Not Bow Down and I Will Never Give Up: an alchemical oral autobiographical history of The Global Literary Renaissance, White Fields Press, Published in Heaven, The Storm Generation, and my life (focus on 1990 to present)(work in progress)

His over 30 CD titles include:
TAPPING MY OWN PHONE
KENTUCKY ROOTS
KENTUCKY: poems, stories, songs 
KENTUCKY BLUES 
I WILL NOT BOW DOWN 
EXTERMINATE NOISE
FROM ICELAND TO KENTUCKY & BEYOND 
SWAN BOATS @ FOUR 
THE SHAPE OF WATER 
THE VIKING HILLBILLY APOCALYPSE REVUE
WALKING HOME

I REFUSE

Ron Whitehead and SOUTHSIDE's SOUTHSIDE LOUNGE

Ron Whitehead and SOUTHSIDE's WE ARE THE STORM double cd

THE DANCING NOBODY 

THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO & on parting, the wilderness poems: book/cd/dvd published by Gill Scott Holland's Holland Brown Books available at www.hollandbrownbooks.com  

 

Ron reads his work solo and with musicians from around the world, in all genres of music, including David Amram, Iceland's Sigur Ros & HOH & MEGAS, Tyrone Cotton, Iceland's Michael & Danny Pollock of UTANGARDSMENN/The Outsiders, Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Paul K & The Weathermen, Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth, Frank Messina & Octopoet & Spoken Motion, James Walck & The Mind2Hands Symphonia, Vassar Clemens, Tom House, By The Grace of God, Black Pig Liberation Front, Casey Cyr, Rich Martin, Jeremy Podgursky & The Pennies, Blowup in Japanese, RB Morris & Hector Qirko, Scaramongo, Sarah Elizabeth, SOUTHSIDE, The Honey Highway & numerous others.

 

Ron's groups have included Voices Without Restraint, Ron Whitehead's Apocalypse Jam, The Viking Hillbilly Apocalypse Revue, and outlaw music/spoken word band SOUTHSIDE. He and Sarah Elizabeth performed and toured the world for 5 years. Ron now flies solo, and performs with the energy of ten bands, but he will continue to collaborate with musicians and artists in all genres round the world. 

 

Ron was recently nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature by New York City professor, James Joyce scholar, music critic, and author of many books, Dr. John Rocco (see letter below).


 

To The Nobel Prize Committee,

I am writing you about one of America's greatest poets. His name is Ron Whitehead and for his entire career he has written volatile and important verse that has given a new presence to American poetry. Whitehead's work is in the tradition of the Beat Generation but also deeply influenced by rock and roll, the legacy of the European avant-garde from Knut Hamsun to James Joyce, and his own native Kentucky. He is at the same time a regional and universal writer; Kentucky is his home but the world is his subject. Whitehead's poetry is a powerful summation of the American spirit.


I would like to take this time to bring this extraordinary poet to your attention for consideration for the Nobel Prize in literature. Whitehead's poetry is exuberant and shocking, delicate and blunt, combative and sensitive. There is a vital spirituality in his work that questions the nature of artistic creativity at the same time it embodies it. His work is profoundly engaged in critiquing the control modern American culture has over the individual and the planet. The Beaver Dam Rocking Chair Marathon is a summation of his aesthetics: part Bildungsroman, part rock protest, all Whitehead white hot poetic energy.  


As the profile in this package indicates, Whitehead is a tireless promoter of poetry and its power to heal the world. To recognize his work is to recognize the power of the word to resist imperialism, intolerance, and hate. Whitehead has made American poetry a vehicle for social change and a power to transform the world...

        

Thank you for considering this important American writer.
Yours sincerely,

Dr. John Rocco
Associate Professor of Humanities
SUNY (State University of New York Maritime)
James Joyce scholar John Rocco is the author of The Nirvana Companion, The Beastie Boys Companion, The Doors Companion, The Grateful Dead Companion, and other Schirmer Books. He is completing a volume on James Joyce. His novel Fur was released in 2005. He is a critic for American Book Review and numerous other literary and music publications.

 

Thousands of Ron's works have been published round the world in a diverse range of publications (all mediums) from TRIQUARTERLY (Northwestern University/Illinois) to ARTFORUM (Czech Republic) to BLUE BEAT JACKET (Japan) to BEAT SCENE (England) to SOUTHERN REVIEW (Louisiana) to TRIBE magazine (NYC).


Ron has presented over 6,000 readings of his own creative work round the world.


Ron's work is in museum, library, and private collections around the world. The University of Louisville Rare Books & Archives, Directed by Delinda Buie, is the permanent repository for Ron's work (past, present, future). Six exhibits have been held. A major exhibition, with catalog, is being planned. Several thousand, of tens of thousands, of items have already been catalogued. 

 

Many of Ron's poems have been and are being translated into many languages. For a time Ron was Velocity's (Kentucy's Courier-Journal) Advice Columnist. He has written for and been featured in a multitude of publications around the world. In February 2009 Ron was a featured poet at the International Poetry Festival in Granada, Nicaragua. 130 poets from 50 countries, all 7 continents, participated. He recently returned from NYC where he completed film work for Ralph Stevens' independent film, AMAZING SPACE, plus he did performances with Frank Messina, The David Amram Trio, Tyrone Cotton, and SOUTHSIDE members Scott Mertz, Andy Cook, and Lee Troutman at the Cornelia Street Cafe and the Chelsea Hotel.

After his Father's June 2009 death (plus the deaths of 15 friends within 90 days of his Dad's death) Ron entered a state of semi-seclusion  to recover from the grief and to focus on three new books. After being away from Louisville, turning down well over a thousand performance requests, he has resurrected himself yet again and the phoenix promises to rise higher than ever. He's back to presenting readings talks performances round the world plus doing ever more film work.

 

To book Ron email tmopinsight@yahoo.com or ron@tappingmyownphone.com or call 502-475-47772.


Ron plans to travel the world more than ever but to homebase in Louisville Kentucky. Address for the new Ron Poet Pad is:

Ron Whitehead

919 Cherokee Road

Louisville, Kentucky 40204

USA

 Ron´s official website, www.tappingmyownphone.com, annually receives approximately one million hits from more than 80 countries. He is presently looking for a new webmaster to overhaul and maintain his site. He has joined forces with Howard and Nancy Wilson to venture into new creative directions including websiting together and creating limited edition handmade works using old and handmade presses. Most editions wll be 126 copies only, all lettered and numbered and signed. Name of new Press is Published in Heaven for The Global Literary Renaissance and The Storm Generation a DiY Do it Yourself Production. We're looking for old presses, every kind including old washboard, so if you have any information or are interested in bartering to webmaster our site please contact Ron at above address. Thanks! 

 

here are a few Testimonials regarding Ron Whitehead and his work:


Ron's poetry, prose, and multitudinos other writings have appeared round the world in a spectrum of journals, magazines, anthologies, newspapers, posters, CDs, cassettes, vinyl, chapbooks, zines, books, literary, music, videos, documentaries, films & arts publications. Below, you will find a few, of the many, quotes and testimonials, from folks round the world, regarding Ron and his work:

Lawrence Ferlinghetti (City Lights, San Fransisco): "Ron Whitehead is a real visionary!"

Hunter S. Thompson (Colorado): "I have long admired Ron Whitehead. He is crazy as nine loons, and his poetry is a dazzling mix of folk wisdom and pure mathematics."

Yevgeny Yevtushenko (Russia): "Ron Whitehead is a prophet. He is one of the world's greatest poet prophets. What an inspiring honor to hear him read here at Granada Nicaragua's International Poetry Festival!"

Cameron Crowe & Nancy Wilson (California): "We love Ron and Sarah Whitehead's WESTERN KENTUCKY masterpiece...and Sarah Elizabeth's stunning music...Ron Whitehead is a genius...Ron and Sarah are quite the inspiring couple..."

David Amram (New York): "Ron Whitehead is already acknowledged by many of his Elders to be a Major Literary Figure and the epitome of the work ethic! Ron and I have collaborated, recorded and performed at major festivals and universities all over the USA and Europe. Ron Whitehead is an extraordinary motivator who inspires young people to pursue the highest standards, to work tirelessly and to celebrate the intellect by constant study of Classic Literature while remaining Creative. At 73, I continue to learn from him."

Blanca Castellon (Nicaragua): "Ron Whitehead was the hero of our 2009 Granada Nicaragua International Poetry Festival."

Casey Cyr (Connecticut): "Ron Whitehead transends even the devestatingly hard lessons of our times and speaks to the only true lessons, the eternal ones. He cuts right through the chaos that comprises our chattering thoughts. Ron Whitehead asks: Can art matter? Is it merely a gold exchange for the rich? Art IS the Holy Grail. And at the deepest primal level, everybody knows it. Only a few, like Ron Whitehead, can perceive it as clearly and communicate it while in his incarnate human being."

Frank Messina (New York): "Ron Whitehead is one of my closest allies. He is a man of wisdom and tolerance. Ron and I debate over political issues, and sometimes he's even right. But, in the end, we're still friends. There is only one man I want to fight along my side in the trenches of life and his name is Ron Whitehead. He is one of the last warriors left in America."

Carolyn Cassady (England): "I had heard people talk about Ron Whitehead for years so when I heard him read at The Ocean on the last night of the London International Poetry and Song Festival I understood why. His poems, and his reading of them, are pure genius."

Annalisa Papaleo (Italy): "Ron Whitehead is an alchemist of language, a magician of poetry, a King of Words...I am honored to translate his work into Italian."

John Rocco (New York): "In BEAVER DAM ROCKING CHAIR MARATHON: fragments of a lost text, Ron Whitehead is 'the great rememberer' and 'the great experiencer'...a scintillating portrait...a Bildungsroman...in which each memory becomes charged with his history and the embrace of his subject...capturing the memory of what Ginsberg calls 'Mortal' America...and Whitehead's new CD TAPPING MY OWN PHONE is a mercurial collection which features some of the 'fragments' that appear in the novel."

John Tytell (New York): "With The Declaration of Independence This Time: Selected Poems 1996-2000, Ron Whitehead has a brave powerful book and the voice to carry it."

Zen Master Dae Gak (Korea): "Ron Whitehead is Angry tender hearted Poet lover Who, Ripped open by life's Sharp, diamond caesarean Edge, Emerges, awake, alive, Shaking blood and tissue. Howling at the, with a shriek, Morning sun AAAAAGH!!!!!!!"

Theo Dorgan (Ireland): "Ron Whitehead is a one man Atlantic bridge."

Eimear O'Connor (Ireland): "Ron Whitehead's words travelled at high speed Along the Liffey and out into the sea...mesmerised By the motion Of emotion...Something magic Happened over the Winding Stair Above the streets, Closer to the stars."

Vincent McWilliams (Ireland): "Ron Whitehead's poetry is like a fast train coming."

David Amram (New York): "At the dawn of the 21st Century our young people have few role models of distinction and even fewer people close to their own age to look up to. Ron Whitehead gives hope to our artistic and intellectual future and gives our young people someone to look up to and emulate. Having worked with Ron many times, round the world, I can only share my amazement at his genius-level ability to organize and create memorable events that make all involved feel inspired to do their best. His own brilliance as a poet is matched by his dynamism, integrity and ability to communicate with anybody and everybody. I am honored to work with him anytime he ever needs me."

Lee Ranaldo (New York): "Ron Whitehead's TAPPING MY OWN PHONE is superb!"

Michael Pollock (Iceland): "Ron Whitehead is The World Ambassador of Poetry."

Karel Srp (Czeck Republic): "The ARTFORUM '98 Exhibition of Ron Whitehead's important work, both his and his work as Director of The Literary Renaissance, was a big hit and a huge success. It is very important for us to see, through poetry and art, the situation in USA and round the world. Through Ron's work we see. Now all his work is in our archives. The people of Prague can continue to see. We are proud. It is important for us. Thank YOU!"

Lana Witt (California): "Ron Whitehead is amazing. I've seldom known poetry to rise to the honesty, stubborness, and energy of what came charging straight at me in his CD TAPPING MY OWN PHONE."

Frank Messina (New York): "Listening to TAPPING MY OWN PHONE is like tapping into an oil well of inspiration; a poetic horn of plenty where the flavor of American political angst and true Kentuckian local color shoots its way straight to the soul. Ron Whitehead is at least Chaucer's equal. The BEAVER DAM ROCKING CHAIR MARATHON is a Masterpiece better than THE CANTERBURY TALES. Three cheers to Ron Whitehead!"

Kevin Ring (England): "Ron Whitehead explodes in a tirade aimed at pulling down all the garbage that society holds dear: rampant commercialism, couldn't care lessism. If the President thinks he's got trouble with Ms Lewinsky then he'd better watch out for Ron as he gives us the REAL AMERICA."

Frederick Smock (Kentucky): "BEAVER DAM ROCKING CHAIR MARATHON achieves an urgency and immediacy that is truly poetic."

Jordan Green (North Carolina): "Ron Whitehead is the incantatory, subversive bard of Kentucky. He is a poet with higher vision and higher frequency tuning. He has a performance style learned from his Pentecostal preacher grandfather but which also takes the best from the oral poetic style of the Beats. Ron is an energy force that encourages articulation and voice, that makes young people proud to be part of something. His voice cuts through the rough reality of his western Kentucky coal mining roots and reaches for a higher cosmic grace. Ron has produced over 400 readings and INSOMNIACATHONs and has read all over Europe and the USA. At the age of 48, with a family to support and complete commitment to his craft, Ron Whitehead will get in a car or on a plane anytime and travel anywhere he's asked to give a reading."

Miguel Moors (Belgium): "Ron Whitehead dissects American Society with a butcher knife."

Lawrence Ferlinghetti (California): "Ron Whitehead, out there in Kentucky, out there where the tall heroes used to grow, is sowing the dragon's teeth of new heroics."

Bob Holman (New York): "And now it was like a cyclone hit that stage - Ron Whitehead is screeding a poem with an 8-piece orchestra toodling out sounds by Jeremy Podgursky, amazing, high energy, a battle for soul!"

Anastasios Kozaitis (New York): "Ron Whitehead is the most engaged poetry activist in the United States of America!"

Al Aronowitz (New York): "An autobiographical gem that marks compassion and defiance as the touchstones of heroic myth in the coming-of-age of a young man in the western Kentucky coal fields. Ron Whitehead is one of the greatest poets of our time."

Paul McDonald (Indonesia): "Ron Whitehead has the gift of perceiving the divine in the ordinary. His work is always at least exciting if not magical. It is simultaneously hard-bitten, stark and urban while containing a gentle, pastoral lyricism all of which is always compelling. His work is a dharma gate that must be entered, a magnificent Zen koan where the question and answer lie hidden in the experience."

Rene Hendrix (The Netherlands): "William S. Burroughs and Ron Whitehead, in a series of dreams, taught me how to save the world."

Casey Cyr (Connecticut): "Ron Whitehead has been working so hard all his life, has climbed the equivalent of a hundred Mount Everests for poetry, music, integration, inclusion, non-specialization, LOVE and the advancement of humankind. No one else who I know has the endurance and capacity and generosity of spirit (except for David Amram who shares these qualities) to achieve what he is achieving. Ron is clearly chosen for the work that he is doing, and it is a ray of clarity and grace that shines from his being. HIS GIANT HEART IS SINGING!"

Jan Pankow (The Netherlands): "Ron Whitehead's poems are a magnetic field of poetry energy: encounters, viewpoints, and facts of life mingling with emotions, dreams, and visions."

Robert Lax (Greece): "Ron Whitehead's "Moxley and Eirene" worked its way into one of my just-before-waking dreams last night. The whole story. And yes, naturally I'm ready to endorse all he says in I Will NOT BOW DOWN, too!"

Douglas Brinkley (Texas): "Ron Whitehead is one of the most exciting poets in America. Poet and literary activist, he is one of the great poets of his generation."

Tenzin Geyche Tethong, Secretary to His Holiness The Dalai Lama (India): "Ron Whitehead, His Holiness The Dalai Lama thanks you and offers his blessing and permission for you to create a poster of his message to you which you have written in the form of a poem. I would like to express my personal appreciation to you. Your poem for of His Holiness's message is extremely powerful and moving. I am confident that it will inspire many."

Robert Hunter (California): "Ron Whitehead's energy and important work never fail to amaze me!"

Diane di Prima (California): "Ron Whitehead, Fellow traveller riding the winds of change between worlds, in the thick of the creative process, Bon voyage! I enjoyed EVE AND THE OPHIDIANS. "White Horses" is really strong!"

Bob Holman (New York): "Spoken word at its purest and most fulfilling. Ron's combination of full drawl, magnolia sweet and Wendell Berry's Mad Farmer's blue hot rage, vitally fashions a new post in the American ear."

Jim Carroll (New York): "Love, Angelic Orders, and Blessings on Ron Whitehead's good work!"

David Amram (New York): "There were over 300 poets and musicians. Ron Whitehead was the highlight of the New York City festival. When he read I was knocked out! I marveled at the talent he possessed! He captures the spirit of the South in his poetry!"

Eithne Strong (Ireland): "Ron Whitehead's dazzling energetic work, his poetry and his prose never cease to impress and astonish!"

Allen Ginsberg (New York): "Ron Whitehead is energetic Bodhisattvic poetic spirit! Happy to see and read so much poetry energy!"

Harper Tobin (Washington, D.C.): "Ron Whitehead's BEAVER DAM ROCKING CHAIR MARATHON is no cheesy nostalgia trip. Anyone familiar with Whitehead's work knows better. He gives achingly real portraits of Beaver Dam's inhabitants, offering up the disturbing as well as the beautiful, the ugly as well as the quaint. His style shifts from page to page always capturing the reader, evoking the spirit of defiance and hope that is the heart of this literary treasure...Why isn't Ron Whitehead already a household name?! His TAPPING MY OWN PHONE is a gem. Ron reads as if any breath could be his last. He captures the world in all its beauty, corruption, and potential. I cannot recommend his work highly enough!"

Joe Slavin (Kentucky): "Ron Whitehead is the most extraordinary teacher-scholar it has been my great good fortune to know over a career spanning thirty seven years. His success in encouraging students, to express themselves and grow as students, is unrivalled."

Lawrence Ferlinghetti (California): "Ce Ron Whitehead est un brave type! Il a ecrit un poem autobiographique que est epatant...sur San Francisco et un certain fer-ling-g hetti...Qui est? Ron Whitehead is Bodhisattva in Kentucky!"

Seamus Heaney (Ireland): "Ron Whitehead, the only begettor of all this, is here for good!"

Colin Cooper (England): "Ron Whitehead lives at 100 miles an hour judging from his book of poetry...like Ferlinghetti...he's a rabble rouser and wildly romantic and we need plenty of those...the book is illustrated by full colour paintings by Ferlinghetti...Fit him alongside Gary Snyder for wit and insight...certain to shake up the old guard."

Bob Edwards (Washington D.C.): "I LOVE Ron Whitehead's "The Coal Miner(I & II)" and "Moxley and Eirene!"

Denis Mahoney (Rhode Island): "These past months I have read Ron Whitehead's BLOOD FILLED VESSELS RACING TO THE HEART: Beyond Chaos is The Ocean of Consciousness several times. What a remarkable work it is! It's subtle (and not too) back and forth gestures and movements and openings and its Placement! I wish he would continue this work! This is the direction that people need to See towards, be, at least, opened to. Thank You Ron Whitehead for The Work!"


Danny O'Bryan (Kentucky): "The Great White Light, Whitehead that is, swept over The College last night with a round of passionate posey mined directly from his ever raucous life. Mentioning notables like Amiri Baraka and The Dalai Lama - illustrious heroes many of the role-model-starved students probably never heard of - the poet quickly had them under his spell. The man, who always wears his life on his sleeve for everyone to gawk at, flexed his tattoo covered arms at the scribes "I might be skinny but look at those muscles!" and spit out tales of Kentucky rocking chair competitions and wild family antics that made "Do You Want To Be A Millionaire" look life watching paint dry. Certainly all present learned an important lesson: It doesn't hurt to celebrate life in all its painful and joyful manifestations!...Ron Whitehead, a virtual P.T. Barnum of Poetry, is on a one-man crusade to change the consciousness of the world through poetry and music...Whitehead and his non-porfit organization The Literary Renaissance launched a series of multimedia INSOMNIACATHONs (Temporary Autonomous Zones): 48-hour marathons of poetry and music and art and film (all the Arts), similar to Ken Kesey and The Merry Pranksters minus the bus, attracting large audiences and worldwide attention...This led Whitehead to take his traveling magic mystery theatre on the road to New York City and New Orleans (where the TIMES-PICAYUNE named his INSOMNIACATHON 1996 "Arts Event of The Year") and The Netherlands and numerous other cities states and countries...Never one to separate art from show biz or politics (or newcomers from old-timers) Whitehead assembled an odd cast of characters for his Hunter S. Thompson "This is Your Life" Tribute which the NEW YORK TIMES called "a beautiful literary last waltz." The event included actor Johnny Depp, musician Warren Zevon, socialite Roxanne Pulitzer, historian Douglas Brinkley, world musician composer David Amram, the Sheriff of Pitkin County (Aspen), former Louisville Mayor Harvey Sloane, Hunter's Mother Virginia, his son Juan, and a host of others including a bluegrass band. Everyone at the SRO event closed out the night standing singing "My Old Kentucky Home."

Casey Cyr (Connecticut): "I got to know Ron Whitehead's I WILL NOT BOW DOWN: Selected Poems 1990-1995 well and from it I feel an understanding for some of what Ron has been doing in the world. The physicality of which is astonishing - but that doesn't even compare with what kind of alchemy is happening on the mental levels. Ron Whitehead is Shaman and Shamas (the candle that lights other candles) contributing to, directing, promoting, integrating, expanding, and possibly healing the consciousness of an artistic body of thought that sure does need help to go to the next level, which I believe has something to do with the heart region. And if I might prophesize, I think that Ron will be seen as one of the great poets of our generation, which I believe spans about 50 years. The kids of tomorrow's wasteland are really going to need him. Just like we need Patchen and Kerouac. Those guys changed and saved my life."

John Tytell (New York): "Ron Whitehead reminds me of Corso...early Yeats in the Celtic Twilight...Ferlinghetti...Ginsberg...spontaneous transcription emerging in a tumultuous rush...infused with Whitehead's belief in the magical transformations implicit in poetry, with the music of the poem serving as chant, incantation, ultimately pagan prayer...the same can be said for the poetry rants (Insomniacathons) Whitehead has been organizing around the country, non-stop marathon readings."

David Amram (New York): "The first time I heard Ron Whitehead read I felt what I imagine those who heard Abraham Lincoln deliver The Gettysburg Address felt."

Thomas Nord (Kentucky): "Ron Whitehead eats, sleeps, and breathes poetry."

Michael Dean Odin Pollock (Iceland): "The London International Poetry & Song Festival's response to Ron Whitehead's I WILL NOT BOW DOWN was Incredible POWERFULL it felt like a bomb hit The Ocean...people were yellin, clappin, sayin YEAH others riveted wide eyed to their seats...i stood at the back of the room up on some stairs to get an eagle eye view of this poem which I consider along with LEAVES OF GRASS by Walt Whitman and HOWL by Allen Ginsberg and THANKSGIVING PRAYER by William S. Burroughs to be one of the GREAT American poems of All Times. I WILL NOT BOW DOWN and ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER capture the voice/heart/spirit of later 20th Century and on better than anything I've heard!"

Nick Obis (Ohio): "Ron Whitehead, I thank you and Quincey Troupe for headlining the University of Dayton's 2nd Annual Literature Conference, 2002. Friday evening was nothing short of astounding - certainly like nothing my students had ever heard! I heard so many wonderful comments from them in the following days and weeks about all the various aspects of your performance, with your group The Viking Hillbilly Apocalypse Revue. I too can still hear the Icelandic rapping, the ambient music, and the powerful words; it was a staggering, moving experience; I don't think I have ever seen anyone, anywhere, break dance at a poetry reading! But what moved me more than the poetry and music was your patience, kindness, and understanding. I was so nervous before the festival, and so relieved by your sympathy and easygoingness. You are truly a remarkable person with a remarkable group. Thanks for teaching me to "never give up!"

Denis Mahoney (Rhode Island): "Ron Whitehead has the goods and is the last and forward maker of the fire breather preacher with the text written new across the starry night. I can picture him reading poems with snakes crawling out of his mouth and nostrils, like those maniacs who work the snakes for Jesus, turning to medusa flames, the fork filled flavor flick fuck tongue is two words split into a thousand pieces of black and white sand and delivered like a Sioux death chant, a new ghost dance to live and rise out of the ashes. Ron's word is poet breath, new creation out of decay, intentions are color worlds, filled with color, every tint is blow breath glass and I keep coming back to his nostrils flared like John Brown in Kansas, hard muscle break tracks, or soft glow of love he is able to bring the rage round to snake crazy snake soul sonnets to orpheus, our brother Rilke Flower-muscle that slowly opens back the anemone to another meadow-dawn, until her womb can feel the polyphonic light of the sonorous heavens pouring down is prophecy and vision blast bleak and we all stand naked against the capitalist relation that has come to encompass existance and Ron as new prophet stands against that as strong as John Brown, Rilke, just a neck down the vision ladder from our kooky Dada Queen Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven and is exactly what is needed. I give Ron the world in his breath."

Tom House (Nashville): "That's a wild and fierce look on the cover of Ron Whitehead's new I Will Not Bow Down CD, and that's a wild and fierce picture of him there on the inside, and that's a wild and fierce performance/production he presents. I was not prepared. Finally got back home and settled in here last night put it on and blew my head right from the start. Old favorite, "Tapping My Own Phone," the music is like the subconscious of the mind mouthing those feverish thoughts. "4th Person Singular" a favorite as well. Not sure if I've heard that one before. "Raven Hair And Turquoise" and "Comes Night And Wind" both great. The music never gets in the way of the words and, as in the very best one to me "Gimme Back My Wig," the whole becomes way more than the components, damn almost like rock and roll - and in many ways this feels as much like a "band" CD as it does a "spoken word" one. And I think Ron paces it like one. That's just something always important to me, almost like a set, and Ron is a master at that. He couldn't end it more personally, poetically, beautifully than with "You Grow Wild In My Heart." I Will Not Bow Down is definitely a masterful work and I congratulate Ron and all who perform on it. I'll be giving this guy some hardcore listening these days to come. "

Dan Roberts (KZYX Radio, California): "TAPPING MY OWN PHONE is the most amazing CD of poetry I've heard!"

August Highland (California ): "Ron Whitehead is The Dalai Lama of the literary world."

Frank Messina (New York ): "I've seen thousands blinded by the white light, halos and fractal geometry of Ron Whitehead. I've seen tundra-demons, geothermal genies, naysayers forever turned to stone by that Kentucky 'Bone Man'. And yes, I've seen Ron Whitehead levitate over stages 3, 4 and 5,000 miles from Kentucky, held up high by coal mine spirits, red wine and Buddha at the palms of his feet."

Jean Ritchie (New York): "Kentucky, by Sarah Elizabethth and Ron Whitehead, is a stunning CD. Sarah and Ron both did a beautiful job."

Dr. Joe Slavin (Kentucky): "Kentucky, by Sarah Elizabeth & Ron Whitehead, is a stunning piece of work, beautiful in both sound and heart."

Tommy Gaffney (Oregon): "Spending time with Ron Whitehead a few years back changed my life.  The whole damn experience, from the wine-soaked meeting in his living room to the bourbon-infused book signing, he so graciously hosted, is still with me everyday.  Not sure how to repay him for all that.  And I appreciate the email updates on his mad adventures.  I open the ol’ yahoo account every morning hoping for more news.  What can I say, he's an inspiring man.  And I’ve been spreading the word about his work around Portland, Oregon.  In fact, I currently volunteer to host a small writers group (in my cramped little living room), and we discussed Ron's Tapping My Own Phone as our first “assignment.”  We also listened to my copies of “I Will Not Bow Down” and “The Viking Hillbilly Apocalypse Revue."  The overall theme for the session was “this is how this shit is done.”  In a word, Ron Whitehead's influence continues to cross mountain ranges that ain’t used to being shown up.  Thanks Ron for being you, my friend."

                                                                  
Casey Cyr (Connecticut): "Ron Whitehead's new CLOSING TIME CD is magical, radical inspiration, stark truth, gentle beauty. It portrays the human experience completely. The flame reflected in four generations, all together reveal the purity of oneness."

David Amram (New York): "Ron Whitehead's 'The Sound of Snowflakes on Christmas Eve' and 'Old Blue Got Run Over by A Coal Truck on Christmas' are right up there with Charles Dickens' A CHRISTMAS CAROL and Dylan Thomas' A CHILD'S CHRISTMAS in WALES. Not one word could/should be changed. They are classics! I have always loved Ron Whitehead's spirit and generosity as well as his work...These stories are like the late paintings of Matisse, and Richard Strauss' last art songs, where they both turned to simplicity and clarity when in their prime. Ron's stories/poems should be read at The White House, if we get a President who knows where the South is located and understands the poetry of the lives of everyday people and the beauty of family life as well as the magic of Snow in the South...Ron's work is right up there with Mark Twain...It transcends politics. His work should be read in classrooms, as children's stories, Southern Studies, poetry classes, church reading groups...His work can reach the whole world...His work is way Beyond Beat!! Ron Whitehead's work is lyrical, touching, and perfectly written AND SO REFRESHING...I'll be glad to write a Forward or Introduction to any of his books anytime... Nobody is doing what Ron Whitehead is doing, especially in his newest works...They are 100% Whitehead."

Dennis Kirtley (Morocco): "I am all about music. I think music. I sleep it. I eat it. It's just in me. And not just my own music - also the music of great composers. I know many symphonies by heart, great jazz compositions, note for note. As I was reading Ron Whitehead's poems last night, music was playing in my head and it wouldn't stop. It was the score of "Rhapsody in Blue" by Gershwin. The brainscreen image was that of a train, streaming forceful and unstoppable through the countryside. This is the sense Ron Whitehead's poetry and person brings to me. I thank him for being him!"

Gui Stuart (Kentucky): "Ron Whitehead is the greatest living writer...and he is still struggling to pay the bills so how can I hope for anything more than to write...writing is an unnatural act...but it is not any more unnatural than working in an office or talking on a cellphone...and in some strange ways it is the most natural act of all...being human feels like an unnatural act in these trying times of fascism...the absurdity of fascism is everywhere but I don't want to live like that and I sure as hell don't want to write like that...I owe Ron Whitehead more than I can ever repay...he has taught me that failure is nothing and that it is okay to fail as long as I write what I feel and know...and I'm gonna continue, just like Ron does, regardless of whether I ever get published...I'm gonna continue to test my own limits and probe my own humanity...I would love to make some money to live on and be able to start a printing press with Ron someday but that is not why I write...I write to try and redeem my own soul for myself...that is why I write...I write out of some alien innate gnostic urge to express the conflict of humanity that is in me and in all of us...that is why I write...they can't beat us...Ron Whitehead proves that every day...they can't take our souls from us...Ron Whitehead reminds us of that in his writing and in his life...they can lie and cheat and steal and even kill us but they'll never take our souls...Ron Whitehead reminds us of that in all he says and does...Ron Whitehead reminds us that no matter what happens Never Give Up."

Paul K (Detroit/NYC/Kentucky): "Ron Whitehead is America's greatest living poet."

A Ruin I

 

at Howth I stand looking to sea

one purple crocus at my door

a ruin I have few walls

left to secure myself from storm

bold I stand vines to mortar stretch

 

spring, a ruin I wonder enthralled

by wind and rain sun and sea

ships see I come and go

but I remain a ruin

 

rumination filling cracks gaping

low and high windows doors roof

all gone only angel song and me

a ruin I you me all one we be

 

Ron Whitehead

copyright (c) 2010 Ron Whitehead

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

  

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

A Ruin I

 

at Howth I stand looking to sea

one purple crocus at my door

a ruin I have few walls

left to secure myself from storm

bold I stand vines to mortar stretch

 

spring, a ruin I wonder enthralled

by wind and rain sun and sea

ships see I come and go

but I remain a ruin

 

rumination filling cracks gaping

low and high windows doors roof

all gone only angel song and me

a ruin I you me all one we be

 

Ron Whitehead

copyright (c) 2010 Ron Whitehead

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

no expectations

you had it coming 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date: Wed, 8 Dec 2010 10:15:25

 

Subject: Russel Hulsey's Ron Whitehead Christmas portrait poem

 

 

 

red wine

with yer nose so bright

won't you guide

my sleigh tonight

 

 

santa?.JPG

 

"Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation.

Be notorious. I have tried prudent planning long enough. From now on

I'll be mad." Rumi

 

"To be an artist is to fail like no other dare fail." Samuel Beckett

 

"I shall not grow conservative with age." Elizabeth Cady Stanton

 

"Pray for the dead; fight like hell for the living." Mother Jones

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date: Fri, 10 Dec 2010 21:19:12

 

Subject: practicing christmas party hangoutology tomorrow night see you here

 

 

 

 

hello my dearest friends!!! sure looking fruward to practicing christmas party Hangoutology with you (& your companions) tomorrow night here at my new Ron Poet Pad aka Ron Hole Ron Hermitage Ron Love Shack 919 Cherokee Road Louisville 40204 my phone 502 475 7772 emails tmopinsight@yahoo.com & ron@tappingmyownphone.com yes my new humbly beautiful homebase abode nearly complete i've moved in my dear friends Howard & Nancy Wilson built my wandering yogi hillbilly shaman outlaw sin eater poet and damn proud to be homebase all barter 4 houses down from entrance to Cave Hill Cemetary same side of street some to front door plenty of food and booze just bring your beautiful selves and loved ones friends plus poem or song or two even if you can only stay for little while it'll all be merriment celebration of life probably tween 9 & 10pm proximately we'll do song and poetry all lowkey lightning highenergy hangoutology creative energy fun. even if you can just stop by for little while get yer arses here. plus. had great visit last night with longtime angel artist friend Jen Burks she'll be here with friend and we're working on couple projects including she gonna have 1st official HANGOUTOLOGY since i left my palatial hangoutology apartment @ 1520 Cherokee Road where we held monthly Hangoutologies attended by 2 or 3 or 400 people all pure beautiful wild crazy wisdomed wildness pure beauty so looking forward to next HANGOUTOLOGY at Jen's pad january 8th mark yer calendars and all of you get yer asses over here to 919 Cherokee Road tomorrow night that's right tomorrow saturday december 11 2010 according to th erroneous gregorian calendar not the accurate luna moth mayan 13 moon Mother Earth natural sacred site calendar ah well alright that's it see y'all tomorrow night. have fun. celebrate the amazing beautiful temporal brief gift called life.

love, Ron

p.s. been movin so much but now finally have homebase from which i'll travel world more than ever way beyond amazing nonstop miracles happening phoenix rising like never before i'm richest most blessed person on planet whether i have penny in my pocket or not and i hope everyone feels same way but moving here there yon i've misplaced lost some folks contact info so please help me out and spread the word and let well you know who my dear friends are and if they aren't on this email list and you know how to contact them please help me out and do that for me i'd sure as hell appreciate it oh and all you UK fans we'll have tv/game one in back room den tv where you know i'll be throwin shit and cussin like all sailors wish they could cuss ha yeeeehaw y'all have fun see U 2morrow

new contact info:

Ron Whitehead

919 Cherokee Road

Louisville, Kentucky 40204

502 475 7772

tmopinsight@yahoo.com & ron@tappingmyownphone.com

www.tappingmyownphone.com

plus facebook & facebook fan clubs  

"Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation.

Be notorious. I have tried prudent planning long enough. From now on

I'll be mad." Rumi

 

"To be an artist is to fail like no other dare fail." Samuel Beckett

 

"It is in childhood that our intelligence blossoms and our minds overflow

with questions. This intense desire for knowledge is the basis of personal

growth. The more we are curious about the world and want to know how

and why things are the way they are the clearer our minds become and the

more we develop a spirit of initiative." His Holiness The Dalai Lama

 

"It is easy to keep from walking; the hard thing is to walk without touhing

the ground." Chuang Tzu

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

"Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation.

Be notorious. I have tried prudent planning long enough. From now on

I'll be mad." Rumi

 

"To be an artist is to fail like no other dare fail." Samuel Beckett

 

"It is in childhood that our intelligence blossoms and our minds overflow

with questions. This intense desire for knowledge is the basis of personal

growth. The more we are curious about the world and want to know how

and why things are the way they are the clearer our minds become and the

more we develop a spirit of initiative." His Holiness The Dalai Lama

 

"It is easy to keep from walking; the hard thing is to walk without touhing

the ground." Chuang Tzu

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date: Sun, 12 Dec 2010 15:04:10

Subject: landlord caught spying on New York Mets Poet Frank Messina

 

 

 

http://metspoet.mlblogs.com/archives/2010/12/loony_landlord_caught_spying_o.html




"Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation.

Be notorious. I have tried prudent planning long enough. From now on

I'll be mad." Rumi

 

"To be an artist is to fail like no other dare fail." Samuel Beckett

 

"It is in childhood that our intelligence blossoms and our minds overflow

with questions. This intense desire for knowledge is the basis of personal

growth. The more we are curious about the world and want to know how

and why things are the way they are the clearer our minds become and the

more we develop a spirit of initiative." His Holiness The Dalai Lama

 

"It is easy to keep from walking; the hard thing is to walk without touhing

the ground." Chuang Tzu

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date: Mon, 13 Dec 2010 06:59:23 -0800 (PST)

Subject: Louis Bickett II's volume 23 Published in Heaven/Ron Whitehead

 

40. CULTURAL MEMORABILIA VOLUME #23, NOTE, BROCHURE & PRICE LIST FOR 'PUBLISHED IN HEAVEN SERIES', RON WHITEHEAD, LOUISVILLE, KY, POSTMARKED MAY 6, 1995

Monday, December 13, 2010 9:21 AM

From:

View contact details

To:

"Ron Whitehead Whitehead" <tmopinsight@yahoo.com>

 



40. CULTURAL MEMORABILIA VOLUME #23, NOTE, BROCHURE & PRICE LIST FOR 'PUBLISHED IN HEAVEN SERIES', RON WHITEHEAD, LOUISVILLE, KY, POSTMARKED MAY 6, 1995

 



 

"Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation.

Be notorious. I have tried prudent planning long enough. From now on

I'll be mad." Rumi

 

"To be an artist is to fail like no other dare fail." Samuel Beckett

 

"It is in childhood that our intelligence blossoms and our minds overflow

with questions. This intense desire for knowledge is the basis of personal

growth. The more we are curious about the world and want to know how

and why things are the way they are the clearer our minds become and the

more we develop a spirit of initiative." His Holiness The Dalai Lama

 

"It is easy to keep from walking; the hard thing is to walk without touhing

the ground." Chuang Tzu

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2010 14:59:14

Subject: Fuck You LEO yer not worth my breath by Ron Whitehead re article bout me

 

 

 

Ron Whitehead

LEO phoneyass weaklings paraphrasing Andy Warhol there's no such thing as bad publicity good bad long as they're talkin bout you Keith Richards backed that w/ long as they spell my name right i don't give a fuck & Hunter is laughin his ass off sayin told you so i fuckin dare any all of you to approach me eyeball to eyeball anytime get a real fucking job LEO used to be worth reading

"Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation.

Be notorious. I have tried prudent planning long enough. From now on

I'll be mad." Rumi

 

"To be an artist is to fail like no other dare fail." Samuel Beckett

 

"It is in childhood that our intelligence blossoms and our minds overflow

with questions. This intense desire for knowledge is the basis of personal

growth. The more we are curious about the world and want to know how

and why things are the way they are the clearer our minds become and the

more we develop a spirit of initiative." His Holiness The Dalai Lama

 

"It is easy to keep from walking; the hard thing is to walk without touhing

the ground." Chuang Tzu

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2010 18:26:53

Subject: the outlaw poetry of sorcery by ron whitehead (updated 12/15/10)

 

 

the outlaw poetry of sorcery

 

only action no thoughts no words only

action no regrets no contemplation only

 

action in the sorcerer's world as in the

outlaw's world regardless of consequences

 

be fearless act move in matter in spirit move

move warrior move act now there is nothing

 

but now only action now no lingering no doubting

no waitng no questions only action now in the

 

sorcerer's world as in the outlaw's world what is

who is that? don't ask act move now only action

 

now no thoughts no words only action in the

sorcerer's in the outlaw's word today is always

 

a good day to die in the sorcerer's in the outlaw's

world today is always a good day to die to die

 

ron whitehead, outlaw sorcerer poet and damn proud to be

 

copyright (c) 2010 ron whitehead

 

updated 12/15/10

 

"Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation.

Be notorious. I have tried prudent planning long enough. From now on

I'll be mad." Rumi

 

"To be an artist is to fail like no other dare fail." Samuel Beckett

 

"It is in childhood that our intelligence blossoms and our minds overflow

with questions. This intense desire for knowledge is the basis of personal

growth. The more we are curious about the world and want to know how

and why things are the way they are the clearer our minds become and the

more we develop a spirit of initiative." His Holiness The Dalai Lama

 

"It is easy to keep from walking; the hard thing is to walk without touhing

the ground." Chuang Tzu

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2010 20:09:22

 Subject: The Dance by Ron Whitehead

 

 

The Dance

 

we wear these garments

dwell in these temples

briefly we are

short lived temporary

sun worshippers we

are delicate pale

pink blossoms on

Van Gogh's almond tree

our fine attire covering

bones dancing bones

the bones of life

loving bones

bones in love

the dance

a waltz fragrant

spring wind carries

us to the end

of the night

 

Ron Whitehead

 

from BEAVER DAM ROCKING CHAIR MARATHON

 

copyright (c) 1997 & 2010 Ron Whitehead

 

"The adventure of the hero is the adventure of being alive."

                     Joseph Campbell

 

"All you need in life is ignorance and confidence. And then

success is sure."   Mark Twain

 

"Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation.

Be notorious. I have tried prudent planning long enough. From now on

I'll be mad." Rumi

 

"To be an artist is to fail like no other dare fail." Samuel Beckett

 

"It is in childhood that our intelligence blossoms and our minds overflow

with questions. This intense desire for knowledge is the basis of personal

growth. The more we are curious about the world and want to know how

and why things are the way they are the clearer our minds become and the

more we develop a spirit of initiative." His Holiness The Dalai Lama

 

"It is easy to keep from walking; the hard thing is to walk without touhing

the ground." Chuang Tzu

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2010 20:26:04

 

Subject: The Bone Man Departs by Ron Whitehead

 

 

The Bone Man Departs

 

deep deep down the final alley

weaving his way through cover

 

of waning darkness as the first

songbird sings dawn Bone trips

 

regains his footing and at last

passes under the giant blinking

 

neon SPAM sign drained of

blood he quietly heads out of

 

this lethal town Bone heads out

walking slowly limping gently

 

dragging his right foot his faint

trail a breath of bone dust

 

Ron Whitehead

 

from BEAVER DAM ROCKING CHAIR MARATHON

 

copyright (c) 1997 & 2010 Ron Whitehea

"The adventure of the hero is the adventure of being alive."

                     Joseph Campbell

 

"All you need in life is ignorance and confidence. And then

success is sure."   Mark Twain

 

"Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation.

Be notorious. I have tried prudent planning long enough. From now on

I'll be mad." Rumi

 

"To be an artist is to fail like no other dare fail." Samuel Beckett

 

"It is in childhood that our intelligence blossoms and our minds overflow

with questions. This intense desire for knowledge is the basis of personal

growth. The more we are curious about the world and want to know how

and why things are the way they are the clearer our minds become and the

more we develop a spirit of initiative." His Holiness The Dalai Lama

 

"It is easy to keep from walking; the hard thing is to walk without touhing

the ground." Chuang Tzu

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

 

 

"The adventure of the hero is the adventure of being alive."

                     Joseph Campbell

 

"All you need in life is ignorance and confidence. And then

success is sure."   Mark Twain

 

"Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation.

Be notorious. I have tried prudent planning long enough. From now on

I'll be mad." Rumi

 

"To be an artist is to fail like no other dare fail." Samuel Beckett

 

"It is in childhood that our intelligence blossoms and our minds overflow

with questions. This intense desire for knowledge is the basis of personal

growth. The more we are curious about the world and want to know how

and why things are the way they are the clearer our minds become and the

more we develop a spirit of initiative." His Holiness The Dalai Lama

 

"It is easy to keep from walking; the hard thing is to walk without touhing

the ground." Chuang Tzu

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2010 04:55:33

 

Subject: zero tolerance, a sermon by ron whitehead

 

 

zero tolerance, a sermon by ron whitehead

zero tolerance

a sermon

 

by ron whitehead

 

 

it's too late to go off the grid well

the last final closing time escape

even if when you're i'm we're arrested

shot disappeared buried rotting in open graves

the last final closing time escape

from the grid well if you still have

the desire the courage to get off the grid

or the awareness even of what the fuck

the grid is the only way left now

to get off the grid and well you've

dug deep enough to become fearless

enough to face to embrace your own

inevitable death well the last final only

escape from the grid is right here right now

in the completely naked open honest

last stand thought word heart soul action

creative spiritual high noon blazing desert

sun turquoise sky no more hiding escaping

and i mean no more hiding escaping to

anywhere as in any i said anywhere

on this terribly beautiful green mother

luna moth Mother Earth the greed powermongers

their satellites and their giant computers know

exactly where i you we are they know

whatever they think they need and want to know

they trust no one not even their Mamas and

certainly not themselves so absolutely without

any doubt any equivocation they trust no one

no one especially us us the real people

the real genuine honest open and fucking

proud of it freaks we are the freak party

the freak clan the freak tribe they sure

don't trust us freaks yes i'm we're freaks and

damn proud to be they trust no one they are

so far gone they won't experience redemption

until and after innumerable interminable lifetimes

as less than microscopic pain pus filled

rotting nothingness buried buried for lifetimes

in the heart of Saturn's ass rotting stinking Saturned

pieces less than microscopic fragments of Saturn's

assholed upper coloned shit so ladies and gentlemen

all beings visible and invisible seen and unseen the time

has arrived yes closing time is here but well yet well my

heart my intuition tells me wakes me every morning

at 3am to let me know that by choosing love instead

of fear that regardless of what the majority of fear

motivated humans are doing that by fearlessly choosing

despite any and all failures stubbornly continuing persevering

choosing love as primary motivator then some of us somehow

will miraculously make it through the darkness this rapidly

increasing intensifying avalanching transition which is only

gonna pick up speed some of us gonna go on make it through

start anew all new some of us have already broken through

started rebirthed anew and let me tell you it feels damn good

i mean real damn good to choose love to live to come out of

whatever closet you're hiding fearfully hidling in come out and

fearlessly be your self true self be your dream therefore and

so from this moment i mean right now and anybody who even

has an inkling of the beginning of an understanding of time

well you already know that time actually doesn't i said so-called

time especially Gregorian time doesn't actually exist yet another

brainwashed Constantinian Gregorian Machiavellian machinated

lie lie greed powermonger lie which doesn't actually exist and even

now this moment fleeting moment is already gone baby gone

coast to coast to coast ghost to ghost to ghost and even gone

baby way gone way beyond beyond any and all vanishing points

what the hell is reality where the hell are we why have we murdered

over 160 million humans in the past century in one endless bloody

greed powermonger war ceaseless senseless war after another

tell me please tell me why so what gives you yes you the right to

deprive life of all its poetry its mysticism its terrible beauty so as

of this nonexistent moment i yes nada nobody i declare that

henceforth and forevermore in the neverforever i declare that i have

zero tolerance for everything i have zero tolerance for proving

myself to anyone i pledge allegiance to only being my ever

changing ever evolving non-existent paradoxically non-existent

3rd dimensional intergalactic interdimensional true self true honest

failure my greatest success recognizing as i say it that failure

is merely yet another learning experience opportunity to grow

my soul grow my guilty of everything self which is nada nothing

you are i am we are nothing nobodies but the temporal ephemeral

will of the wisp auroura borealis here gone here gone perpetually

appearing momentarily then disappearing even more rapidly vanishing

dreamed vapor of hope and love of honesty and the pathless land

of truth at least as much as we can fearlessly be and what is that

well somehow somewhere deep inside me a still small voice

incessantly whispers assuring reminding me despite any and all

anxiety and despair reminds me to be to remain hopeful to choose

despite my continual so-called failures to choose relentlessly

choose love to be open honest fearless reminds me that i have

a pure honest soft gentle kind huge enlarged heart but yes i have

failed continue to fail time and again at all of the above so many

times that despite any and all of my pure intentions my daily

prayers meditations visualizations i have zero tolerance zero

tolerance for all governments and laws and religions and marriages

and divorces and churches and undertakers and suburbs and

malls and pollution and drug tests drug laws sobriety tests

background checks standardized tests and seat belts and

underwear and panties and schools and pharisees and

judgmentalists and advertisements and lobbyists and electoral

colleges and mitch mcconnell and rush limbow neutered gangreenrichand karl not a rover and the evil empire and war and flies and

mosquitoes and self-righteous arrogance elitism and suicide

bombers and death squads and injustice in all its manifestations

the only government for me is the government of individual

responsibility and helping my friends and neighbors and

practicing hangoutology we are all yes we are all dirty filthy

dirty potatoes floating in the same tub of oil and chemical

filled polluted dead zone water beargrass creek the ohio the

mississippi all streams creeks rivers ponds lakes seas oceans

and yes now certainly the gulf of mexico destroyed and i say

fuck bp and regardless of what the british prime minister and

their parasite queen say in their sweet talking bullshit lies

attempting miserably to cover up their intentional felonies

i say bp should be persecuted what after 790plus felonies

crimes against the environment against mother earth against

all of us including their bp parasite queen greed powermonger

government oil companies retarded idiot selves always paying

enough corrupt assholes off to get off come out squeaky clean

go on being more than lethally mean same as the mountaintop

removal coal mine operator owners continue to do they too should

be persecuted first degree felony forced to face the karmic

consequences of their greed powermonger actions and stopped

right now same as bp bp and the british government and their

parasite queen should pay every damn penny for the already

damaged uncleanable cleanup and just as our own beargrass

creek should be rerouted redirected directly into the louisville

mayor's office until he we stop dumping raw sewage and who

knows what else into it and clean it up restore it to its pristine

crystal pure clean natural state well every damn drop of oil we're

able to clean up to gather suction syphon up from the gulf of

mexico and its beaches and tributaries every drop should be

loaded onto planes and flown across the atlantic ocean and

dumped dropped from the air directly onto the houses of

parliament and all the parasite queens leeched mansions

and onto all bp's top headquarters yes we can only come

clean by openly honestly without frontin without lying yes

if it ain't real it ain't no fuckin deal we can only come clean

by openly honestly embracing the consequences of our

actions and embracing our past our roots our history no

matter where we come from no matter how we grew up

no matter what's happened what's happening to us then

and now there comes a time in all our lives and that time

my friends is now right now in this fleeting moment called

now the time has come arrived finally to quit blaming

anybody everybody past present future including yes

ourselves for the facts the events the happenings of our

lives and to accept and embrace and take full responsibility

for our choices decisions actions for what's going on right

now inside and outside ourselves our lives accepting

embracing facing the reality of each of our selves our own

lives and taking action fearless action to correct our mistakes

our lack of thoughtfullness considerateness mindfullness

our selfishness the time has come for forgiveness for

givingness for discerning bighearted mindful wisdom for

loving for compassion not just for our family and friends

but for everyoine including ourselves the high time has

come at long last to take it upon ourselves to change

what we don't like about ourselves to build a bridge one

step at a time from where we are to where we want to be

to living to being our dream what do you want to be more

than anything else i'm not talking about duty bound false

responsibility i'm talking about mindfully compassionately

choosing taking the step by step determined actions

building the bridge to what more than anything you want

to be to be your dream so my dear sweet friends ask dig

question everything everyone including me and especially

yourself cause truth really is a pathless land and we all

have to find the fearless stubborn determined perservering

courage to be our real selves to live to be our dream

perseverance be central to success if i can do it anybody

can no matter what never give up develop your relentless

will power regardless of any and all odds obstacles

circumstances dig relentlessly dig into your deepest heart

and soul self dig unceasingly until you arrive until you are

you be your dream so yes sweet friends and beautiful

teacher enemies may all our hearts be filled with the amazing

grace of forgiveness washing away karma so there are no

enemies so yes we're all dirty potatoes floating in the same

tub of filthy polluted water but we have innumerable options

and alternatives like openheartedly honestly fearlessly with

nothing to hide no secrets calling ourselves and each other

by our real names sharing the poems stories songs events

of our lives respecting and honoring our beautiful differences

while realizing that somewhere in all of us we have more in

common than different so my dear sweet friends i choose to

come clean to have zero tolerance for all the phoney ass

fearbased lying stealing raping pillaging murdering greed

powermongered brainwashed walmart zombie sleepwalking

bullshit that has brought our terribly beautiful green woman

luna moth mother earth to her knees possibly probably to

the soon to arrive well hell the storm has already started its

already here but hopefully regardless of how changes occur

even while dying i we can reach that deep place in ourselves

that peaceful pool of tranquility and forgiving giving having

complete peace with each other with all and everything past

present future seen unseen have be complete peace harmony

so when we die which will be any and every fleeting moment

now then this gifted lifetime will be gone baby eternal presence

yes but gone baby gone even while dying i you we reach a

place in ourselves in ourselves and with each other so when

that time that notime arrives that crossing over the crucibled

alchemical river of fire that time of walking through one door

one room into the next when that happens and it will soon

for all of us we all be born to live born to die so when we die

we have nothing nothing but sweet peaceful tolerance in our

open gentle soft kind mindful loving compassionate forgiving

giving thankful no longer beating hearts and yes even while

vanishing we have no complaints only thanks only thanks

thanks thank you thank you for everything thank you

 

ron whitehead

10/28/10

 

copyright (c) 2010 ron whitehead

 

ron whitehead

919 cherokee road

louisville, kentucky 40204 usa

cell  502 475 7772 

emails tmopinsight@yahoo.com & ron@tappingmyownphone.com

website www.tappingmyownphone.com

plus facebook & facebook fan clubs

 

"love is the ultimate outlaw" from Tom Robbins' STILL LIFE WITH WOODPECKER

 

 

"The adventure of the hero is the adventure of being alive."

                     Joseph Campbell

 

"All you need in life is ignorance and confidence. And then

success is sure."   Mark Twain

 

"Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation.

Be notorious. I have tried prudent planning long enough. From now on

I'll be mad." Rumi

 

"To be an artist is to fail like no other dare fail." Samuel Beckett

 

"It is in childhood that our intelligence blossoms and our minds overflow

with questions. This intense desire for knowledge is the basis of personal

growth. The more we are curious about the world and want to know how

and why things are the way they are the clearer our minds become and the

more we develop a spirit of initiative." His Holiness The Dalai Lama

 

"It is easy to keep from walking; the hard thing is to walk without touhing

the ground." Chuang Tzu

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2010 06:13:22

 

Subject: Can Art Matter? A Manifesto by Ron Whitehead (updated 12/16/10)

 

 

Can Art Matter?

Published In Heaven: Blood Filled Vessels

Artist Manifesto by Ron Whitehead


The older I get the more I realize I don't know anything, no one does. We're all guessing, feeling our way, grappling for answers. But every day I have encounters with the spirit world. We are all in perpetual motion, in transition, even when we are still, silent, listening. Listening is the greatest art of all. Not-knowing is the fundamental plowed earth of our being, not-knowing. It is our life source. Embrace the wind. Embrace my heart. Born to die, there is no safety, all is demanded. Expose yourself completely. Accept the consequences of your successes, and your failures, as no other dare. Enlightened mind is not special, it is natural. Present yourself as you are, wise fool. Don't hesitate, embrace mystery paradox uncertainty. Have courage. Through fear, and boredom, have faith. Be compassion. Embrace the wind. Embrace your heart. Not-knowing is the fundamental plowed earth of our being. It is our life source. Not-knowing.

Can art matter? Why Published In Heaven?

Today 'Specialization' is sold on every corner, fed in every home, brainwashed into every student, every young person. We are told that the only way to succeed, here at the beginning of the 21st Century is to put all our time, energy, learning, and focus into one area, one field, one specialty (math, science, computer technology, business, government). If we don't we will fail. We are subtly and forcefully, implicitly and explicitly, encouraged to deny the rest of who we are, our total self, selves, our holistic being. The postmodern brave new world resides inside the computer via The Web with only faint peripheral recognition to the person, the individual (and by extension the real global community), the real human being operating the machine. The idea of and belief in specialization as the only path, only possibility, has sped up the fragmentation, the alienation which began to grow rapidly within the individual, radically reshaping culture, over a century ago with the birth of those Machiavellian revolutions in technology, industry, and war. And with the growing fracturing fragmentation and alienation comes the path - anger, fear, anxiety, angst, ennui, nihilism, depression, despiar - that, for the person of action, leads to suicide. Unless, through our paradoxical leap of creative faith we engage ourselves in the belief, which can become a life misssion that regardless of the consequences, we can, through our engagement, our actions, our loving life work, make the world a better, safer, friendlier place in which to live. Sound naive? What place does the Antinomian voice, the voice that, though trembling, speaks out against The Powers That Be, what place does this Visionary Outsider Voice have in the real violent world in which we are immersed? Are we too desensitized to the violence, to the fact that in the past Century alone we have murdered over 160 million people in one war after another, to even think it worthwhile to consider the possibility of a less violent world? Are we too small, too insignificant to make any kind of difference? The power-mongers have control. What difference can one little individual life possibly make, possibly matter?

Published In Heaven Titles make a difference. They are blood filled vessels racing to the heart.

Today the X and microserf generations are swollen with young people yearning to express the creative energies buried in their hearts, seeping from every pore of their beings. They ache to change to heal the world. Is it still possible? Is it too late? Is there anyone (a group?) left to show the way to be an example? To be a guide? A mentor? James Joyce, King of Modernism, said the idea of the hero was nothing but a damn lie that the primary motivating forces are passion and compassion. As late as 1984 people were laughing at George Orwell. Today, as we finally move into an Orwellian culture of simulation life on the screen landscape, can we remember passion and compassion or has the postmodern ironic satyric deathinlifegame laugh killed both sperm and egg? Is there anywhere worth going from here? Is it any wonder that today's youth have adopted Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, Herbert Huncke, Gregory Corso, Neal Cassady, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Amiri Baraka, Robert Creeley, David Amram, Diane di Prima, Ed Sanders, Anne Waldman, Bob Dylan, Hunter S. Thompson, The Clash, Sonic Youth and all the other Beat Generation and related poets, writers, artists, musicians as their inspirational, life-affirming antinomian ancestors? These are people who have stood and still stand up against unreasoning power/right/might, looked that power in the eyes and said NO I don't agree with you and this is why. And they have spoken these words, not for money or for fame, but out of life's deepest convictions, out of the belief that we, each one of us, no matter our skin color our economic status our political religious sexual preferences, all of us have the right to live to dream as we choose rather than as some supposed higher moral authority prescribes for us.

I choose to be an antinomian warrior.

Can art matter? Is it merely a gold exchange for the rich? The crucible of Published In Heaven alchemical art blends the terrible beauty of the natural world with questions of global social conscience. Published In Heaven poems stories songs art films photographs defy categorization. They are original.

What is involved in the process of artistic creation? And how is that process related to space and time? What makes it possible for a handful of Nabi, of Druidhs, to maneuver in a molecular universe, where immersion at will into things and being other than self is readily accomplished, rather than the dreary chore of drudging through the thick cellular world? The answers are simply complex and like truth, time and water they constantly slip through fingers away, away but the past recalled becomes present again and in a sense when we look anywhere including back into the past we are looking with some form of anticipation which is an attribute of future time so where are we really? How do how will poets, writers, musicians, artists, filmmakers, photographers, inhabitors of the creative realms of the 21st Century respond to these questions? Some respond with ironic, comic faith, some with passion, with compassion, without which the intelligent sensitive creature will inevitably traverse the Valley of The Shadow of Death encountering Angst, Despair, Ennui, and possibly Suicide. The sensitive individual poet writer musician artist filmmaker photographer prophet, the empath whose natural ability is negative capability, ineluctably chooses the life-game quest of self-creation in the possibly infinite probability of possible realities in the self-contained inter-connected Ocean of Consciousness.

So, where are you going? Please answer the question. Can art matter?

There are no answers, only questions.

My argument for The Ocean of Consciousness reaches back to the early experiential understanding of holy while reaching forward beyond the limits of dialectical gnosticism to an alchemy that also transcends divisions inherent in the alienation the fragmentation of Deep Modernism and the superficial chaos of postmodernism. I agree to a point with Turkle's argument that "The goal of healthy personality development is not to become a One, not become a unitary core, it's to have a flexible ability to negotiate the many - cycle through multiple identities." Having multiple identities, being legion, may lead to the apparent conclusion that we are walking on quicksand, that there is no solid ground that all is chaos. Even if you are a cryptanalyst and are able to turn into "plaintext the coded messages of Lacan but also the utterances of French existentialists, deconstructionists, poststructuralists, and all the other sibilant schools that flowed out of postwar France" (McCormick) what leads you to believe that the deadly serious egocentric humor of postmodernism where theory is lauded as more important than text (whatever text might be: book, song, painting, film, life, etc) can possibly be the final word? Deconstructing a text does not designify does not make the text less than what it was before you playfully surgically took it apart and, if you're a good mechanic, put it back together again even if you gave it new features. No matter how much taking apart deconstructing you do there will always remain something, a meaningful essence that cannot be destroyed.

Lightninged Passion compassion filled art matters.

The poet writer musician artist filmmaker photographer prophet deconstructs realism. She employs the innovative technique of intercalation: the juxtaposition of scenes in time. She is Elus Cohen, Elect Priest of Expressionism, Cubism, Modernism, Dadaism, Surrealism, postmodernism but she is more. She is Master Alchemist, Master Magician. Her long slender hand reaches towards me, grabs my throat, and pulls me into the text, the book, the song, the art, the CD/DVD, the film, the photo.
Manger du Livre indeed! I not only consume the book: the book consumes me. Now I, with her, am Elus Cohen juxtaposing scenes in time and space in her, in me, in the Published In Heaven Blood Filled Vessels Racing to The Heart Titles. Being Blood Filled my original perception, awareness, and senses are fractured, fractalled, and exiting the Blood Filled Heart Titles I find I am rearranged. I now have new perspective, awareness, senses. I look at others. Are their expressions different as they look at me? I must look different. I feel different. I am different. Me. And me now. I,I. Ha. Aha! Now as my hand moves this pen across this page I change. I am transformed. I am never the same. My molecules jump, sway, swoon, dance across the page, giggling, laughing, singing, happy to be new! It's spring again! They shout Yes Yes Yes!!!

Mythopoetic Published In Heaven Titles create newly resonant myths.

Knowledge, from the inception of Modernism and through postmodernism to The Ocean of Consciousness, is reorganized, redefined through literature, music, art, film, photography. The genres are changing, the canons are exploding, as is culture. The mythopoetics, the privileged sense of sight, of modern, contemporary, avant-garde poets, writers, musicians, artists, filmmakers, photographers are examples of art forms of a society, a culture, a civilization, a world, in which humanity lives, not securely in cities nor innocently in the country, but on the acocalyptic, simultaneous edge of a new realm of being and understanding. The mythopoet, female and male, returns to the role of prophet-seer by creating myths that resonate in the minds of readers, myths that speak with the authority of the ancient myths, myths that are gifts from the creative realms of being, gifts from the shadow.


 Ron Whitehead
kentucky outlaw poet and damn proud to be

copyright (c) Ron Whitehead 2005 & 2010

 

 

 

"The adventure of the hero is the adventure of being alive."

                     Joseph Campbell

 

"All you need in life is ignorance and confidence. And then

success is sure."   Mark Twain

 

"Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation.

Be notorious. I have tried prudent planning long enough. From now on

I'll be mad." Rumi

 

"To be an artist is to fail like no other dare fail." Samuel Beckett

 

"It is in childhood that our intelligence blossoms and our minds overflow

with questions. This intense desire for knowledge is the basis of personal

growth. The more we are curious about the world and want to know how

and why things are the way they are the clearer our minds become and the

more we develop a spirit of initiative." His Holiness The Dalai Lama

 

"It is easy to keep from walking; the hard thing is to walk without touhing

the ground." Chuang Tzu

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

 

 

"The adventure of the hero is the adventure of being alive."

                     Joseph Campbell

 

"All you need in life is ignorance and confidence. And then

success is sure."   Mark Twain

 

"Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation.

Be notorious. I have tried prudent planning long enough. From now on

I'll be mad." Rumi

 

"To be an artist is to fail like no other dare fail." Samuel Beckett

 

"It is in childhood that our intelligence blossoms and our minds overflow

with questions. This intense desire for knowledge is the basis of personal

growth. The more we are curious about the world and want to know how

and why things are the way they are the clearer our minds become and the

more we develop a spirit of initiative." His Holiness The Dalai Lama

 

"It is easy to keep from walking; the hard thing is to walk without touhing

the ground." Chuang Tzu

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2010 15:01:56

 

Subject: Can A Poet Be An Outlaw? (from Rinaldo Rasa's BEAT SUPERNOVA site Venice Italy)

 

 

Can A Poet Be An Outlaw? (from Rinaldo Rasa's BEAT SUPERNOVA website Venice Italy final statement on this & on pathetically feebly sad LEO attempt to do Ron slam which i've recvd thousands of messages from round world about)

 

my now 91 year old friend Lawrence Ferlighetti, most important living poet activist in the world, who, with my friend John Tytell's help, i/we got him nominated for Nobel Prize in Literature, which he should receive, as should my Kentucky outlaw farmer poet/writer friend Wendell Berry, my friend Lawrence Ferlinghetti, founder of 1st ever paperback bookstore in amerika, City Lights, 261 Columbus Avenue, North Beath San Francisco, still going Mecca for independent poets writers editors publishers thinkers round the world, Ferlinghetti in several conversations continually reminds me that the poet must be enemy of the state cause power inevitably corrupts therefore the poet, like the prophets of old, must not only fearlessly challenge the injustices of all governments all ruling elitists but without stopping there, with the criticism, the righteous anger, like Jesus driving the money changers out of the temple, the poet must then point to a better way which is always to treat everyone, regardless of socio-economic status, as equals. we are all dirty potatoes floating in same tub of water and the more we bang into each other by openly honestly sharing the poems stories songs failures successes well then the more we come clean the more we recognize that nobody and i mean nobody is one iota better or worse than enyone else from homeless drug addict to The Dalai Lama we are all equal we are all in this together and we've all got to respect and honor cherish our differences while simultaneously recognizing that we have more in common, more common ground, than we have differences, and accept embrace tolerate everyone regardless of everything and anything. we are, ultimately, finally, ONE BEING. forgiveness acceptance love compassion is all there is.

 

p.s. in another article on same front page i'm mentioned in Literary ties bind Louisville and Prague. talk to me bout what it means to be a literary outlaw. i'm ready. bring it on. let's have a red wine (& whatever else makes you happy hangoutology session, or a duel, or both. today is always a good day to die, which means it's also a good day to live fully in each and every moment, sharing light and love, while remaining fearless. so. let's enjoy this, and whatever few moments we have left, and have some real (if it ain't real it ain't no fuckin deal) fun!!!!! 

 

 "I have long admired Ron Whitehead. He is crazy as nine loons, and his poetry is a dazzling mix of folk wisdom & pure mathematics." Hunter S. Thompson

 

<span>Can a poet be an outlaw?</span>

 

responses, of thousands, from round the world, to Ron Whitehead &

Can a poet be an outlaw? (thousands have also flooded in regarding LEO's feeble/hilarious attempt to slam Ron)

 

response from Denis Mahoney, Boston/Black Pig Liberation Front

   

Note: Ron Whitehead; Poet as Outlaw

 

This question can a poet be an outlaw is perhaps the stupidest discussion a bunch of poets and poets aficionados can have. And something that might prove most useful. I think now how much I learned from the back and forth aesthetics of Robert Duncan and the L-A-N-G-A-U-G-E poets. Both sides added multiplicities to the dimension of poetry.

 

Who the fuck cares? Poets do, readers do. We define, we make metaphors, we deconstruct, a strong sense of imponderables, indisputable, unsharable. Bend and twist, dance on the certainty of sensory. I am not talking about representation, the singularity of origin, an assimilated sense of meaning which is different for everyone, or a central ‘idea’ of anything.

 

If Ron Whitehead is not an outlaw poet no one is.  Only a dick would start an argument on semantics or denounce his concept as he chooses to represent them. This is his tradition. He is a contrarian in the best sense of the word.

I could care less what a dictionary defines as outlaw, I really could could care less about the definition of any word other than how poet uses it, feels it, burns it tattoos it into his/her skin. That is what we deal with. His words.

What a petty discussion. Ron Whitehead says he is outlaw, and I know the man, and I’m willing to give him his word. He’s an outlaw with words. His words can kill or make thousands sing along. Maybe sometimes he misses, but so did his fellow prophet Crazy Horse, the bullets missed, but turncoats stabbed him in the back. Billy the Kid, punk murderer, missed, fucked himself.  Burroughs shot his wife in the head and got away with it, a William Tell murderer on the run. Joan dead in Mexico. Nothing cool about that, the fuck. So who you looking for to be your outlaw poet -- Corso? a junky dick; Jim Morrison? great dinner guest, piss on your chairs and sheets. 

Ron Whitehead makes these punks look like kids. He has lived it, he has lived past their youth, he is wise, he knows when to pull his gun and it’s not arbitrary. 

Ron Whitehead speaks and lives the truth. His trigger is on hold, but shoots words for truth for all of us.. 

Might not be yours but tells it like motherfucker (but he loves his Mom and the term is guttural). He’s not this generations’ Jack Kerouac. So what if sometime times he’s drunk, wailing like a madman, he is that kind of writer. 

For our generation, Ron still writes, one of his friends, Hunter Thompson blew his head off like Cobain. Ron’s the Kentucky prophet Like John Brown, he’ll fuck them in their still wet eyes and fill their skulls with urine. That’s his outlaw poetry. Collect his piss as souvenirs, and study in it in whatever shitty university will buy it. 

 

Ron’s right here, standing, reading, spouting his revolutionary shit, outlaw shit. Let him go! Petty fucking professor says he ain’t an outlaw poet... Says he ain’t an outlaw. Define it to your class professor pig. Ron will still stand and be ready to write and ready to roll. Fuck the word outlaw. Fuck academia. Ron is beyond both. He’s our Yeats, our Pound, our Ginsberg, our Baraka. He brings his friends with him. He is a general, a meek Jesus-Muhammad- Buddha general. Love General. He is America's poet. 

Outlaw? He’ll kill you with love.

He’d rather hug your ass than put a bullet in it.

    

Denis Mahoney, Boston, Black Pig Liberation Front (last cd included NYC DJ Spooky & NYC's other best DJs & Lee Ranaldo & Thurston Moore & Mike Watt & others. Ron & Denis/Black Pig have worked/performed together for years & are looking forward to upcoming global projects/tours/performances) 

 

 

Well, while I’m here I’ll do the work — and what’s the work?

To ease the pain of living. Everything else is drunken dumbshow.

                                                                      Allen Ginsberg

  

Blurry Cars Torn From Morning

for Ron Whitehead

 

Sickness creases air in

     so many unpleasant

                    folds.  Broke

       smokestack.  Blurry

 cars torn from morning.

   Impossibly dark maps

           of the gone world. 

           When will we see

             crashes of light?

     Reach beyond arm's

                               length.

   When will we hear the

                 poets chime?!

 Embrace ecstatic.  Rise

           above burned sky

         seizure of drunken

                      dumbshow. 

      Shut up your facade

      America.  Rave your

     Muslim smile.  Chant

                  your Agnostic

            Humanistic flags.

          Untie your Armies'

        boots.  Braille your

Buddhist waves.  Ignite

     your inner-workings.

       Cosmic Christ your

               sewers' stench.

    Peace-pipe forgotten

   reservations with holy

buffalo-visions of Earth.

   Paint masterpieces of

           Judaic Mysticism;

  Hindu shrines of brave

               compassionate 

   voyage.  Into America.

           Laugh your heart

       freely.  Air looms of

                              peace.

      Evacuate tollbooths.

 Excavate sacred rights.

                    Re-live your 

         Forefathers creed!  

 Liquidate disturbances.

 Make highways High &

  freeways Free.  Invoke 

   new dynamic shrouds.

             Erect tomorrows' 

               libraries to your 

                             unborn.

  Deny red glare rockets

            to rise.  Kiss your 

    comely vacancy - The 

        space where for too 

      long (the) sword has 

        pierced (the) stone.

 

 

Russel Hulsey

AKA Jack Russel, Lost HWY

The Storm Generation 

 

“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "Awww!”     - Jack Kerouac   

 

 

Dear Professor Smock,

 

This e-mail is in regards to your "CAN A POET BE AN OUTLAW"? commentary with Ron Whitehead. I think you should read the comment section. I WROTE IT. But for your reading pleasure, I have copied and pasted it here:

 

The BEST music, poetry, art, literature, for me has been OUTSIDE the halls of prostitution, I mean, academia. In music, composers like Stockhausen, Boulez, and Luigi Nono (but to name a few) did NOT rely on academia for their paychecks. They STUCK THEIR NECKS OUT. Give me poetry of Ron Whitehead ANY DAY OF THE WEEK, but for academia? They can all be good little boys and girls and compose, write, create for their God: TENURE!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

You see, Professor Smock, I am a composer and pianist. I "learned" music from inside the walls of academia. I learned from all of the self-righteous, tenure-hungry Ph.D.'s in music. What I find funny is, *I* am the one that has CD's out on a major label. (http://www.naxoslicensingcom/performer/110173/) {this website is blank now, as NAXOS finally received my biography, photos, and music samples from the studio}. My flute concerto is available already: <span>http://numusicdirect.com/MW15.html</span> [I share this CD release with fellow living composers].

 

And yet, I hold NO POSITION IN ACADEMIA. I would not WANT TO. I quite enjoy composing what I WANT to compose, what I damn well feel like composing, and I do NOT HAVE TO BOW DOWN  to some dean or department chairman and be a good little boy and compose like they tell me.

 

I will be composer-in-residence at Western Michigan University, where I am to not only have my works performed there, but to speak to the students as to WHY I DID NOT CHOSE THE FUNERAL HOME, or, as I like to call it, THE HOUSE OF PROSTITUTION OF ACADEMIA (one must sell your body and soul to get TENURE). The faculty at W.Mich. understand my feelings about academia, which makes this all the more interesting. I am speaking at the very type of institution that I loathe. Perhaps W. Mich. has some enlightened faculty?

 

I will have a performance of a new work, "FOUR POEMS OF RON WHITEHEAD" which I set to chamber ensemble, mezzo-soprano, and a WONDERFUL child-actress who lives in Louisville, Kentucky. All this, and I don't have a job in academia. No, I do NOT come from money. I have what you might call a "day job". I write and maintain software. It pays the bills, gives me enough for my diabetes medications via health insurance, and a nice retirement. I get home VERY early, am NOT worn out from dealing with CLOSED MINDED PH.D.'s, and compose for six hours per night.

 

I do not have to beg for funding for a project ( my composition for Western Michigan calls for electronics: I paid cash, and did not have to GROVEL or spread my legs for any funding! ) and basically give the middle finger to those who preach what I am composing is wrong (yet, I get commissions for a high fee, and I have a recording contract....hmmmm.....)

 

Ron Whitehead can call himself whatever he pleases. He is a REAL POET, sticking his entire neck out for art. You, sir, on the other hand, more than likely, wrote "proper and polite poetry" for your beloved God and Creator: TENURE.

 

Yours,

 

Peter D. Pecere (Michigan/Virginia/NYC)

 

Pianist/Composer/Guitarist/and, maybe, OUTLAW MUSICIAN!

 

Yo Brother Ron this is Grrrrrrrrreat publicity for yr new releases a godsend....i can relate though i didnt pay to muchattention to it at the time shortly after Utangarðsmenn made there debut a few professors n intellectuals made an attack publicly on Bubbi´s lyrics saying they were not correct grammitically and so  on and therefor not relevant blablabla ahahahaha!!!!

We were so busy giggin...it was splashed all over the papers we didnt really react except to keep doin what we were doin ( it just seemed bizzare & rediculous to us personally )& it wound up as a big debate heavily publisized at The University of Iceland our rcds. sold like hell literally flew off the shelves and a space was opened up for thought & debate in Icelandic society the whole thing took on a Life of its Own i mean what more could ya ask for?...  when the dust settled some who started all this kinda faded under their desks and the public recognized that the musical & lyrical idiom of Rock n Roll was a Free & Wide Open Space beyond all silly rules IT WAS IS AT ITS BEST OUTLAW POETRY...Congratulations Ron the gods are smiling on you & with you...

Infinite Rockin Blessings,

Brother Michael

WhopbopaloolaBingBangBOOM!!!

Michael Dean Odin Pollock, Iceland, founding member of Utangardsmenn/Outsiders (played with The Clash/voted Iceland's Best Rock Band of 20th Century)

  <span>www.myspace.com/michaeldeanodinpollock</span>

 

<span>www.imradio.com/michaeldeanodinpollock</span>

 

<span>www.grapevine.is</span> 

 

         " Anything Can Happen Anytime "

 

 

"Can Ron Whitehead be an outlaw poet? Does Charlie Daniels play a mean fiddle?"  Michael Young, Roots n Boots DJ, Radio Louisville

 

 

 "The only way to be a true poet is to be an outlaw my friend!"

Larry Jaffe, Florida

 

 

more Testimonials, from round the world, regarding Ron Whitehead and his work:

His poetry, prose, and other writings have appeared round the world in a spectrum of journals, magazines, anthologies, newspapers, posters, CDs, cassettes, vinyl, chap-books, zines, books, literary, music, films & arts publications. Below, you will find quotes and testimonials, from folks round the world, regarding Ron and his work (plus closing poem):

 

Lawrence Ferlinghetti (City Lights, San Fransisco): "Ron Whitehead is a real visionary!"

 

Hunter S. Thompson (Colorado): "I have long admired Ron Whitehead. He is crazy as nine loons, and his poetry is a dazzling mix of folk wisdom and pure mathematics."

 

Yevgeny Yevtushenko (Russia): "Ron Whitehead is a prophet. He is one of the world's greatest poet prophets. What an inspiring honor to hear him read here at Granada Nicaragua's International Poetry Festival!"

 

Cameron Crowe & Nancy Wilson (California): "We love Ron and Sarah Whitehead's WESTERN KENTUCKY masterpiece...and Sarah Elizabeth's stunning music...Ron Whitehead is a genius...Ron and Sarah are quite the inspiring couple..."

 

David Amram (New York): "Ron Whitehead is already acknowledged by many of his Elders to be a Major Literary Figure and the epitome of the work ethic! Ron and I have collaborated, recorded and performed at major festivals and universities all over the USA and Europe. Ron Whitehead is an extraordinary motivator who inspires young people to pursue the highest standards, to work tirelessly and to celebrate the intellect by constant study of Classic Literature while remaining Creative. At 73, I continue to learn from him."

 

Blanca Castellon (Nicaragua): "Ron Whitehead was the hero of our 2009 Granada Nicaragua International Poetry Festival."

 

Casey Cyr (Connecticut): "Ron Whitehead transends even the devestatingly hard lessons of our times and speaks to the only true lessons, the eternal ones. He cuts right through the chaos that comprises our chattering thoughts. Ron Whitehead asks: Can art matter? Is it merely a gold exchange for the rich? Art IS the Holy Grail. And at the deepest primal level, everybody knows it. Only a few, like Ron Whitehead, can perceive it as clearly and communicate it while in his incarnate human being."

 

Frank Messina (New York): "Ron Whitehead is one of my closest allies. He is a man of wisdom and tolerance. Ron and I debate over political issues, and sometimes he's even right. But, in the end, we're still friends. There is only one man I want to fight along my side in the trenches of life and his name is Ron Whitehead. He is one of the last warriors left in America."

 

Carolyn Cassady (England): "I had heard people talk about Ron Whitehead for years so when I heard him read at The Ocean on the last night of the London International Poetry and Song Festival I understood why. His poems, and his reading of them, are pure genius."

 

Annalisa Papaleo (Italy): "Ron Whitehead is an alchemist of language, a magician of poetry, a King of Words...I am honored to translate his work into Italian."

 

John Rocco (New York): "In BEAVER DAM ROCKING CHAIR MARATHON: fragments of a lost text, Ron Whitehead is 'the great rememberer' and 'the great experiencer'...a scintillating portrait...a Bildungsroman...in which each memory becomes charged with his history and the embrace of his subject...capturing the memory of what Ginsberg calls 'Mortal' America...and Whitehead's new CD TAPPING MY OWN PHONE is a mercurial collection which features some of the 'fragments' that appear in the novel."

 

John Tytell (New York): "With The Declaration of Independence This Time: Selected Poems 1996-2000, Ron Whitehead has a brave powerful book and the voice to carry it."

 

Zen Master Dae Gak (Korea): "Ron Whitehead is Angry tender hearted Poet lover Who, Ripped open by life's Sharp, diamond caesarean Edge, Emerges, awake, alive, Shaking blood and tissue. Howling at the, with a shriek, Morning sun AAAAAGH!!!!!!!"

 

Theo Dorgan (Ireland): "Ron Whitehead is a one man Atlantic bridge."

 

Eimear O'Connor (Ireland): "Ron Whitehead's words travelled at high speed Along the Liffey and out into the sea...mesmerised By the motion Of emotion...Something magic Happened over the Winding Stair Above the streets, Closer to the stars."

 

Vincent McWilliams (Ireland): "Ron Whitehead's poetry is like a fast train coming."

 

David Amram (New York): "At the dawn of the 21st Century our young people have few role models of distinction and even fewer people close to their own age to look up to. Ron Whitehead gives hope to our artistic and intellectual future and gives our young people someone to look up to and emulate. Having worked with Ron many times, round the world, I can only share my amazement at his genius-level ability to organize and create memorable events that make all involved feel inspired to do their best. His own brilliance as a poet is matched by his dynamism, integrity and ability to communicate with anybody and everybody. I am honored to work with him anytime he ever needs me."

 

Lee Ranaldo (New York): "Ron Whitehead's TAPPING MY OWN PHONE is superb!"

 

Michael Pollock (Iceland): "Ron Whitehead is The World Ambassador of Poetry."

 

Karel Srp (Czeck Republic): "The ARTFORUM '98 Exhibition of Ron Whitehead's important work, both his and his work as Director of The Literary Renaissance, was a big hit and a huge success. It is very important for us to see, through poetry and art, the situation in USA and round the world. Through Ron's work we see. Now all his work is in our archives. The people of Prague can continue to see. We are proud. It is important for us. Thank YOU!"

 

Lana Witt (California): "Ron Whitehead is amazing. I've seldom known poetry to rise to the honesty, stubborness, and energy of what came charging straight at me in his CD TAPPING MY OWN PHONE."

 

Frank Messina (New York): "Listening to TAPPING MY OWN PHONE is like tapping into an oil well of inspiration; a poetic horn of plenty where the flavor of American political angst and true Kentuckian local color shoots its way straight to the soul. Ron Whitehead is at least Chaucer's equal. The BEAVER DAM ROCKING CHAIR MARATHON is a Masterpiece better than THE CANTERBURY TALES. Three cheers to Ron Whitehead!"

 

Kevin Ring (England): "Ron Whitehead explodes in a tirade aimed at pulling down all the garbage that society holds dear: rampant commercialism, couldn't care lessism. If the President thinks he's got trouble with Ms Lewinsky then he'd better watch out for Ron as he gives us the REAL AMERICA."

 

Frederick Smock (Kentucky): "BEAVER DAM ROCKING CHAIR MARATHON achieves an urgency and immediacy that is truly poetic."

 

Jordan Green (North Carolina): "Ron Whitehead is the incantatory, subversive bard of Kentucky. He is a poet with higher vision and higher frequency tuning. He has a performance style learned from his Pentecostal preacher grandfather but which also takes the best from the oral poetic style of the Beats. Ron is an energy force that encourages articulation and voice, that makes young people proud to be part of something. His voice cuts through the rough reality of his western Kentucky coal mining roots and reaches for a higher cosmic grace. Ron has produced over 400 readings and INSOMNIACATHONs and has read all over Europe and the USA. At the age of 48, with a family to support and complete commitment to his craft, Ron Whitehead will get in a car or on a plane anytime and travel anywhere he's asked to give a reading."

 

Miguel Moors (Belgium): "Ron Whitehead dissects American Society with a butcher knife."

 

Lawrence Ferlinghetti (California): "Ron Whitehead, out there in Kentucky, out there where the tall heroes used to grow, is sowing the dragon's teeth of new heroics."

 

Bob Holman (New York): "And now it was like a cyclone hit that stage - Ron Whitehead is screeding a poem with an 8-piece orchestra toodling out sounds by Jeremy Podgursky, amazing, high energy, a battle for soul!"

 

Anastasios Kozaitis (New York): "Ron Whitehead is the most engaged poetry activist in the United States of America!"

 

Al Aronowitz (New York): "An autobiographical gem that marks compassion and defiance as the touchstones of heroic myth in the coming-of-age of a young man in the western Kentucky coal fields. Ron Whitehead is one of the greatest poets of our time."

 

Paul McDonald (Indonesia): "Ron Whitehead has the gift of perceiving the divine in the ordinary. His work is always at least exciting if not magical. It is simultaneously hard-bitten, stark and urban while containing a gentle, pastoral lyricism all of which is always compelling. His work is a dharma gate that must be entered, a magnificent Zen koan where the question and answer lie hidden in the experience."

 

Rene Hendrix (The Netherlands): "William S. Burroughs and Ron Whitehead, in a series of dreams, taught me how to save the world."

 

Casey Cyr (Connecticut): "Ron Whitehead has been working so hard all his life, has climbed the equivalent of a hundred Mount Everests for poetry, music, integration, inclusion, non-specialization, LOVE and the advancement of humankind. No one else who I know has the endurance and capacity and generosity of spirit (except for David Amram who shares these qualities) to achieve what he is achieving. Ron is clearly chosen for the work that he is doing, and it is a ray of clarity and grace that shines from his being. HIS GIANT HEART IS SINGING!"

 

Jan Pankow (The Netherlands): "Ron Whitehead's poems are a magnetic field of poetry energy: encounters, viewpoints, and facts of life mingling with emotions, dreams, and visions."

 

Robert Lax (Greece): "Ron Whitehead's "Moxley and Eirene" worked its way into one of my just-before-waking dreams last night. The whole story. And yes, naturally I'm ready to endorse all he says in I Will NOT BOW DOWN, too!"

 

Douglas Brinkley (Texas): "Ron Whitehead is one of the most exciting poets in America. Poet and literary activist, he is one of the great poets of his generation."

 

Tenzin Geyche Tethong, Secretary to His Holiness The Dalai Lama (India): "Ron Whitehead, His Holiness The Dalai Lama thanks you and offers his blessing and permission for you to create a poster of his message to you which you have written in the form of a poem. I would like to express my personal appreciation to you. Your poem for of His Holiness's message is extremely powerful and moving. I am confident that it will inspire many."

 

Robert Hunter (California): "Ron Whitehead's energy and important work never fail to amaze me!"

 

Diane di Prima (California): "Ron Whitehead, Fellow traveller riding the winds of change between worlds, in the thick of the creative process, Bon voyage! I enjoyed EVE AND THE OPHIDIANS. "White Horses" is really strong!"

 

Bob Holman (New York): "Spoken word at its purest and most fulfilling. Ron's combination of full drawl, magnolia sweet and Wendell Berry's Mad Farmer's blue hot rage, vitally fashions a new post in the American ear."

 

Jim Carroll (New York): "Love, Angelic Orders, and Blessings on Ron Whitehead's good work!"

 

David Amram (New York): "There were over 300 poets and musicians. Ron Whitehead was the highlight of the New York City festival. When he read I was knocked out! I marveled at the talent he possessed! He captures the spirit of the South in his poetry!"

 

Eithne Strong (Ireland): "Ron Whitehead's dazzling energetic work, his poetry and his prose never cease to impress and astonish!"

 

Allen Ginsberg (New York): "Ron Whitehead is energetic Bodhisattvic poetic spirit! Happy to see and read so much poetry energy!"

 

Harper Tobin (Washington, D.C.): "Ron Whitehead's BEAVER DAM ROCKING CHAIR MARATHON is no cheesy nostalgia trip. Anyone familiar with Whitehead's work knows better. He gives achingly real portraits of Beaver Dam's inhabitants, offering up the disturbing as well as the beautiful, the ugly as well as the quaint. His style shifts from page to page always capturing the reader, evoking the spirit of defiance and hope that is the heart of this literary treasure...Why isn't Ron Whitehead already a household name?! His TAPPING MY OWN PHONE is a gem. Ron reads as if any breath could be his last. He captures the world in all its beauty, corruption, and potential. I cannot recommend his work highly enough!"

 

Joe Slavin (Kentucky): "Ron Whitehead is the most extraordinary teacher-scholar it has been my great good fortune to know over a career spanning thirty seven years. His success in encouraging students, to express themselves and grow as students, is unrivalled."

 

Lawrence Ferlinghetti (California): "Ce Ron Whitehead est un brave type! Il a ecrit un poem autobiographique que est epatant...sur San Francisco et un certain fer-ling-g hetti...Qui est? Ron Whitehead is Bodhisattva in Kentucky!"

 

Seamus Heaney (Ireland): "Ron Whitehead, the only begettor of all this, is here for good!"

 

Colin Cooper (England): "Ron Whitehead lives at 100 miles an hour judging from his book of poetry...like Ferlinghetti...he's a rabble rouser and wildly romantic and we need plenty of those...the book is illustrated by full colour paintings by Ferlinghetti...Fit him alongside Gary Snyder for wit and insight...certain to shake up the old guard."

 

Bob Edwards (Washington D.C.): "I LOVE Ron Whitehead's "The Coal Miner(I & II)" and "Moxley and Eirene!"

 

Denis Mahoney (Rhode Island): "These past months I have read Ron Whitehead's BLOOD FILLED VESSELS RACING TO THE HEART: Beyond Chaos is The Ocean of Consciousness several times. What a remarkable work it is! It's subtle (and not too) back and forth gestures and movements and openings and its Placement! I wish he would continue this work! This is the direction that people need to See towards, be, at least, opened to. Thank You Ron Whitehead for The Work!"

Danny O'Bryan (Kentucky): "The Great White Light, Whitehead that is, swept over The College last night with a round of passionate posey mined directly from his ever raucous life. Mentioning notables like Amiri Baraka and The Dalai Lama - illustrious heroes many of the role-model-starved students probably never heard of - the poet quickly had them under his spell. The man, who always wears his life on his sleeve for everyone to gawk at, flexed his tattoo covered arms at the scribes "I might be skinny but look at those muscles!" and spit out tales of Kentucky rocking chair competitions and wild family antics that made "Do You Want To Be A Millionaire" look life watching paint dry. Certainly all present learned an important lesson: It doesn't hurt to celebrate life in all its painful and joyful manifestations!...Ron Whitehead, a virtual P.T. Barnum of Poetry, is on a one-man crusade to change the consciousness of the world through poetry and music...Whitehead and his non-porfit organization The Literary Renaissance launched a series of multimedia INSOMNIACATHONs (Temporary Autonomous Zones): 48-hour marathons of poetry and music and art and film (all the Arts), similar to Ken Kesey and The Merry Pranksters minus the bus, attracting large audiences and worldwide attention...This led Whitehead to take his traveling magic mystery theatre on the road to New York City and New Orleans (where the TIMES-PICAYUNE named his INSOMNIACATHON 1996 "Arts Event of The Year") and The Netherlands and numerous other cities states and countries...Never one to separate art from show biz or politics (or newcomers from old-timers) Whitehead assembled an odd cast of characters for his Hunter S. Thompson "This is Your Life" Tribute which the NEW YORK TIMES called "a beautiful literary last waltz." The event included actor Johnny Depp, musician Warren Zevon, socialite Roxanne Pulitzer, historian Douglas Brinkley, world musician composer David Amram, the Sheriff of Pitkin County (Aspen), former Louisville Mayor Harvey Sloane, Hunter's Mother Virginia, his son Juan, and a host of others including a bluegrass band. Everyone at the SRO event closed out the night standing singing "My Old Kentucky Home."

 

Casey Cyr (Connecticut): "I got to know Ron Whitehead's I WILL NOT BOW DOWN: Selected Poems 1990-1995 well and from it I feel an understanding for some of what Ron has been doing in the world. The physicality of which is astonishing - but that doesn't even compare with what kind of alchemy is happening on the mental levels. Ron Whitehead is Shaman and Shamas (the candle that lights other candles) contributing to, directing, promoting, integrating, expanding, and possibly healing the consciousness of an artistic body of thought that sure does need help to go to the next level, which I believe has something to do with the heart region. And if I might prophesize, I think that Ron will be seen as one of the great poets of our generation, which I believe spans about 50 years. The kids of tomorrow's wasteland are really going to need him. Just like we need Patchen and Kerouac. Those guys changed and saved my life."

 

John Tytell (New York): "Ron Whitehead reminds me of Corso...early Yeats in the Celtic Twilight...Ferlinghetti...Ginsberg...spontaneous transcription emerging in a tumultuous rush...infused with Whitehead's belief in the magical transformations implicit in poetry, with the music of the poem serving as chant, incantation, ultimately pagan prayer...the same can be said for the poetry rants (Insomniacathons) Whitehead has been organizing around the country, non-stop marathon readings."

 

David Amram (New York): "The first time I heard Ron Whitehead read I felt what I imagine those who heard Abraham Lincoln deliver The Gettysburg Address felt."

 

Thomas Nord (Kentucky): "Ron Whitehead eats, sleeps, and breathes poetry."

 

Michael Dean Odin Pollock (Iceland): "The London International Poetry & Song Festival's response to Ron Whitehead's I WILL NOT BOW DOWN was Incredible POWERFULL it felt like a bomb hit The Ocean...people were yellin, clappin, sayin YEAH others riveted wide eyed to their seats...i stood at the back of the room up on some stairs to get an eagle eye view of this poem which I consider along with LEAVES OF GRASS by Walt Whitman and HOWL by Allen Ginsberg and THANKSGIVING PRAYER by William S. Burroughs to be one of the GREAT American poems of All Times. I WILL NOT BOW DOWN and ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER capture the voice/heart/spirit of later 20th Century and on better than anything I've heard!"

 

Nick Obis (Ohio): "Ron Whitehead, I thank you and Quincey Troupe for headlining the University of Dayton's 2nd Annual Literature Conference, 2002. Friday evening was nothing short of astounding - certainly like nothing my students had ever heard! I heard so many wonderful comments from them in the following days and weeks about all the various aspects of your performance, with your group The Viking Hillbilly Apocalypse Revue. I too can still hear the Icelandic rapping, the ambient music, and the powerful words; it was a staggering, moving experience; I don't think I have ever seen anyone, anywhere, break dance at a poetry reading! But what moved me more than the poetry and music was your patience, kindness, and understanding. I was so nervous before the festival, and so relieved by your sympathy and easygoingness. You are truly a remarkable person with a remarkable group. Thanks for teaching me to "never give up!"

 

Denis Mahoney (Rhode Island): "Ron Whitehead has the goods and is the last and forward maker of the fire breather preacher with the text written new across the starry night. I can picture him reading poems with snakes crawling out of his mouth and nostrils, like those maniacs who work the snakes for Jesus, turning to medusa flames, the fork filled flavor flick fuck tongue is two words split into a thousand pieces of black and white sand and delivered like a Sioux death chant, a new ghost dance to live and rise out of the ashes. Ron's word is poet breath, new creation out of decay, intentions are color worlds, filled with color, every tint is blow breath glass and I keep coming back to his nostrils flared like John Brown in Kansas, hard muscle break tracks, or soft glow of love he is able to bring the rage round to snake crazy snake soul sonnets to orpheus, our brother Rilke Flower-muscle that slowly opens back the anemone to another meadow-dawn, until her womb can feel the polyphonic light of the sonorous heavens pouring down is prophecy and vision blast bleak and we all stand naked against the capitalist relation that has come to encompass existance and Ron as new prophet stands against that as strong as John Brown, Rilke, just a neck down the vision ladder from our kooky Dada Queen Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven and is exactly what is needed. I give Ron the world in his breath."

 

Tom House (Nashville): "That's a wild and fierce look on the cover of Ron Whitehead's new I Will Not Bow Down CD, and that's a wild and fierce picture of him there on the inside, and that's a wild and fierce performance/production he presents. I was not prepared. Finally got back home and settled in here last night put it on and blew my head right from the start. Old favorite, "Tapping My Own Phone," the music is like the subconscious of the mind mouthing those feverish thoughts. "4th Person Singular" a favorite as well. Not sure if I've heard that one before. "Raven Hair And Turquoise" and "Comes Night And Wind" both great. The music never gets in the way of the words and, as in the very best one to me "Gimme Back My Wig," the whole becomes way more than the components, damn almost like rock and roll - and in many ways this feels as much like a "band" CD as it does a "spoken word" one. And I think Ron paces it like one. That's just something always important to me, almost like a set, and Ron is a master at that. He couldn't end it more personally, poetically, beautifully than with "You Grow Wild In My Heart." I Will Not Bow Down is definitely a masterful work and I congratulate Ron and all who perform on it. I'll be giving this guy some hardcore listening these days to come."

 

Dan Roberts (KZYX Radio, California): "TAPPING MY OWN PHONE is the most amazing CD of poetry I've heard!"

 

August Highland (California ): "Ron Whitehead is The Dalai Lama of the literary world."

 

Frank Messina (New York ): "I've seen thousands blinded by the white light, halos and fractal geometry of Ron Whitehead. I've seen tundra-demons, geothermal genies, naysayers forever turned to stone by that Kentucky 'Bone Man'. And yes, I've seen Ron Whitehead levitate over stages 3, 4 and 5,000 miles from Kentucky, held up high by coal mine spirits, red wine and Buddha at the palms of his feet."

 

Jean Ritchie (New York): "Kentucky, by Sarah Elizabethth and Ron Whitehead, is a stunning CD. Sarah and Ron both did a beautiful job."

 

Dr. Joe Slavin (Kentucky): "Kentucky, by Sarah Elizabeth & Ron Whitehead, is a stunning piece of work, beautiful in both sound and heart."

 

Tommy Gaffney (Oregon): "Spending time with Ron Whitehead a few years back changed my life.  The whole damn experience, from the wine-soaked meeting in his living room to the bourbon-infused book signing, he so graciously hosted, is still with me everyday.  Not sure how to repay him for all that.  And I appreciate the email updates on his mad adventures.  I open the ol’ yahoo account every morning hoping for more news.  What can I say, he's an inspiring man.  And I’ve been spreading the word about his work around Portland, Oregon.  In fact, I currently volunteer to host a small writers group (in my cramped little living room), and we discussed Ron's Tapping My Own Phone as our first “assignment.”  We also listened to my copies of “I Will Not Bow Down” and “The Viking Hillbilly Apocalypse Revue."  The overall theme for the session was “this is how this shit is done.”  In a word, Ron Whitehead's influence continues to cross mountain ranges that ain’t used to being shown up.  Thanks Ron for being you, my friend."

                                                                  

Casey Cyr (Connecticut): "Ron Whitehead's new CLOSING TIME CD is magical, radical inspiration, stark truth, gentle beauty. It portrays the human experience completely. The flame reflected in four generations, all together reveal the purity of oneness."

 

David Amram (New York): "Ron Whitehead's 'The Sound of Snowflakes on Christmas Eve' and 'Old Blue Got Run Over by A Coal Truck on Christmas' are right up there with Charles Dickens' A CHRISTMAS CAROL and Dylan Thomas' A CHILD'S CHRISTMAS in WALES. Not one word could/should be changed. They are classics! I have always loved Ron Whitehead's spirit and generosity as well as his work...These stories are like the late paintings of Matisse, and Richard Strauss' last art songs, where they both turned to simplicity and clarity when in their prime. Ron's stories/poems should be read at The White House, if we get a President who knows where the South is located and understands the poetry of the lives of everyday people and the beauty of family life as well as the magic of Snow in the South...Ron's work is right up there with Mark Twain...It transcends politics. His work should be read in classrooms, as children's stories, Southern Studies, poetry classes, church reading groups...His work can reach the whole world...His work is way Beyond Beat!! Ron Whitehead's work is lyrical, touching, and perfectly written AND SO REFRESHING...I'll be glad to write a Forward or Introduction to any of his books anytime... Nobody is doing what Ron Whitehead is doing, especially in his newest works...They are 100% Whitehead."

 

Dennis Kirtley (Morocco): "I am all about music. I think music. I sleep it. I eat it. It's just in me. And not just my own music - also the music of great composers. I know many symphonies by heart, great jazz compositions, note for note. As I was reading Ron Whitehead's poems last night, music was playing in my head and it wouldn't stop. It was the score of "Rhapsody in Blue" by Gershwin. The brainscreen image was that of a train, streaming forceful and unstoppable through the countryside. This is the sense Ron Whitehead's poetry and person brings to me. I thank him for being him!"

 

Gui Stuart (Kentucky): "Ron Whitehead is the greatest living writer...and he is still struggling to pay the bills so how can I hope for anything more than to write...writing is an unnatural act...but it is not any more unnatural than working in an office or talking on a cellphone...and in some strange ways it is the most natural act of all...being human feels like an unnatural act in these trying times of fascism...the absurdity of fascism is everywhere but I don't want to live like that and I sure as hell don't want to write like that...I owe Ron Whitehead more than I can ever repay...he has taught me that failure is nothing and that it is okay to fail as long as I write what I feel and know...and I'm gonna continue, just like Ron does, regardless of whether I ever get published...I'm gonna continue to test my own limits and probe my own humanity...I would love to make some money to live on and be able to start a printing press with Ron someday but that is not why I write...I write to try and redeem my own soul for myself...that is why I write...I write out of some alien innate gnostic urge to express the conflict of humanity that is in me and in all of us...that is why I write...they can't beat us...Ron Whitehead proves that every day...they can't take our souls from us...Ron Whitehead reminds us of that in his writing and in his life...they can lie and cheat and steal and even kill us but they'll never take our souls...Ron Whitehead reminds us of that in all he says and does...Ron Whitehead reminds us that no matter what happens Never Give Up."

  

Thomas Healey (Indiana): "It's always great to hear Ron Whitehead read. It's the poetic equivalent of a lava flow. The burn sears away the dross, leaving pure gold."

 

Paul K (Detroit/NYC/Kentucky): "Ron Whitehead is America's greatest living poet."

A Prayer for the Ascended Master Poet, 

Ron Whitehead 

 

by Casey Cyr (Connecticut) 

 

 

Today I pray for the ascended master poets 

born to be born to be born 

the ascended master poets 

to teach to heal to unify 

living in realization of one's purpose 

that each one will graciously accept  

the abundance clearly present in the universe 

 

that he may not suffer 

as suffering remains a lesson of the uninitiated 

and a choice by the enlightened 

 

that he may be at peace at the center of the storm 

as the true Bodhisattvaa that he is 

and receive many unlimited blessings 

but not be bound by limitations and impositions 

for he stands clearly in a lighted room 

with eyes open 

where others may or may not choose to 

open their eyes 

for the light is there, it is always on 

 

today i pray for the ascended master poet 

that he may receive the abundance of the universe in all forms 

because an ascended master knows what do to with 

money power success 

may he have any and all things that he needs 

to fulfill his purpose 

may he reach any and all persons, destinations 

may any obstacles vanish like fog lifted by sun 

 

may any fear surrounding this abundance be washed away from his human form 

 

stand before your mirror 

do not hold it tightly, do not let it break skin 

honor each cell 

breathe in love 

breathe out ascended master knowledge 

that you've been gathering for eternity 

that only you can emit 

seize your purpose and share your being fully 

breathe in abundance 

in any and all forms 

for they are yours 

stand before your mirror and say "aaaah!" 

and thank molecules spinning  

that got born 

the ascended master poet before you 

 

A Prayer for the Ascended Master Poet,

Ron Whitehead

 

Today I pray for the ascended master poets

born to be born to be born

the ascended master poets

to teach to heal to unify

living in realization of one's purpose

that each one will graciously accept 

the abundance clearly present in the universe

 

that he may not suffer

as suffering remains a lesson of the uninitiated

and a choice by the enlightened

 

that he may be at peace at the center of the storm

as the true Bodhisattvaa that he is

and receive many unlimited blessings

but not be bound by limitations and impositions

for he stands clearly in a lighted room

with eyes open

where others may or may not choose to

open their eyes

for the light is there, it is always on

 

today i pray for the ascended master poet

that he may receive the abundance of the universe in all forms

because an ascended master knows what do to with

money power success

may he have any and all things that he needs

to fulfill his purpose

may he reach any and all persons, destinations

may any obstacles vanish like fog lifted by sun

 

may any fear surrounding this abundance be washed away from his human form

 

stand before your mirror

do not hold it tightly, do not let it break skin

honor each cell

breathe in love

breathe out ascended master knowledge

that you've been gathering for eternity

that only you can emit

seize your purpose and share your being fully

breathe in abundance

in any and all forms

for they are yours

stand before your mirror and say "aaaah!"

and thank molecules spinning 

that got born

the ascended master poet before you

 

Casey Cyr

 

copyright (c) 2010 Casey Cyr

 

John Rocco (New York City): "Ron Whitehead is The Master of The Flying Guillotine." 

 

listen

 

the roaring city

is the buddah's golden speech

the waves in the distance

are the buddah's pure luminous body

how many thousands of poems

how many songs

will flow through us tonight

and when the songbird sings at dawn

we won't be able

to repeat even one word

 

ron whitehead

 

language was is and always will be an experiment

 

question everything including me, and especially your self

 

"the poet is one who stands out in the rain, hoping to be struck by lightning."

                      Ivan Arguelles 

"The adventure of the hero is the adventure of being alive."

                     Joseph Campbell

 

"All you need in life is ignorance and confidence. And then

success is sure."   Mark Twain

 

"Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation.

Be notorious. I have tried prudent planning long enough. From now on

I'll be mad." Rumi

 

"To be an artist is to fail like no other dare fail." Samuel Beckett

 

"It is in childhood that our intelligence blossoms and our minds overflow

with questions. This intense desire for knowledge is the basis of personal

growth. The more we are curious about the world and want to know how

and why things are the way they are the clearer our minds become and the

more we develop a spirit of initiative." His Holiness The Dalai Lama

 

"It is easy to keep from walking; the hard thing is to walk without touhing

the ground." Chuang Tzu

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

 

 

Ron Whitehead (w/Skate Rags cap) and Allen Ginsberg
pointing the way

front cover of Ron's book
THE THIRD TESTAMENT: Three Gospels of Peace
which includes Ron's 3 Hozomeen Press books
front cover art by David Minton

front cover of Ron's CLOSING TIME cd
photo by Jeremy Hogan

front cover of Ron Whitehead's I REFUSE cd.
photo by Christian Hansen taken at
Jim James/Sarah Elizabeth/Ron Whitehead Rud Benefit Concert

front cover of David Amram and Ron Whitehead's
KENTUCKY BLUES cd

Ron's City of Louisville Five0Two commissioned poem poster with work by 14 artists. this is 1 of 14 limited edition metal posters which Ron shot

front cover of WESTERN KENTUCKY: Lost & Forgotten, Found & Remembered book by Sarah Elizabeth & Ron Whitehead telling tale of their 325-mile backroads railroads walk from Louisville's Cherokee Park to confluence of Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. amazing life changing journey. 125 photos.

front cover of Rob Zoschke & Ron Whitehead's
REMEMBERING JACK KEROUAC'S ON THE ROAD book
front cover art by Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
book includes poems prose paintings photos by folks from round the world

front cover of Ron Whitehead's I WILL NOT BOW DOWN cd
produced by Iceland's Michael Dean Odin Pollock
front cover photo by John King

from cover of Ron Whitehead and James Walck's
THE SHAPE OF WATER cd

front cover of Ron Whitehead's award winning
BEAVER DAM ROCKING CHAIR MARATHON
includes both volumes, 3rd edition.
front cover art by Sean Mount

front cover of Frank Messina and Ron Whitehead's
WALKING HOME cd.
photo by Christian Hansen.
Frank is NY Mets Poet Laureate. his new Mets book be out April.

front cover of THE VIKING HILLBILLY APOCALYPSE REVUE cd, Ron Whitehead & Michael's band 2004 toured usa coast to coast. group included some of Iceland's and Kentucky's best.

front cover of Sarah Elizabeth and Ron Whitehead's
KENTUCKY cd

front cover of Ron Whitehead and SOUTHSIDE's 1st cd
SOUTHSIDE LOUNGE. this is beginning of SOUTHSIDE. initial members: Andy Cook, Scott Mertz, Southside Freddie Wethington, Ron Whitehead.
photo by Jen Burks

front cover of Ron Whitehead's latest book
THE WANDERER
front cover Ron @ Yosemite photo by Christian Hansen

El Ron returned briefly from deep space to present a terrible message to audience at Highland Tap Room, Bardstown Road, Louisville, Kentucky, summer 2008.
photo by Helina Berryman

Ron's dragon tattoo
by Lisa K All The Way
a few more sessions till finished.

photo by Haley Cree

Chuck Norris made the mistake of challenging Ron to pushup contest. Ron whipped his ass then Chuck started bad mouthing Ron so Ron is teaching Chuck a lesson by dangling him from a tea bag on the ceiling

"Frank Messina, Ron Whitehead, Christian Hansen, Yosemite, The Wanderer Tour, 2006"

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"the poet is one who stands out in the rain, hoping to be struck by lightning."

                      Ivan Arguelles

 

"The adventure of the hero is the adventure of being alive."

                     Joseph Campbell

 

"All you need in life is ignorance and confidence. And then

success is sure."   Mark Twain

 

"Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation.

Be notorious. I have tried prudent planning long enough. From now on

I'll be mad." Rumi

 

"To be an artist is to fail like no other dare fail." Samuel Beckett

 

"It is in childhood that our intelligence blossoms and our minds overflow

with questions. This intense desire for knowledge is the basis of personal

growth. The more we are curious about the world and want to know how

and why things are the way they are the clearer our minds become and the

more we develop a spirit of initiative." His Holiness The Dalai Lama

 

"It is easy to keep from walking; the hard thing is to walk without touhing

the ground." Chuang Tzu

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date: Fri, 17 Dec 2010 18:11:50

 

Subject: Musician Captain Beefheart dies at age 69 (one of my heroes)

 

Musician Captain Beefheart dies at age 69
Artist, whose real name is Don Van Vliet, passed away from complications of multiple sclerosis
LOS ANGELES — Don Van Vliet, better known as pioneering blues and rock musician Captain Beefheart, has died in California from complications of multiple sclerosis at age 69, a representative for the artist said on Friday.
The Michael Werner Gallery in New York, which handles Vliet's paintings, made the announcement. "Don Van Vliet will be sorely missed," the gallery's statement said.

Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band rose to prominence during the 1960s with an experimental brand of rock music that was inspired by the blues and featured offbeat rhythms and lyrics.
Their best known album is 1969's "TroutMask Replica," and while it was not a commercial hit, it won critical acclaim and is still considered among the most prominent art-rock albums ever made.
Vliet was born Jan. 15, 1941, in Glendale, Calif. As a teenager, he befriended Frank Zappa, whose own brand of experimental music became popular in the 1960s and 1970s.
Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band released their first album, "Safe as Milk," in 1967, featuring songs with titles like "Zig Zag Wanderer" and "Abba Zaba." While band members would change over the years, the group continued to crank out music through the 1970s up to 1982's "Ice Cream for Crow."
Vliet retired from music after 1982 and turned to painting, enhancing his reputation as a member of the avant-garde.
Vliet is survived by his wife of more than 40 years, Jan Van Vlie

 

 

 

"the poet is one who stands out in the rain, hoping to be struck by lightning."

                      Ivan Arguelles

 

"The adventure of the hero is the adventure of being alive."

                     Joseph Campbell

 

"All you need in life is ignorance and confidence. And then

success is sure."   Mark Twain

 

"Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation.

Be notorious. I have tried prudent planning long enough. From now on

I'll be mad." Rumi

 

"To be an artist is to fail like no other dare fail." Samuel Beckett

 

"It is in childhood that our intelligence blossoms and our minds overflow

with questions. This intense desire for knowledge is the basis of personal

growth. The more we are curious about the world and want to know how

and why things are the way they are the clearer our minds become and the

more we develop a spirit of initiative." His Holiness The Dalai Lama

 

"It is easy to keep from walking; the hard thing is to walk without touhing

the ground." Chuang Tzu

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date: Mon, 20 Dec 2010 21:11:28

 

Subject: Riding With Rebel Jesus, The Wanderer by Ron Whitehead

 

 

Riding With Rebel Jesus, The Wanderer

 (my happy holydays gift to all of you, every day is a day of the dead happy holyday especially when yer fearlessly awake enuf to live to be yer fearless life is an everchanging alchemically dragonfire crucibled river experiment an adventure into the unknown terribly beautiful mysterium tremendum mystery dream. visualize two men riding horses bareback cross the desert into the howling wind with tumbling tumbleweed rattlesnakes gila monsters tarantulas scorpions wolves outlaws peering as they gallop thru every hidden canyon riding fearlessly into the unknown accompanied by roller coaster carmen geronimo passioned today is a good day to die guitar the howling wind accompanied by beautiful haunting female singing wind. merry christmas. enjoy it. might be your last.)

 

 

holed up in Oaxaca we'd reached the end of the line

the government was against us an army waited for us outside

Jesus wasn't nervous he never was but neither was I

holed up in Oaxaca we'd reached the end of the line

 

Jesus was a wanderer wherever it was we'd been there a time or two

Bogota Buenos Aires Rio de Janeiro Machupicchu in Peru

Tucson Arizona New Orleans Louisiana Havana Cuba Mexico City

Jesus was a wanderer wherever it was we'd been there a time or two

 

riding with rebel Jesus people turned their heads and stared

who was that they asked did you see his eyes did you see his hair

Jesus the wanderer was a mystery to all

Jesus the wanderer was a mystery to me

riding with rebel Jesus people turned their heads and stared

 

how much longer can we hold out how much further can we go

we're holed up in Oaxaca with the army outside our door

looks like the journey's over our wandering days are done

how much longer can we hold out how much further can we run

 

holed up in Oaxaca we'd reached the end of the line

the government was against us an army waited for us outside

Jesus wasn't nervous he never was but neither was I

holed up in Oaxaca we'd reached the end of our time

 

Ron Whitehead

from Ron's THE WANDERER book and his I REFUSE cd

 

copyright (c) 1997 & 2010 Ron Whitehead

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

feliz navidad
muchos gracias

obrigado

ola

no expectations

you had it coming


 

"the poet is one who stands out in the rain, hoping to be struck by lightning."

                      Ivan Arguelles

 

"The adventure of the hero is the adventure of being alive."

                     Joseph Campbell

 

"All you need in life is ignorance and confidence. And then

success is sure."   Mark Twain

 

"Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation.

Be notorious. I have tried prudent planning long enough. From now on

I'll be mad." Rumi

 

"To be an artist is to fail like no other dare fail." Samuel Beckett

 

"It is in childhood that our intelligence blossoms and our minds overflow

with questions. This intense desire for knowledge is the basis of personal

growth. The more we are curious about the world and want to know how

and why things are the way they are the clearer our minds become and the

more we develop a spirit of initiative." His Holiness The Dalai Lama

 

"It is easy to keep from walking; the hard thing is to walk without touhing

the ground." Chuang Tzu

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

 

 

 

"the poet is one who stands out in the rain, hoping to be struck by lightning."

                      Ivan Arguelles

 

"The adventure of the hero is the adventure of being alive."

                     Joseph Campbell

 

"All you need in life is ignorance and confidence. And then

success is sure."   Mark Twain

 

"Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation.

Be notorious. I have tried prudent planning long enough. From now on

I'll be mad." Rumi

 

"To be an artist is to fail like no other dare fail." Samuel Beckett

 

"It is in childhood that our intelligence blossoms and our minds overflow

with questions. This intense desire for knowledge is the basis of personal

growth. The more we are curious about the world and want to know how

and why things are the way they are the clearer our minds become and the

more we develop a spirit of initiative." His Holiness The Dalai Lama

 

"It is easy to keep from walking; the hard thing is to walk without touhing

the ground." Chuang Tzu

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date: Wed, 22 Dec 2010 18:33:27

 

Subject: duel tween 2 Kentucky gentlemen/from ky to nyc & beyond/thanks Frank

 

 

 

The Legendary

RON WHITEHEAD

vs.

FREDERICK SMOCK

-a duel between gentlemen-

 

It is hereby declared that a public duel between Outlaw Poet Ron Whitehead

and Chairman of the English Department of Bellarmine University Frederick Smock

shall take place on Saturday morning,

the 26th Day of June at 10:00am in our Lord's year 2010 in Cherokee Park in the city of Louisville, Kentucky.

 

Hosted by Minister of Propaganda Bob Holman

Whiskey supplied by Viking Hillbilly Michael Dean Odin Pollock

Dean of Good Cheer: Dean "the lure" McClain

Red Wine by Desperado Dan Barth

Didgereedoo Invocation by Andy Cook

Guns amd Ammo supplied by the Estate of Hunter S. Thompson

 

Blessing of Event by His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Video Taping of Event by the Ghost of James Walck

Funded by the Kenfuckintucky Society of America

 

"the poet is one who stands out in the rain, hoping to be struck by lightning."

                      Ivan Arguelles

 

"from Kentucky...I come...from Paradise"  the bone man

 

"How is it that a woman can have multiple orgasms and still

find things to btch about."   Mark Twain

 

"He's the kind of man a woman would have to marry to get rid of."

                       Mae West

 

"A woman drove me to drink and I didn't even have the courtesy to thank her."

                        W. C. Fields

 

"Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation.

Be notorious. I have tried prudent planning long enough. From now on

I'll be mad." Rumi

 

"To be an artist is to fail like no other dare fail." Samuel Beckett"

 

"We would experience a little of the secret movements which are made

unnoticed in the remote places of the soul, the capricious disorder of

perceptions, the delicate life of fantasy held under the magnifying glass,

the wandering of these thoughts and feelings out of the blue; motionless,

trackless journeys with the brain and the heart, strange activities of the

nerves, the whispering of the blood, the pleading of the bone, the entire

unconscious life of the mind."  Knut Hamsun

 

"Of what real profit is it to us, to deprive life of all its poetry, of all its

dreams, of all its terribly beautiful mysticism, and of all its lies? What

is truth - do you know? We move forward by symbols, and we change

those symbols as we move forward...Manger Du Livre!"  the bone man

 

"It is easy to keep from walking; the hard thing is to walk without touhing

the ground." Chuang Tzu

 

Ron's newest book(20th)/cd(30th)/dvd(1st)/videos(4) THE STORM GENERATION MANIFESTO and on parting, the wilderness poems now available @ www.hollandbrownbooks.com

 

We are THE STORM GENERATION

We are THE STORM

www.tappingmyownphone.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date: Wed, 22 Dec 2010 22:10:38

Subject: Indiana's Whiskey Poet & Kentucky's Outlaw Poet headline benefit for federal detainee

 

 

For Immediate Release

December 23, 2010

 

Local Poets and Musicians Perform at Benefit for Federal Detainee

 

Benefit to help Pablo Airaldi, a permanent legal resident being held in custody during deportation hearings.

 

LOUISVILLE — December 23, 2010 — A show featuring poetry and music by a variety of local artists has been organized to spread awareness and aid in legal fees suffered by Pablo Airaldi, a legal permanent resident from Uruguay.  The benefit was organized by a friend of Mr. Airaldi, New Albany poet and writer Ian Uriel Girdley, who is slated to headline the show along with renowned Louisville poet Ron Whitehead.  The show is scheduled for Sunday, January 2, 2011 at The Nulu Black Box Chapel behind the future home of Decca Restaurant at 812 E. Market Street in the Nulu district of Louisville.  There is no cover charge to attend the show but donations are strongly suggested.  An art showing is also planned for the event, and some of the performers will also have merchandise for sale, with all donations and a portion of the proceeds from sales going directly to Mr. Airaldi’s legal fund.

Poets, Musicians, and a Little Magic

Known as Kentucky’s Outlaw Poet, Ron Whitehead will be co-headlining the benefit with Ian Uriel Girdley.  Girdley earned the nickname as “The Whiskey Poet” during his time involved in the Bloomington poetry scene, which is where he befriended Mr. Airaldi.  The headlining duo was conceived by Girdley because he thought it would be a pretty damned good idea for Indiana’s Whiskey Poet and Kentucky’s Outlaw Poet to perform on the same stage.  Mr. Whitehead was sympathetic to the cause of the benefit and seemed enthused with the pairing of headliners.

Nine poets, two musical acts and a magician have been scheduled with two to three more performers waiting to be confirmed.  Among the poets on the bill are established Louisville poets Sheri Wright (of the Green River Poets) and Sonja De Vries, and some up and coming young writers including Jimmy Besseck (founder of Writer’s Retreat at Skull Alley), June Leffler (of Goodwill Zine), Steven Michael Carr II, and Jonathan Colburn (from Bedford, IN).  The two confirmed musical acts are Louisville’s own Huh Robots and singer/songwriter Jyra out of Bloomington, IN.  Darshwood the Conjurer, one of Louisville’s premier illusionists, is also slated to perform his mix of interactive magic and comedic banter which always leaves the crowd mesmerized and smiling.

You’ve Paid Your Debt, Now Get Out

Pablo Airaldi is a twenty-eight year old permanent legal resident of the United States.  He moved to Indiana at the age of seven, lived on his own by the age of fifteen, homeless by eighteen, and now owns his own bicycle repair and reconditioning shop in Brooklyn, New York.  He is a poet, writer, and bicycle activist and enthusiast.  Not only has he overcome many hardships to build a life and business for himself, he has also had to overcome some mistakes along the way. 

Shortly after Mr. Airaldi turned eighteen, he was caught receiving stolen car parts and charged with a felony.  At the urging of his defender, without being advised to the effect on his immigration status, Airaldi accepted a plea bargain and served out two years of probation for his offense, adequately paying his debt to the State of Indiana.  After attempting to visit Canada these charges were brought up as a condition to revoke his citizenship.  Ten years after the original crime, Airaldi is attending deportation hearings to determine if he is allowed to stay in the United States or be returned to the country of his childhood.  He has kept a clean record since the charge in question and believes he deserves a second chance, as he has already shown what he can do with that chance. 

Mr. Airal