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| photo by Bob Howard |
Michael Rothenberg is the co-founder of 100 Thousand Poets for Change (www.100tpc.org), and co-founder of Poets In Need, a non-profit 501(c), assisting poets in crisis.
His most recent books of poetry include Sapodilla (Editions du Cygne-Swan World, Paris, France, 2016), Drawing The Shade (Dos Madres Press, 2016) , Wake Up and Dream (MadHat Press, 2017),The Pillars (Quaranzine Press, 2020) and I Murdered Elvis (Alien Buddha Press, 2020). A bi-lingual edition of Indefinite Detention: A Dog Story was published by Varasek Ediciones, in Madrid, Spain in 2017. In 2020, Arwiqa Publishers, Cairo, Egypt published an Arabic edition of Indefinite Detention: A Dog Story, trans. by El Habib Louai.
His editorial work includes several volumes in the Penguin Poets series: Overtime by Philip Whalen, As Ever by Joanne Kyger, David’s Copy by David Meltzer, and Way More West by Edward Dorn. Rothenberg is also editor of The Collected Poems of Philip Whalen published by Wesleyan University Press (2007).
Rothenberg currently lives on Lake Jackson in Tallahassee, Florida where he is Florida State University Libraries Poet in Residence. He frequently performs his poetry in the tradition of Jayne Cortez, Amiri Baraka, Michael McClure, and David Meltzer, with The Ecosound Ensemble, a group created by Rothenberg and composed of some of Tallahassee’s music legends. In 2020 Rothenberg and The Ecosound Ensemble released their first CD on TribalDisorder.com Records, featuring jazz and world music greats Longineu Parsons, Michael Bakan and Brian Hall.
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| City in Spain |
PRO MUSLIM
She wants to know if I am pro Muslim
Why not pro Muslim?
Of course, I am pro Muslim!
Hugely pro Muslim
Pro Muslim like my life depends upon it
And while I am at it
I am pro Jew, pro Christian,
pro Buddhist, pro Fish, pro Swan,
pro Rose, pro Daffodil, pro Biotics,
pro Sun, pro Sky, pro Moon,
pro Trout, pro Limpkin
Pro Marmalade, pro Peanut Butter,
pro Volone, pro Cheddar
and pro Poetry!
Have you a got a problem with that?
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| Panic |
OCTOBER BLUE
Airboats skim over lily pads
Zebra Longwing butterflies flutter
in orange lantana
Pine cones bounce off the roof
Spanish moss just hangs there
Key Lime Pie,
anecdote to the presidential election
If you sprinkle toasted coconut on top of it
that's not bad either
Today, I will hold my nose and vote
One California friend says,
"Drink the Kool-Aid! Drink it!”
Another California friend tells me,
"Go make Florida blue!"
Blue skies
Blue oceans
Blue Herons
Blue Hydrangeas
Blue butterflies
Blue crabs
Blue runners
Blue Stripe Garter Snakes
Bluebells and blue plumbago
Blue!
Done!
Black and blue, I voted
Who would not prefer nature over politics?
I prefer nature
over politics
any day.
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| Icicle Hill Totem |
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| Face and A Lizard |
