* * *
—Poetry and Visuals by
B.L. Kennedy (1953-2024)
LUNA’S CAFÉ
Thursday night at Luna’s Café
I stand out front
The acoustics are better out front
I shoot the shit
With poet Frank Andrick
We talk serious art
The Cure
Patti Smith
Philip Lamantia
Artaud
Sonic Youth
Some local tries to catch
Our drift and disappears
When he catches the eye
Of some chick seated with Felicia McGee
Our discourse continues
As Kimi Julian takes to stage to read
We talk Arthur Rimbaud, Kenneth Anger
Frank has just given me some bootlegged
Copy of Lucifer Rising
Crawdad Nelson steps outside
He listens and hasn’t any idea
As to what we are talking about?
There is not that much difference between
Picasso and Godzilla
Yeah, says some dip shit seated by
The planter smoking an American Spirit
Godzilla always returns
Thursday night at Luna’s Café
I stand out front
The acoustics are better out front
I shoot the shit
With poet Frank Andrick
We talk serious art
The Cure
Patti Smith
Philip Lamantia
Artaud
Sonic Youth
Some local tries to catch
Our drift and disappears
When he catches the eye
Of some chick seated with Felicia McGee
Our discourse continues
As Kimi Julian takes to stage to read
We talk Arthur Rimbaud, Kenneth Anger
Frank has just given me some bootlegged
Copy of Lucifer Rising
Crawdad Nelson steps outside
He listens and hasn’t any idea
As to what we are talking about?
There is not that much difference between
Picasso and Godzilla
Yeah, says some dip shit seated by
The planter smoking an American Spirit
Godzilla always returns
THE WAY BASEBALL HAPPENS
Well, I guess you need a ball to throw at something
From which it will bounce and maybe
Hit something or someone
Walls are good
So are windows
You can throw balls at rocks and trees
I once threw a ball at some running
Dinglehumps and Simpooginks
Once I pick-up a dead bat
To catch some vision, hit well
Above my head, out
There far out
There in the center of the world
Where the print is tiny
Too tiny to read between your toes
So one day, I invented a game
With a belly full o' wine and giggles
I walked away
To fart!
WITHOUT TEARS
I think of Lenny Bruce
Of his sacrifice
For freedom of language
And the consistency
Of that freedom
I show my young lover
A documentary of his life
Swear to Tell the Truth
She cries
It is so unfair
The way he was treated
I think of her generation
As closed down
Closed-minded to such issues
As freedom and equal rights
Of all things which concern themselves
With language, sex, and religion
I tell her that
Lenny Bruce is my saint
How, like him, I suffered the attack
Of the censors and their mind police
How once in Davis, California
I was pulled from the stage
Under cries of pornography and
Filth talk not poetry
The host screamed as he pulled at my arm
Holding a poem set on fire
By the candle near the podium
At which I read
That is an interesting story
My young lover tells me but,
Things are different now
Young people will not look at you
With serious eyes
They only see an old man
I think of Lenny Bruce
The Social Critic and I too cry without tears
___________________
B.L. Kennedy passed away in late October of this year from a variety of health issues. Back in the Oughts, he was very involved with Rattlesnake Press; we published his Luna’s House of Words, Been Born Bronx, The Setich Manor Poems, and four interviews in the form of broadsides. He was also Interviewer-in-Residence and Reviewer-in-Residence for Rattlesnake Review. In addition to posting some of his poetry in Medusa’s Kitchen, he had a regular spot there for short reviews, called “B.L.’s Drive-Bys”.
But those were just a few of B.L.’s works, and today’s post is just a smidgin from his pen and his contributions to the Sacramento poetry scene. Here is the biography that we included in Been Born Bronx back in 2005—though I know we missed some of his achievements, such as how instrumental he was in the establishing of the annual Sacramento Poetry Day (October 26).
But those were just a few of B.L.’s works, and today’s post is just a smidgin from his pen and his contributions to the Sacramento poetry scene. Here is the biography that we included in Been Born Bronx back in 2005—though I know we missed some of his achievements, such as how instrumental he was in the establishing of the annual Sacramento Poetry Day (October 26).
About BLK
Born in the Bronx, educated at Naropa Institute on scholarship (MFA) and at CSUS (BA and two MA’s), honored in Who’s Who in America, Bari Louis Kennedy has an extensive list of credits, including numerous scholarships, grants, and awards (Danae Poetry Award, Texture Literary Award, SPC Lifetime Achievement Award, and Community Service Award from SMAC, 1989).
For the past thirty years [before this book came out], Kennedy has served the Sac. community by spearheading many poetry readings, fundraisers, and major poetry events in Colorado, Oregon, and Northern Cal., including the now-famous “World’s Longest Outdoor Poetry Reading” (1986, 1996), the annual “October in the Railroad Earth: An Annual Tribute to Jack Kerouac” (1980-2004), and the establishment of a special collection of books and other collectibles from Sacramento writers at the UCDavis Shields Library Special Collections Department.
Meanwhile, Kennedy’s poetry and art have been exhibited in locations such as the University of Colorado and have been collected into twenty-two books (such as Jim Morrison Visits Disneyland; The Eyes of the River, which was pub. by SMAC and SPC in 1989; Anatomy of Seasons; Sex Toy; and Screaming Pygmies). His work has also appeared in many journals and anthologies, such as Bombay Gin, Freethought Poetry Magazine, Steelhead Review, Cleveland Poetry, Landing Signals, and Nevada County Poetry Anthology (2004).
Born in the Bronx, educated at Naropa Institute on scholarship (MFA) and at CSUS (BA and two MA’s), honored in Who’s Who in America, Bari Louis Kennedy has an extensive list of credits, including numerous scholarships, grants, and awards (Danae Poetry Award, Texture Literary Award, SPC Lifetime Achievement Award, and Community Service Award from SMAC, 1989).
For the past thirty years [before this book came out], Kennedy has served the Sac. community by spearheading many poetry readings, fundraisers, and major poetry events in Colorado, Oregon, and Northern Cal., including the now-famous “World’s Longest Outdoor Poetry Reading” (1986, 1996), the annual “October in the Railroad Earth: An Annual Tribute to Jack Kerouac” (1980-2004), and the establishment of a special collection of books and other collectibles from Sacramento writers at the UCDavis Shields Library Special Collections Department.
Meanwhile, Kennedy’s poetry and art have been exhibited in locations such as the University of Colorado and have been collected into twenty-two books (such as Jim Morrison Visits Disneyland; The Eyes of the River, which was pub. by SMAC and SPC in 1989; Anatomy of Seasons; Sex Toy; and Screaming Pygmies). His work has also appeared in many journals and anthologies, such as Bombay Gin, Freethought Poetry Magazine, Steelhead Review, Cleveland Poetry, Landing Signals, and Nevada County Poetry Anthology (2004).
* * *
As time went on, though, and B.L.'s health problems worsened, he became less active in the community. But his contributions to Sacramento poetry are still visible and, for those who knew him and his energy, much appreciated. Rest easy, big guy. The hard part is over.
P.S. See The Sacramento Bee's article about B.L. in Sunday's paper at https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article294545764.html#campaignName=sacramento_morning_newsletter/.
_______________________
—Medusa
—Medusa
B.L. Kennedy
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