Big Hammer No. 7 | Iniquity Press
The inspiration for this Laundromat-themed issue came from David Cope’s poem As the dryers rolled. I had 3 of my own laundromat poems & figured it’d be a good idea for a collection. —David Roskos Continue reading
The inspiration for this Laundromat-themed issue came from David Cope’s poem As the dryers rolled. I had 3 of my own laundromat poems & figured it’d be a good idea for a collection. —David Roskos Continue reading
The poems, titles pages, notes from Peaces, The Result Is Always Circular, and Energy Crisis Poems are reprinted here in their entirety. Original covers and artwork are not reproduced in this volume. Title of this collection suggested by Tom Kryss. Continue reading
Matt is neither a leftist nor a reactionary neither a street poet nor an academic. He is a great American crank, in the best tradition of W.C. Fields, Groucho Marx, Charles Ives, Hugh Selby, Algren…someone truly outside the establishment, including the anti-establishment. Matt Borkowski can not be read in comfort by either the right of the left. He is an ontologist of the dispossessed, the fucked up and broken beyond all class distinctions and political lines. — Joe Weil Continue reading
“It’s after the end of the world. Don’t you know that yet?” — Sun Ra Continue reading
Thanks to the editors of the following magazines and anthologies where several of these items first appeared: Bagozine — Split Whiskey Press | Bathtub Gin — Pathwise Press | Big Hammer — Iniquity Press / Vendetta Books | Come Together: Imagining Peace — Bottom Dog Press | Green Birds Skating — Green Panda Press | Guerilla Poetics Project | Poetry Bay | The Clevelanders — Kirpan Press. Continue reading
“Inclusion is always an option.” Beth Borrus said that.
“I urge you all to make magazines.” I said that. Continue reading
REMEMBERANCES
I don’t remember the reason we sat in front of Rite Aid that night. Someone needed a prescription filled. I do remember my mom banging her paims on the steering wheel, Asking, “Why did you ever become a writer?” “I don’t know mom. it was you and dad that bought me a desk for Christmas.” “That’s because your 6th grade teacher told us you had potential to be a professional writer. Not poetry, music and that other stuff.” She was visibly angry at the situation which brought us together. We were picking up pills for her husband Bob I now remember. It was the eve of his disappearance. Entering one hospital after another. Finally – allowed to rest – we surrounded Bob with the Lord’s Prayer. Such remembrance strangely triggered by a Leonard Cohen self-portrait – A drawing of his face – left lobe opened – in which he scrawled:
I never found the girl
I never got rich
Follow me
– John Lunar Richey Continue reading
Harvey Lawrence Pekar (October 8, 1939 – July 12, 2010) was an American underground comic book writer, music critic, and media personality, best known for his autobiographical American Splendor comic series. In 2003, the series inspired a well-received film adaptation of the same name. Frequently described as the “poet laureate of Cleveland,” Pekar “helped change the appreciation for, and perceptions of, the graphic novel, the drawn memoir, the autobiographical comic narrative.” Pekar described his work as “autobiography written as it’s happening. The theme is about staying alive, getting a job, finding a mate, having a place to live, finding a creative outlet. Life is a war of attrition. You have to stay active on all fronts. It’s one thing after another. I’ve tried to control a chaotic universe. And it’s a losing battle. But I can’t let go. I’ve tried, but I can’t.” Continue reading
Some of these poems first appeared in the following publications: Anti-Lawn, Ash, Long Shot, DIONYSOS, The Journal of Literature & Addiction, Bouillabaisse, Down Town, Half Dozen of the Other, Windo Panes, Flipside, The National Alliance, Lame Duck, Lost & Found Times, HEATHENzine, Quimby, Drive-by Books, Nerve Bundle Review, Jack & Jill (Off), The Energy of the Flesh. — Thanks Editors. Continue reading
This collection includes recent writings as well as poems previously published in Rolling Stone, Big Hammer, Half Dozen of the Other, and AlieNation (Unreadable Books, 1986). Art: Khue-Tu Nguyen, 1992. Photo: Lynn Forrest, 1992. For The Past Lifetime, 1992 by John Richey. ISBN-1-877968-06-4. John Richey lives in New Jersey. He is lyricist of Lunar Bear Ensemble and word-collage, tape manipulator for Machine Gun. Continue reading