© 2017 Don Yorty. All rights reserved.
… My favorite poem by Rimbaud is innocent and sensual; and there are those who would call it repulsive. It’s all about a boy’s sexual awakening. The boy has run away from home and is now dirty but found by … Continue reading
© 2017 Don Yorty. All rights reserved.
… I was immediately drawn to Vincent Katz’s new book of poems, Southness, by the beauty of its cover, which comes from a painting by the artist Etel Adnan from a work called Untitled, 2014. Southness reminds me of paintings. … Continue reading
© 2017 Don Yorty. All rights reserved.
.. Viens sur mon coeur, âme cruelle et sourde, Tigre adoré, monstre aux airs indolents; Je veux longtemps plonger mes doigts tremblants Dans l’épaisseur de ta crinière lourde; Dans tes jupons remplis de ton parfum Ensevelir ma tête endolorie, Et … Continue reading
© 2017 Don Yorty. All rights reserved.
… I heard Cyrus Cassells read in Bryant Park a few weeks ago and afterward asked if I could record him reading some poems. Cyrus was staying in the neighborhood for a few days before he left for Spain so … Continue reading
© 2017 Don Yorty. All rights reserved.
… ……Charles Baudelaire wrote Une Charogne to his lover, Jeanne Duval, an actress and dancer, who met him when she left Haiti for France in 1842. Whether she died sooner or lived longer than the poet is in dispute, though … Continue reading
© 2017 Don Yorty. All rights reserved.
… I got on a Chinatown bus last March and went to Philly to see Marty Watt read some poems at PhilaMOCA, a great performance space in what used to be Kensington, if I remember correctly, a little northeast of … Continue reading
© 2017 Don Yorty. All rights reserved.
… I had wanted to hear Hilary Sideris read with Jeff Wright a few weeks back, but I missed that, so the next best thing was to have her come over to my place. Both of us worked for CUNY, … Continue reading
© 2017 Don Yorty. All rights reserved.
… On Sunday, May 7, I went uptown to Hudson Gardens to hear a reading by poets who had contributed to Transition: Poems in the Aftermath, poets’ reactions, writings and thoughts about the November 2016 election, from November 9th to … Continue reading
© 2017 Don Yorty. All rights reserved.
… A few Sundays ago I went uptown to Hudson Gardens, a beautiful part of Manhattan, a very intimate spot. There was a reading by poets who had contributed to Transition: Poems in the Aftermath, poets’ reactions to the November … Continue reading
© 2017 Don Yorty. All rights reserved.
… A few Sundays ago I went to Zinc Bar. I had never heard the three poets who were reading before—John Mulrooney, Laurie Price, and Sean Cole—and I wanted to hear something new. I enjoyed them all; they were worth … Continue reading
© 2017 Don Yorty. All rights reserved.
… Last Thursday I went over to Phyllis Wat and Dennis Moritz’s home on Grand Street just a few blocks east of the great (inexpensive) Chinese restaurants and markets before you get to the Bowery. I’d seen Phyllis read at … Continue reading
© 2017 Don Yorty. All rights reserved.
… I asked Kaveh Akbar if I could video him while he read at the Poetry Project and he said yes. All I had was my iPhone, but I put it to use, shooting him vertically, not horizontally because I … Continue reading