This node of the American Dust website (formerly Brautigan Bibliography and Archive ) provides comprehensive information about Richard Brautigan's poetry. Brautigan began his career writing poetry. Poetry was, he said, "way to get at some of the hard things in my life." Brautigan continued writing poetry throughout his life. Publication and background information is provided, along with reviews, many with full text. Use the menu tabs below to learn more.

"I love writing poetry but it's taken time, like a difficult courtship that leads to a good marriage, for us to get to know each other. I wrote poetry for seven years to learn how to write a sentence because I really wanted to write novels and I figured that I couldn't write a novel until I could write a sentence. I used poetry as a lover but I never made her my old lady. . . . I tried to write poetry that would get at some of the hard things in my life that needed talking about but those things you can only tell your old lady." — Richard Brautigan. "Old Lady." The San Francisco Poets . Edited by David Meltzer . Ballantine Books, 1971, pp. 293-294.

Richard Brautigan's poetry often turns on unconventional but vivid images powered by imagination, strange and detailed observational metaphors, humor, and satire, all presented in a seemingly simplistic, childlike manner. By his own account, this writing style was a difficult achievement.

This index provides an alphabetical listing of Richard Brautigan's known individual poem titles. If you know the poem title, select the first letter of the first word of its title. Exclude words like "A" and "The." If you do not know the poem title, discover by browsing. Click any poem title for more information about that poem.

All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace The Communication Company, 1967

Richard Brautigan published ten books of collected poetry. They are listed here, in order, first to last. First publication dates and publisher information are provided. Follow the links for more information about each.

Uncollected Poetry

Richard Brautigan published many poems individually. They were never collected. Known examples are listed here, grouped by year of their first publication, first to last. First publication dates and publisher information are provided.

1952

The Light

The Light Into the sorrow of the night

Through the valley of dark despair

Across the black sea of iniquity

Where the wind is the cry of the

suffering

There came a glorious saving light

The light of eternal peace

Jesus Christ, the King of Kings. First Published

Eugene High School News , 19 Dec. 1952, p. 5.

Published under the larger title "Poet's Nook" and the subheading "Creative Writers Express Christmas Spirit." Credit: "Richard Brautigan." Included several poems by faculty and students, as well as Brautigan. Background

The Eugene High School News was the newspaper of Brautigan's high school in Eugene, Oregon. LEARN more. This poem was possibly Brautigan's first publication and his first as "Richard Brautigan." Until his final year of high school Brautigan was known as "Porterfield," the surname of his mother's second husband, Robert Geoffrey "Tex" Porterfield. Just before his graduation, he changed his surname from "Porterfield" to "Brautigan" and used that name for the rest of his life. Allegedly, Brautigan met his biological father, Bernard Brautigan, only twice. Bernard contended, upon learning of Brautigan's death, that he never knew he had a son. LEARN more.

1953

A Cigarette Butt

A Cigarette Butt A cigarette butt is not a pretty

thing.

It is not like the towering trees,

the green meadows, or the for-

est flowers.

It is not like a gentle fawn, a

singing bird, or a hopping

rabbit.

But these are all gone now,

And in the forest's place is a

Blackened world of charred trees

and rotting flesh—

The remnants of another forrest

fire

A cigarette butt is not a pretty

thing. First Published

The Register-Guard , 24 Aug. 1953, p. 8A.

Eugene, Oregon. Credit: "Richard Brautigan"

Moonlight on a Cemetery

Moonlight on a Cemetery Moonlight drifts from over

A hundred thousand miles

To fall upon a cemetary.



It reads a hundred epitaphs

And then smiles at a nest of

Baby owls. First Published

The Northwest's Own Magazine , 11 Oct. 1953, p. 10.

Magazine of The Sunday Oregonian . Published in Portland, Oregon. Credit: "Richard Brautigan, Eugene, Or." Background

Part of a full-page feature of Oregon poets with the heading "State Recognizes Oregon Poets: Governor and mayor proclaim observance; work of local writers presented." The brief text, by Ethel Romig Fuller, Poetry Editor, The Oregonian read. BY PROCLAMATIONS [sic] of Governor Paul Patterson and Portland's Mayor Fred Peterson, Oregon Poetry Day will be observed October 15. This Sunday, as a part of an ambitious program of prescheduled events, Oregonian Verse presents local poets in a featured full-page spread. The editor regrets a number of fine poems submitted must be held over for a near-future column. The idea of Poetry Day originated with Lucia Trent, a Texas poet, as a memorial to her poet husband Ralph Cheney. By a 1952 count, 38 states had joined in the movement to honor their poets. This was Oregon's fourth observance.

Winter Sunset

Winter Sunset A slash of scarlet

On the black hair

Of a wounded bear. First Published

The Northwest's Own Magazine , 29 Nov. 1953, p. 11.

Magazine of The Sunday Oregonian . Part of "Oregonian Verse: First Publication Poetry" edited by Ethel Romig Fuller, Poetry Editor, The Oregonian . Published in Portland, Oregon. Credit: "Richard Brautigan, Eugene, Or."

The Ochoco

The Ochoco Beyond the distant blue horizon,

Far beyond the tow' ring cascades,

Lies a land of beguiling enchantment.

As serene as a summer night on the McKenzie,

As wild as a winter storm on the Pacific;

That is the land called the Ochoco,

Where the tall pine trees caress the sky.

A land of flowing streams and meadows green,

An Eldorado where cattle and trees spell prosperity.

The vastness makes a man as minute as a grain of sand.

Who can deny this land above the plateaus?

My heart is there now, thrilling to the beauty of the Ochoco. First Published

Young America Sings: 1953 Anthology of Northwest States High School Poetry . National High School Poetry Association, 1953, p. 120.

Orange paper wrappers; plastic ring binding; front cover printed in black ink. Published in Los Angeles, California. Poem is part of the "Spring Semester Selections" and appears in the "Places" section. Credit: "Richard Brautigan—Eugene, H[igh]. S[chool]." Background

Brautigan was in his final high school year at the time of publication. The Ochoco National Forest is located in north central Oregon, east of the Cascade Mountains. It was created in 1911 from parts of the Deschutes National Forest and is noted for its lakes, rivers, dense evergreen forests, and the magnificent rock formations of the Ochoco Mountains.

1954

The Ageless Ones

The Ageless Ones Dewdust

Covering flower shadows The dawn

And its prolific promises The sea

Dancing to the music

Of the moon. First Published

The Northwest's Own Magazine , 7 Feb. 1954, p. 21.

Magazine of The Sunday Oregonian . Part of "Oregonian Verse: First Publication Poetry" edited by Ethel Romig Fuller, Poetry Editor, The Oregonian . Published in Portland, Oregon. Credit: "Richard Brautigan, Eugene, Or."

1955

So Many Twilights

So Many Twilights An old woman sits

In a rocking chair

On the front porch

Of an old house.

The old woman watches

The stars turn on their

Lanterns in the clear,

Twilight sky above

The dark shadows

Of the fir trees

On the hill.

The old woman remembers

So many twilights. First Published

Northwest Roto Magazine , 29 May 1955, p. 9.

Magazine of The Sunday Oregonian . Part of "Oregonian Verse: First Publication Poetry" edited by Ethel Romig Fuller, Poetry Editor, The Oregonian . Published in Portland, Oregon. Credit: "Richard Brautigan, Eugene, Or."

First Star on the Twilight River

First Star on the Twilight River A river of twilight

Flowed over the hills

And covered the valley

With its soft, cool water.

I sat beside my little brother

On the front porch, and I

Told him a story about

A flower that fell

In love with a star.

When I finished the story,

My little brother pointed

At the first star

On the twilight river,

And he said,

"Is dat da star?" First Published

Northwest Roto Magazine , 14 Aug. 1955, p. 23.

Magazine of The Sunday Oregonian . Part of "Oregonian Verse: First Publication Poetry" edited by Ethel Romig Fuller, Poetry Editor, The Oregonian . Published in Portland, Oregon. Credit: "R. Brautigan, Eugene, Or."

Butterfly's Breath

Butterfly's Breath The moon throws

A shadow upon the night.

The shadow is as silent

As the birth of a rose,

And the shadow is as soft

As a butterfly's breath. First Published

Northwest Roto Magazine , 2 Oct. 1955, p. 14.

Magazine of The Sunday Oregonian . Part of "Oregonian Verse: First Publication Poetry" edited by Ethel Romig Fuller, Poetry Editor, The Oregonian . Published in Portland, Oregon. Credit: "Richard Brautigan, Eugene, Or."

Someplace in the World a Man is Screaming in Pain

Someplace in the World a Man is Screaming in Pain Someplace in the world

a woman is sitting

under a beautiful green tree,

and she is shelling peas,

and she is thinking only

of beautiful things,

like waterfalls or rainbows

or peas. First Published

Flame , vol. 2, no. 3, Autumn 1955, inside back cover.

Sixteen pages, green wrappers, stapled binding. Edited by Lilith Lorraine. Printed in London, England. Background

Flame was published quarterly in Alpine, Texas, 1954-1963. Poems by Lorraine and Brautigan appeared together in the first issue of Danse Macabre in 1957. Brautigan's poem was 15 Stories in One Poem.

1956

Storm over Fallon

Storm over Fallon Thunder roared

across the sky

like the voice

of an angry man. Rain started falling,

slowly at first,

then faster and faster,

and louder and louder.



The man became silent. The voices of the rain

chattered like

little children

at a birthday party. First Published

Smith, Claude, H. "Gab & Gossip." Fallon Standard , 25 July 1956, p. 6. Background

Two poems, "Storm over Fallon," and The Breeze were published in a column titled "Gab & Gossip" written by Claude H. Smith, President of The Fallon Standard , published weekly (every Wednesday) in Fallon, Nevada. As an introduction, Smith wrote.

"When it comes to poetry or other types of literature, we leave to others the appraisal of what's good. Of poetry we are quite shy. "This page, however, carries two short pieces of blank verse by a newcomer to Fallon, Richard Brautigan. They are local. We like them both. Do you?" Barney Mergen writes of Brautigan's visit to Reno and Fallon, Nevada, is his memoir "A Strange Boy." LEARN more.

The Breeze

The Breeze In the time

of the evening

all things

grow cool again

in Fallon

when God

starts caressing

this city

with

His great hands. First Published

Smith, Claude H. "Gab & Gossip." Fallon Standard , 25 July 1956, p. 6. Background

Two poems, "Storm over Fallon," and The Breeze were published in a column titled "Gab & Gossip" written by Claude H. Smith, President of The Fallon Standard , published weekly (every Wednesday) in Fallon, Nevada. As an introduction, Smith wrote.

"When it comes to poetry or other types of literature, we leave to others the appraisal of what's good. Of poetry we are quite shy. "This page, however, carries two short pieces of blank verse by a newcomer to Fallon, Richard Brautigan. They are local. We like them both. Do you?" Barney Mergen writes of Brautigan's visit to Reno and Fallon, Nevada, is his memoir "A Strange Boy." LEARN more.

The Second Kingdom

The Second Kingdom In the first kingdom

of the stars,

everything is always

half-beautiful. Your fingernails

are angels

sleeping after

a long night

of making love. The sound of

your eyes: snow

coming down

the stairs

of the wind. Your hair

is the color

of God picking

flowers. In the second

kingdom of the stars

there is only you First Published

Epos , vol. 8, no. 2, Winter 1956, p. 23. Background

A love poem inspired by Linda Webster. Epos was a post-Beat avant-garde poetry magazine published by New Athenaeum Press, Lake Como, Florida. Edited by Evelyn Thorne and Will Tullos. Provided this biographical information concerning Brautigan. "Richard Brautigan, 21, 'I have been writing poetry since I was 17. Olivant will publish my first book of poems, Tiger in the Telephone Booth . Making paper flowers out of love and death is a disease, but how beautiful it is.'" Brautigan's reference to Tiger in the Telephone Booth as his first book of poetry comes from his correspondence with D. Vincent Smith, editor of the small literary magazine Olivant . Smith maintained publication offices in Fitzgerald, Georgia, and editorial offices in Japan where he was posted on active military duty. The first issue was published in 1956. Smith wrote Brautigan in late 1955-early 1956 saying he intended to republish the poem Someplace in the World a Man is Screaming in Pain, published in the Fall 1955 issue of Flame , in the first issue of Olivant . He asked to see a selection of further writing for possible publication in a supplement to Olivant . Brautigan apparently sent Smith a selection of poems. In July 1956, Smith wrote Brautigan again, saying he intended to publish all of Brautigan's submitted poems in a collection to be titled Tiger in the Telephone Booth . The book was never published. The Return of the Rivers , published in May 1957, is considered Brautigan's first poetry book publication. The poems intended for Tiger in the Telephone Booth were "lost." Selected Reprints

Epos Anthology 1958 .

Also included works by Clark Ashton Smith ("Ecclesiastes"), A. A. Ammons, and others.

1957

A Correction

A Correction Cats walk on little cat feet

and fogs walk on little fog feet,

Carl. First Published

The Caxton Poetry Review , vol. 1, no. 2, Winter 1957, p. ***.

Published 7 January 1957. Background

The Caxton Review was a quarterly magazine edited by Albert R. Temple and Evelyn T. Browning. This was Brautigan's first professional publication after moving to San Francisco. His second was If the Wind Should Borrow Time , published in The Caxton Poetry Review , vol. 1, no. 3, Spring 1957, p. 17. Lawrence Wright says Brautigan, wanting to meet poet Ron Loewinsohn, handed him this poem, which responds to Carl Sandburg's famous poem "Fog" (Wright 34). Wright, Lawrence. "The Life and Death of Richard Brautigan." Rolling Stone , no. 445, 11 Apr. 1985, pp. 29, 31, 34, 36, 38, 40, 59, 61. Loewinshon said Brautigan handed him "a little notebook. On one page was a poem in this incredible handwriting, a six-year-old's handwriting, which was called 'A Correction' . . .. I chuckled, handed the notebook back to him, and he just walked away" (Peter Manso and Michael McClure 65).

If the Wind Should Borrow Time

If the Wind Should Borrow Time First Published

The Caxton Poetry Review , vol. 1, no. 3, Spring 1957, p. 17.

24 pages. Side-stapled into letterpress card folder. 191 x 138 mm. Pamphlet. Published 12 April 1957. 50 cents, on cover. Background

This twelve-line poem is Brautigan's second professional publication after moving to San Francisco. The first was "A Correction" , published in The Caxton Poetry Review , vol. 1, no. 2, Winter 1956. This was Brautigan's fifteenth appearance in print (at age 22), his sixth outside Oregon (and Nevada), and his fifth outside a newspaper. The Caxton Review was a quarterly magazine edited by Albert R. Temple and Evelyn T. Browning. Publisher: Caxton Press, Cincinnati, Ohio. No subsequent issues known beyond Number 3. The period July-December 1957.

A Young Poet

A Young Poet No forms have I to bring except

handkerchiefs wet with neon tears,

and pumpkin pictures of the country

where a man is closer

to the dirt of his seed. No forms have I to bring except

spidery old people

living in webby houses

and waiting to die. No forms have I to bring except

the wild birds of heaven

in all their glory. No forms have I to bring except

misanthropic merry-go-rounds,

and haunted toilets

and cups that breathe the eyes

of contented lovers. No forms have I to bring except

the colors of the soul

painted on the world. First Published

Epos , vol. 8, no. 4, Summer 1957, p. 6. Background

Epos was a post-Beat avant-garde poetry magazine published by New Athenaeum Press, Lake Como, Florida. Edited by Will Tullos and Evelyn Thorne.

The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth's Beer Bottles

The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth's Beer Bottles When we were children after the war

we lived for a year in a house next

to a large highway. There were many

sawmills and log ponds on the otherside

of the highway. The sound of the saws could

be heard most of the time and when there

was darkness trash burners glowed red

against the sky. We did not have a father

and our mother had to work very hard.

My sister and I got our spending money

by gathering beer bottles that had been

thrown along the highway or left around

the sawmills. At first we carried the

bottles in gunny sacks and cardboard boxes

but later we found an old baby buggy

and we used that to carry our bottles in.

We took the bottles to a grocery store

and were paid a penny for small beer bottles

and two cents for large ones. On almost

any day we could be seen pushing our baby

buggy along the highway looking

for beer bottles. First Published

Hedley, Leslie Woolf, editor. Four New Poets . Inferno Press, 1957, pp. 3-9.

Thirty-four pages. Printed and stapled wrappers. Published Fall 1957. Background

Brautigan refers to Psalm 37:11. He tells a slightly different version of this anecdote in So the Wind Won't Blow It All Away , pages 8-13. Four Brautigan poems were included: "The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth's Beer Bottles," "The Mortuary Bush," "Twelve Roman Soldiers and an Oatmeal Cookie," and "Gifts". This was Brautigan's first book appearance prior to his own solely authored book, The Return of the Rivers . Four New Poets featured poetry by four poets the editor described as "representing an articulate segment of a sometime-called 'silent generation'." Of Brautigan Hedley said, "Richard Brautigan is a young poet who was born January 30, 1935 in Tacoma, Washington. He now lives in San Francisco where he is working on a book of poems, The Horse That Had A Flat Tire ." The other three poets were: Martin Hoberman, Carl Larsen, and James M. Singer. At the time of publication, none of the poets were over the age of 25. Larsen edited Existaria, a Journal of Existant Hysteria , in which, in 1957, Brautigan published two poems: "The Daring Little Guy on the Burma Shave Sign" and "The World Will Never End." Inferno Press issued 6.5" x 3.5" announcements for the book, printed in blue and gold ink on one side of heavy white paper and illustrated with a gold handprint. The promotional blurb read, "This collection from the work of four young poets, all under 25, presents an interesting contrast that is most refreshing after so much orthodoxy in current American poetry." Leslie Woolf Hedley also edited a small poetry journal called Inferno . A total of eleven issues were published between 1950 and 1956. "Although Inferno did print a few significant Bay Area poets, the editorial bent seemed to be primarily international anonymity" (Eloyde Tovey 31).

The Mortuary Bush

The Mortuary Bush Mr. William Lewis is an undertaker

and he hasn't been feeling very good

lately because not enough people are

dying.



Mr. Lewis is buying a new house

and a new car and many appliances

on the installment plan and he needs

all the money he can get.



Mr. Lewis has headaches and can't

sleep at night and his wife says,

"Bill, what's wrong?" and he says,

"Oh, nothing, honey," but at night

he can't sleep.



He lies awake in bed and wishes

that more people would die. First Published

Hedley, Leslie Woolf, editor. Four New Poets . Inferno Press, 1957, pp. 3-9.

Thirty-four pages. Printed and stapled wrappers. Published Fall 1957. Four Brautigan poems were included: "The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth's Beer Bottles," "The Mortuary Bush," "Twelve Roman Soldiers and an Oatmeal Cookie," and "Gifts". This was Brautigan's first book appearance prior to his own solely authored book, The Return of the Rivers . Background

Four New Poets featured poetry by four poets the editor described as "representing an articulate segment of a sometime-called 'silent generation'." Of Brautigan Hedley said, "Richard Brautigan is a young poet who was born January 30, 1935 in Tacoma, Washington. He now lives in San Francisco where he is working on a book of poems, The Horse That Had A Flat Tire ." The other three poets were: Martin Hoberman, Carl Larsen, and James M. Singer. At the time of publication, none of the poets were over the age of 25. Larsen edited Existaria, a Journal of Existant Hysteria , in which, in 1957, Brautigan published two poems: "The Daring Little Guy on the Burma Shave Sign" and "The World Will Never End." Inferno Press, based in San Francisco, California, issued 6.5" x 3.5" announcements for the book, printed in blue and gold ink on one side of heavy white paper and illustrated with a gold handprint. The promotional blurb read, "This collection from the work of four young poets, all under 25, presents an interesting contrast that is most refreshing after so much orthodoxy in current American poetry." Leslie Woolf Hedley also edited a small poetry journal called Inferno . A total of eleven issues were published between 1950 and 1956. "Although Inferno did print a few significant Bay Area poets, the editorial bent seemed to be primarily international anonymity" (Eloyde Tovey 31). Selected Reprints

Hearse: A Vehicle Used to Convey the Dead , vol. 3, 1958, n. pg.

Included two poems by Brautigan: "The Mortuary Bush" and "Twelve Roman Soldiers and an Oatmeal Cookie." Editorial notes read,

Hearse regards Richard Brautigan, whose works appear opposite, as one of the most exciting younger poets. These two poems are from the Leslie Woolf Hedley collection, FOUR NEW POETS (Inferno Press) . . . we urge you to purchase it. Hearse was published at 3118 K. Street, Eureka, California. Seventeen issues, 1957-1972. Edited by E. V. Griffith who described his journal as ". . . an irreverant quarterly, carrying poetry, prose artwork and incidental cadaver to the Great Cemetery of the American Intellect. . . ." Included work by Kenneth Rexroth, Langston Hughes, Alden A. Nowlan, Clarence Major, and Brautigan.

Twelve Roman Soldiers and an Oatmeal Cookie

Twelve Roman Soldier and an Oatmeal Cookie While they talked

the seven-year-old girl listened quietly

and her eyes were like mice hiding

in the hay. The twelve Roman soldiers

stared at her naked body. Each one of them

had a long silver spear and it shone brightly

in the moonlight. The Roman soldiers stood

in a circle around the girl with their spears

pointed towards her. Then one of them stabbed

his silver spear in the ground and he came

slowly to the girl and he touched her with all

his body. Then the other soldiers came and

the girl did not cry. Afterwards as she walked

home she could hear a nightingale singing but

she did not know where. It seemed all around her.

When she got home her mother kissed her on the

cheek and gave her an oatmeal cookie from a

blue jar and while the girl ate the cookie

her mother told how strange and beautiful

the world was. First Published

Hedley, Leslie Woolf, editor. Four New Poets . Inferno Press, 1957, pp. 3-9.

Thirty-four pages. Printed and stapled wrappers. Published Fall 1957. Background

Four Brautigan poems were included: "The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth's Beer Bottles," "The Mortuary Bush," "Twelve Roman Soldiers and an Oatmeal Cookie," and "Gifts". This was Brautigan's first book appearance prior to his own solely authored book, The Return of the Rivers . Four New Poets featured poetry by four poets the editor described as "representing an articulate segment of a sometime-called 'silent generation'." Of Brautigan Hedley said, "Richard Brautigan is a young poet who was born January 30, 1935 in Tacoma, Washington. He now lives in San Francisco where he is working on a book of poems, The Horse That Had A Flat Tire ." The other three poets were: Martin Hoberman, Carl Larsen, and James M. Singer. At the time of publication, none of the poets were over the age of 25. Larsen edited Existaria, a Journal of Existant Hysteria , in which, in 1957, Brautigan published two poems: "The Daring Little Guy on the Burma Shave Sign" and "The World Will Never End." Inferno Press, based in San Francisco, California, issued 6.5" x 3.5" announcements for the book, printed in blue and gold ink on one side of heavy white paper and illustrated with a gold handprint. The promotional blurb read, "This collection from the work of four young poets, all under 25, presents an interesting contrast that is most refreshing after so much orthodoxy in current American poetry." Leslie Woolf Hedley also edited a small poetry journal called Inferno . A total of eleven issues were published between 1950 and 1956. "Although Inferno did print a few significant Bay Area poets, the editorial bent seemed to be primarily international anonymity" (Eloyde Tovey 31). Selected Reprints

Hearse: A Vehicle Used to Convey the Dead , vol. 3, 1958, n. pg.

Gifts

Gifts At dawn when the dew has built its tents

on the grass, will you come to my grave

and sprinkle bread crumbs

from an enchanted kitchen?

Will you remember me down there

with my eyes shattered

and my ears broken

and my tongue turned to shadows? Will you remember that I went to the graves

of many people and always knew I was buried

there? And afterwards as I walked home to where

it was warm, I did not kid myself about

a God-damn thing. Will you remember that one day

I went to your grave and you had been dead

for many years, and no one thought

about you any more,

except me? Will you remember that we are fragile gifts

from a star, and we break? Will you remember that we are pain

waiting to scream, holes

waiting to be dug, and

tears waiting to

fall? * * * And will you remember that after you have gone

from my grave, birds will come

and eat the bread? First Published

Hedley, Leslie Woolf, editor. Four New Poets . Inferno Press, 1957, pp. 3-9.

Thirty-four pages. Printed and stapled wrappers. Published Fall 1957. Background

Four Brautigan poems were included: "The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth's Beer Bottles," "The Mortuary Bush," "Twelve Roman Soldiers and an Oatmeal Cookie," and "Gifts". This was Brautigan's first book appearance prior to his own solely authored book, The Return of the Rivers . Four New Poets featured poetry by four poets the editor described as "representing an articulate segment of a sometime-called 'silent generation'." Of Brautigan Hedley said, "Richard Brautigan is a young poet who was born January 30, 1935 in Tacoma, Washington. He now lives in San Francisco where he is working on a book of poems, The Horse That Had A Flat Tire ." The other three poets were: Martin Hoberman, Carl Larsen, and James M. Singer. At the time of publication, none of the poets were over the age of 25. Larsen edited Existaria, a Journal of Existant Hysteria , in which, in 1957, Brautigan published two poems: "The Daring Little Guy on the Burma Shave Sign" and "The World Will Never End." Inferno Press, based in San Francisco, California, issued 6.5" x 3.5" announcements for the book, printed in blue and gold ink on one side of heavy white paper and illustrated with a gold handprint. The promotional blurb read, "This collection from the work of four young poets, all under 25, presents an interesting contrast that is most refreshing after so much orthodoxy in current American poetry." Leslie Woolf Hedley also edited a small poetry journal called Inferno . A total of eleven issues were published between 1950 and 1956. "Although Inferno did print a few significant Bay Area poets, the editorial bent seemed to be primarily international anonymity" (Eloyde Tovey 31).

The Final Ride

The Final Ride The act of dying

is like hitch-hiking

into a strange town

late at night

where it is cold

and raining,

and you are alone

again. Suddenly

all the street lamps

go out

and everything

becomes dark,

so dark

that even the buildings

are afraid

of one another. First Published

Mainstream , vol. 2, no. 2, Summer-Autumn 1957, p. 14.

5" x 9". 63 pages. Bound in titled, over-laid wraps.

Subtitled "A Quarterly Journal of Poetry, The Arts and Contemporary Comment." This issue labeled the "San Francisco Issue." Background

Mainstream was edited by Robin Raey Cuscaden and Ronald Offen. Published published at 17 South Cedar Street, Palatine, Illinois, by Jack R. Lander. Ceased publication with Volume 2, Number 3, Winter 1958.

The Daring Little Guy on the Burma Shave Sign

The Daring Little Guy on the Burma Shave Sign Manny is one

of those little guys

in America

who would rush in

where angels fear

to tread and start

a hot dog stand. If the business

fell through and Manny

ended up in hell,

he would accuse

the devil of being

antilabor. First Published

Existaria, a Journal of Existant Hysteria , vol. 7, Sep.-Oct. 1957, p. 14. Background

Featured two poems by Brautigan: "The Daring Little Guy on the Burma Shave Sign" and "The World Will Never End." The second stanza of "The World Will Never End" appeared in 1959 as "The Sink." Existaria, a Journal of Existant Hysteria was edited by Carl Larsen. Published at 328 Palm Drive, Hermosa Beach, California. Printed by Ottumwa Duplicating Service, Ottumwa, Iowa. Ceased publication with Volume #7, September/October 1957. Larsen was one of the poets included, along with Brautigan, in the book Four New Poets . Learn more. Also included work by O. W. Crane, Jed Garrick, Charles Bukowski, Rozana Webb, Joseph Martinek, Cerise Farallon, Fred Cogswell, E. W. Northnagel, Claudia Archuletta, Clarence Major, Apollinaire, John Charles Chadwick, Rockwell B. Schaefer, and Judson Crews. The textual reference, "rush in where angels fear to tread" is from Alexander Pope's poem "An Essay on Criticism" (1711).

The World Will Never End

The World Will Never End Death has many little children and a drunk blindman pukes on the

sidewalk and then slips in the puke

and falls down and no one will help

him because he is dirty Mr. Clay lives in a cheap hotel

room and he pees in the sink

Mr. Clay has no family or friends

If Mr. Clay dies tomorrow he'll stop

peeing in the sink. First Published

Existaria, a Journal of Existant Hysteria , vol. 7, Sep.-Oct. 1957, p. 14. Background

Featured two poems by Brautigan: "The Daring Little Guy on the Burma Shave Sign" and "The World Will Never End." The second stanza of "The World Will Never End" was published in 1959 as "The Sink." Existaria, a Journal of Existant Hysteria was edited by Carl Larsen. Published at 328 Palm Drive, Hermosa Beach, California. Printed by Ottumwa Duplicating Service, Ottumwa, Iowa. Ceased publication with Volume #7, September/October 1957. Larsen was one of the poets included, along with Brautigan, in the book Four New Poets . Learn more. Also included work by O. W. Crane, Jed Garrick, Charles Bukowski, Rozana Webb, Joseph Martinek, Cerise Farallon, Fred Cogswell, E. W. Northnagel, Claudia Archuletta, Clarence Major, Apollinaire, John Charles Chadwick, Rockwell B. Schaefer, and Judson Crews.

They Keep Coming Down the Dark Streets

They Keep Coming Down the Dark Streets Gangs

of teen-agers

carrying chains

and switchblade

knives. I saw

one of them

busted open,

blood running down his

temples. —I'll kill him!

the boy screamed.

He was about fourteen.

—I'll kill him! Another boy

carrying a chain

said—Don't worry.

We'll find him.

He'll get his.

Don't worry about

it. —I'll kill him! they keep coming down the dark streets First Published

Danse Macabre , vol. 1, no. 1, 1957, pp. 18-19. Background

Featured two poems by Brautigan: "They Keep Coming Down the Dark Streets" and "15 Stories in One Poem". Danse Macabre , Edited and published by R. T. Baylor, began publication in 1957, and was published quarterly at 653 12th Street, Manhattan Beach, California. Printed by Ottumwa Duplicating Service, Ottumwa, Iowa. This issue also featured work by Orma McCormick, Richard Dwyer, Lilith Lorraine, Judson Crews, James Boyer May, and Carl Larsen, who edited the journal Existaria, a Journal of Existant Hysteria in which Brautigan published two poems: "The Daring Little Guy on the Burma Shave Sign" and "The World Will Never End" in 1957. Larsen was also one of the poets included, along with Brautigan, in the book Four New Poets . Learn more. Lilith Lorraine edited the journal Flame in which Brautigan published the poem "Someplace in the World a Man is Screaming in Pain" in 1955.

15 Stories in One Poem

15 Stories in One Poem I hate to bother you,

but I just dropped

a baby out the window and it fell 15 stories

and splattered against

the sidewalk. May I borrow a mop? First Published

Danse Macabre , vol. 1, no. 1, 1957, pp. 18-19. Background

Featured two poems by Brautigan: "They Keep Coming Down the Dark Streets" and "15 Stories in One Poem." Danse Macabre , Edited and published by R. T. Baylor, began publication in 1957, and was published quarterly at 653 12th Street, Manhattan Beach, California. Printed by Ottumwa Duplicating Service, Ottumwa, Iowa. This issue also featured work by Orma McCormick, Richard Dwyer, Lilith Lorraine, Judson Crews, James Boyer May, and Carl Larsen, who edited the journal Existaria, a Journal of Existant Hysteria in which Brautigan published two poems: "The Daring Little Guy on the Burma Shave Sign" and "The World Will Never End" in 1957. Larsen was also one of the poets included, along with Brautigan, in the book Four New Poets . Learn more. Lilith Lorraine edited the journal Flame in which Brautigan published the poem "Someplace in the World a Man is Screaming in Pain" in 1955. Selected Reprints

Hearse: A Vehicle Used to Convey the Dead , vol. 2, 1958, inside back cover.

Published at 3118 K. Street, Eureka, California. Seventeen issues, 1957-1972. Edited by E. V. Griffith who described his journal as ". . . an irreverant quarterly, carrying poetry, prose artwork and incidental cadaver to the Great Cemetery of the American Intellect. . ." Brautigan's poem appeared under the heading "Coroner's Report," a series of annoucements by Griffith, and seemed to drive Griffith's introduction of Danse Macabre . Griffith noted "the above poem, published in the pilot issue of DANSE MACABRE, reappears here as an introduction to a spirited new magazine which merits wide readership. . . ."

1958

Kingdom Come

Kingdom Come The world

has a magic direction

in the twilight.

It is a place of spells

and visions.

Look out of the window.

Do you see the old woman

with the plum tree

on her back?

She is walking

up Hyde Street.

She appears to be lost

and I think she is crying.

A taxi

comes along.

She stops the taxi

and gets in

with the plum tree.

She is

gone now

and the evening star

shines in the sky. First Published

Epos , vol. 9, no. 3, Spring 1958, pp. 20-21.

Epos was a post-Beat avant-garde poetry magazine published by New Athenaeum Press, Lake Como, Florida. Edited by Will Tullos and Evelyn Thorne.

1959

Psalm

The Whorehouse at the Top of Mount Rainier

The Whorehouse at the Top of Mount Rainier Baudelaire

climbed to the top

of Mount Rainier,

thinking all the time

that he was going

to a whorehouse

where there would be

Eskimo women.

When Baudelaire

reached the top

of Mount Rainier

and realized where

he was

and the mistake

that he had made,

Baudelaire shit

his pants. First Published

Beatitude , vol. 1, no. 9, 9 May 1959, n. pg.

8.5" x 11" mimeographed sheets with illustrated front cover of construction paper; No back cover. Background

Also featured work by William J. Margolis, Allen Ginsberg, Bob Kaufman, Monty Pike, B. Uronovitz, Robert Stock, Dave DeSilver, Bob Hartman, Mark Green, Carol Mann, John Richardson, Pierre Henri Delattre, Lew Gardner, and Joe Gould. Beatitude was a San Francisco beatnik magazine founded by poets Bob Kaufman, John Kelly, and William J. Margolis. Issues 1-7 published weekly at 14 Bannam Alley. Issues 8 until cessation of publication at the end of the year were published monthly at the Bread and Wine Mission, 510 Greenwich Street, San Francisco, California. Selected Reprints

Beatitude Anthology . San Francisco: City Lights Books, 1960, pp. 34-36. Included five poems by Brautigan: "The American Submarine," "A Postcard from the Bridge," "That Girl," "The Whorehouse at the Top of Mount Rainer," and "Swandragons."

The American Submarine

The American Submarine ". . . I became aware of a loud and gradually increasing sound, like the moaning of a vast herd of buffaloes upon an American prairie . . ."

—Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe

was an American submarine, sailing beneath a herd of buffaloes,

he torpedoed a maelstrom, it sank slowly

into a drop of our past, and the buffaloes did not hear a sound,

they continued grazing peacefully in Nebraska. First Published

Beatitude , vol. 4, 30 May 1959.

8.5" x 11" mimeographed sheets with illustrated front cover. Background

Featured four poems by Brautigan: "The American Submarine," "A Postcard from the Bridge," "That Girl," and "The Sink." The poem "The Sink" is the second stanza of "The World Will Never End" first published in 1957. Also featured work by Bob Kaufman, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Philip Whalen, Ruth Weiss, Richard McBride, Stan Persky, and William Margolis. The quote by Edgar Allen Poe (1809-1849), American poet and short-story writer, is from his 1841 short story "A Descent into the Maelstrom." Beatitude was a San Francisco beatnik magazine founded by poets Bob Kaufman, John Kelly, and William J. Margolis. Issues 1-7 published weekly at 14 Bannam Alley. Issues 8 until cessation of publication at the end of the year were published monthly at the Bread and Wine Mission, 510 Greenwich Street, San Francisco, California. Selected Reprints

Beatitude Anthology . San Francisco: City Lights Books, 1960. 34-36. Included five poems by Brautigan: "The American Submarine," "A Postcard from the Bridge," "That Girl," "The Whorehouse at the Top of Mount Rainer," and "Swandragons."

A Postcard from the Bridge

A Postcard from the Bridge The autumn river

is cold and clear

and fish hang

in the deep water,

loving neither dreams

nor reality. The fish hang

in the deep water

and turn slowly

like the pages

in an old book

of photographs. First Published

Beatitude , vol. 4, 30 May 1959.

8.5" x 11" mimeographed sheets with illustrated front cover. Background

Featured four poems by Brautigan: "The American Submarine," "A Postcard from the Bridge," "That Girl," and "The Sink." The poem "The Sink" is the second stanza of "The World Will Never End" first published in 1957. Also featured work by Bob Kaufman, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Philip Whalen, Ruth Weiss, Richard McBride, Stan Persky, and William Margolis. Beatitude was a San Francisco beatnik magazine founded by poets Bob Kaufman, John Kelly, and William J. Margolis. Issues 1-7 published weekly at 14 Bannam Alley. Issues 8 until cessation of publication at the end of the year were published monthly at the Bread and Wine Mission, 510 Greenwich Street, San Francisco, California. Selected Reprints

Beatitude Anthology . San Francisco: City Lights Books, 1960, pp. 34-36. Included five poems by Brautigan: "The American Submarine," "A Postcard from the Bridge," "That Girl," "The Whorehouse at the Top of Mount Rainer," and "Swandragons."

That Girl

That Girl A girl

with French teeth

and dandelions

in her hair

stops

a black sportscar

beside me

on the street

and says,

Get in.

Where are

we going?

I ask.

To my place,

she answers.

We drive

through the tunnel

and go

all the way out

to 1,000,000th

Broadway. Her apartment

is nice.

There are

original Klees

and Picassos

hanging

on the walls.

She has

a thousand books

and a Hi-Fi set.

I would

make love

to you,

she says,

but I have

cement

in my vagina.

We drink

coffee

from little cups

and she reads

Apollinaire

to me

in French.

She is

very beautiful

but the dandelions

are starting

to wilt

in her hair. First Published

Beatitude , vol. 4, 30 May 1959.

8.5" x 11" mimeographed sheets with illustrated front cover. Background

Featured four poems by Brautigan: "The American Submarine," "A Postcard from the Bridge," "That Girl," and "The Sink." The poem "The Sink" is the second stanza of "The World Will Never End" first published in 1957. Also featured work by Bob Kaufman, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Philip Whalen, Ruth Weiss, Richard McBride, Stan Persky, and William Margolis. The reference to "original Klees and Picassos" is Paul Klee (1879-1940), Swiss painter, and Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), Spanish painter. "Apollinaire" refers to Guillaume Apollinaire (1880-1918), French poet, an early surrealist. Beatitude was a San Francisco beatnik magazine founded by poets Bob Kaufman, John Kelly, and William J. Margolis. Issues 1-7 published weekly at 14 Bannam Alley. Issues 8 until cessation of publication at the end of the year were published monthly at the Bread and Wine Mission, 510 Greenwich Street, San Francisco, California. Selected Reprints

Beatitude Anthology . San Francisco: City Lights Books, 1960, pp. 34-36. Included five poems by Brautigan: "The American Submarine," "A Postcard from the Bridge," "That Girl," "The Whorehouse at the Top of Mount Rainer," and "Swandragons."

The Sink

The Sink Mr. Clay lives in a cheap hotel

room and he pees in the sink

Mr. Clay has no family or friends

If Mr. Clay dies tomorrow he'll stop

peeing in the sink. First Published

Beatitude , vol. 4, 30 May 1959.

8.5" x 11" mimeographed sheets with illustrated front cover. Background

Featured four poems by Brautigan: "The American Submarine," "A Postcard from the Bridge," "That Girl," and "The Sink." Also featured work by Bob Kaufman, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Philip Whalen, Ruth Weiss, Richard McBride, Stan Persky, and William Margolis. The poem "The Sink" is the second stanza of "The World Will Never End" first published in 1957. Beatitude was a San Francisco beatnik magazine founded by poets Bob Kaufman, John Kelly, and William J. Margolis. Issues 1-7 published weekly at 14 Bannam Alley. Issues 8 until cessation of publication at the end of the year were published monthly at the Bread and Wine Mission, 510 Greenwich Street, San Francisco, California.

Swandragons

Swandragons Sometimes a man is the enemy

of his own dreams.

He is the knight the queen hates.

The queen is beautiful

and the knight is beautiful.

But the queen is married to an old king

and the young knight is religious.

He will not walk with the queen

through the royal gardens.

He will not smile at the queen.

He will not go up to her tower.

The queen hates him and she plots his death

even now as he lies asleep dreaming

of swandragons,

dreaming of God in the

sword. First Published

Beatitude vol. 9, 18 Sep. 1959.

8.5" x 11" mimeographed sheets with illustrated front cover. Background

This issue also featured work by Allen Ginsberg, Philip Whalen, David Meltzer, Bob Kaufman, William Margolis, Ron Padgett, Barbara Moraff, Richard McBride, Peter Orlovsky, and Philip Lamantia. Beatitude was a San Francisco beatnik magazine founded by poets Bob Kaufman, John Kelly, and William J. Margolis. Issues 1-7 published weekly at 14 Bannam Alley. Issues 8 until cessation of publication at the end of the year were published monthly at the Bread and Wine Mission, 510 Greenwich Street, San Francisco, California. Selected Reprints

Beatitude Anthology . San Francisco: City Lights Books, 1960, pp. 34-36.

Included five poems by Brautigan: "The American Submarine," "A Postcard from the Bridge," "That Girl," "The Whorehouse at the Top of Mount Rainer," and "Swandragons."

1961

The Rain

The Rain I was born in the junkyard.

A dead man came out of a tin shack

covered with dark roses

and said, It's going to rain.

Would you like to buy an old car

that looks just like an umbrella?

I gave the man fifty dollars.

He put some gas in the car

and I drove away.

When I looked back,

the junkyard was gone

and in its place

was a famous castle.

A beautiful woman

was standing

at the top

of the waterfall.

She had long hair

like fish.

I think she was the queen

and I was the king.

Good-bye.

Good-bye. First Published

Hearse: A Vehicle Used to Convey the Dead , vol. 9, 1961, p. 4. Background

Published at 3118 K. Street, Eureka, California. Seventeen issues, 1957-1972. Edited by E. V. Griffith who described Hearse as ". . . an irreverant quarterly, carrying poetry, prose artwork and incidental cadaver to the Great Cemetery of the American Intellect. . ."

1965

October 2, 1960

October 2, 1960 My six-month-old daughter

is lying on our

hippopotamus bed, trying

to eat the telephone book.



She'll eat it by and by

and the last number will be

MOntrse 1-2021,

the San Francisco Zoo-

logical Society. First Published

San Francisco Keeper's Voice , vol. 1, no. 4, Apr. 1965, p. 6.

8.5" x 11", eight pages Background

San Francisco Keeper's Voice featured illustrations, news, entertainment, and other information of interest to the animal keepers at the San Francisco Zoo and other interested readers. Published by Alexander Weiss, San Francisco, California. First volume appeared January 1965. Brautigan's poem appeared on the "Permanent Page of Particular Poetry." Biographical note reads

Richard Brautigan is a San Francisco poet and writer whose novel, A Confederate General from Big Sur , has recently been published by Grove Press. The textual reference to "MOntrse 1-2021" is a telephone number, part of the San Francisco telephone exchange.

Lullaby for a Lost Leek

Lullaby for a Lost Leek Which week?

Lost week. Background

Holography. Unsigned. A hand-written poem, given to Philip Whalen, in San Francisco, California, 1965. The poem remained among Whalen's papers and was cataloged by Whalen as one of several "Miscellaneous Manuscripts." Philip Whalen (1923-2002) was born in Portland, Oregon, and grew up in The Dalles, Oregon. He served in the United States Air Force during World War II and then attended Reed College, in Portland, with Gary Snyder and Lew Welch, graduating in 1951. He moved to San Francisco, California, where he participated in the San Francisco Poetry Renaissance and published regularly. He lived in Japan between 1958 and 1971 where he studied Zen Buddhism. He returned to California and became a Zen Buddhist monk in 1973. He wrote more than twenty books, including three novels.

The Carrot Caution

The Carrot Caution For Philip Whalen If an elephant has a $23 nose

in the ladies dress department with all the sales personnel

cracking up and wanting to be transferred immediately to Iceland then an ant must have a 1 cent nose

in the bargain basement. Oh, he's a carrot caution,

a real potato watcher. Richard Brautigan (signed)

July 27, 1965 Background

Typescript. Signed. Given to Philip Whalen, in San Francisco, California, 1965. The poem remained among Whalen's papers and was cataloged by Whalen as one of several "Miscellaneous Manuscripts." Philip Whalen (1923-2002) was born in Portland, Oregon, and grew up in The Dalles, Oregon. He served in the United States Air Force during World War II and then attended Reed College, in Portland, with Gary Snyder and Lew Welch, graduating in 1951. He moved to San Francisco, California, where he participated in the San Francisco Poetry Renaissance and published regularly. He lived in Japan between 1958 and 1971 where he studied Zen Buddhism. He returned to California and became a Zen Buddhist monk in 1973. He wrote more than twenty books, including three novels.

The Buses

Period Piece

1966

The Peacock Song

The Peacock Song I remember a beautiful Indian girl

sitting embarrassed on a bus in Mexico. She had no shoes and her feet were naked

like two breasts lying on the dirty floor. She tried to cover up one foot

by standing on it with the other foot. Background

Written circa 1966, possibly while Brautigan was visiting Mexico, researching for his novel The Abortion . Typed and submitted to the Communication Company for publication as a broadside but apparently never used. Brautigan's address appeared in the upper right corner of the typescript.

Richard Brautigan

2546 Geary Street

San Francisco

California

The House

The House There are days when our cat

becomes the doors and windows

of the house. To go into the bedroom

I must open a wooden cat

that has an iron mouse

in its claws, and to look out the window

at the sky I must peer

through the stomach of a cat digesting

—is it a bird? First Published

O'er , no. 2, Dec. 1966, pp. 107-109.

8.5" x 11" mimeographed sheets of different colored construction paper. 128 pages. Staple binding Background

Published in San Francisco, California, by Cranium Press.

Edited by David Sandberg.

Called variously Awwr , O'er , and Oar at different points of this issue. First issue appeared April 1966 and was titled or #1 . Featured three poems by Brautigan: "The House," "My Nose is Growing Old," and "November 3." Each poem appeared on a separate page. "My Nose is Growing Old" and "November 3" were collected in All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace . "The House" was not included in any collection. In addition to Brautigan's poems, this issue also featured a full-page advertisement for The Galilee Hitch-Hiker to be published by Oar, complete with made up blurbs promoting the book. Also included work by Jack Spicer, Lew Welch, Anselm Hollo, John Sinclair, Clark Coolidge, and others.

1967

The Sitting Here, Standing Here Poem

The Sitting Here, Standing Here Poem Ah,

sitting here in the beautiful sunny morning!

Santa Barbara, listening to

Donovan singing songs

about love, the wind and seagulls. I'm 32 but feel just like a child

I guess I'm too old now to grow old

Good! I'm alone in the house because she's asleep

in the bedroom. She's a tall slender girl

and uses up the whole bed! My sperm is singing its way

through the sky of her body

like a chorus of galaxies. I go into the bedroom to look at her.

I'm looking down at her. She's asleep.

I'm standing here writing this. Background

Written for Althea Susan Morgan in 1967. Morgan and Brautigan were friends from January-June 1967. They met in Isla Vista/Goleta, California, where Brautigan was participating in a poetry reading at the Unicorn Book Shop. Morgan lived in Santa Barbara, California, where Brautigan visited her and wrote this poem. Morgan recounts waking one morning to find the poem on her desk. Morgan copied the poem and later asked Brautigan for a signed copy. He declined in a letter to Morgan. Feedback from Susan Morgan

He [Brautigan] apparently destroyed that poem because when I asked for a copy of it the next year he couldn't find it. I had copied it off his notepad while he was in the shower without his knowing. It was written up in the mountains east of Santa Barbara while we were staying over the night with my friends the Maytags who owned the Unicorn Bookstore. Ken is a Maytag Washer heir and Melisssa is now a manager at Codys Books in Berkeley.

— Althea Susan Morgan. Email to John F. Barber, 4 December 2005. Morgan and Brautigan exchanged letters about this poem and other topics. Additionally, Brautigan wrote and dedicated the poem "Albion Breakfast" for Morgan, who recounts the poem's genesis. Erik Weber photographed Brautigan and Morgan in Brautigan's Geary Street apartment in March 1967. LEARN more.

1968

One Day Marriage Certificate

One Day Marriage Certificate One Day Marriage

Certificate

This beautiful one day

marriage is ours

for February 29, 1968

because we feel this way

toward each other and want

forever to be a single day

[blank lines for filling in names]

Marryin Sam in and for Golden Gate Park First Published

San Francisco, California: Rapid Reproductions Company, 1968

Quantity printed unknown Illustrated broadside; 8.75" x 12"; printed green ink on cream colored paper

Illustrations by The San Andreas Fault art collective

Border illustration depicts Maxfield Parrish-inspired women, one holding a banner reading "Feb. 29," another a Sadie Hawkins' Day banner, a reference to Al Capp's "Li'l Abner" comic strip holiday where on the extra day of each leap year women could pursue and propose marriage to women.

At the bottom of the broadside, almost hidden in the illustration, appears the text "Words—Richard Brautigan. Pictures —The San Andreas Fault. Printing—Rapid Reproductions Co."

1970

Your Love

Your Love Your love

Somebody else needs it

I don't. First Published

Link, Terry. "Loading Mercury With a Pitchfork." Rolling Stone , vol. 60, 11 June 1970, p. 26. Background

Brautigan read this poem at a poetry reading at the First Unitarian Church in San Francisco, 7 May 1970. Link reviewed the reading. LEARN more.

1971

A Legend of Horses

1982

Rendezvous

Rendezvous Where you are now

I will join you. First Published

Barber, John F. Richard Brautigan: An Annotated Bibliography . McFarland, 1990, p. 4. Background

Written July 1982 and burned later the same night as part of a funeral rite associated with the death of Nikki Arai, character in An Unfortunate Woman . McFarland Press is located in Jefferson, North Carolina.

1984

Night Flowing River

Night Flowing River Wearing a grey cowboy-style sort of formal Western jacket given to me by Peter Fonda's wife Becky in Montana, "You have to dress up sometimes," and on the right sleeve a borrowed black armband from Shiina Takako here in Tokyo, "This is perfectly all right." "But I don't want to offend anyone," I reply. "You won't offend anyone. This is all right." "But I'm a foreigner," I reply. "It's all right," and so then I go to my very first funeral ever. I've never been to a funeral in my land of America, and I start walking toward Aoyama Saijoh. Maybe a kilometer away.

On a very hot afternoon.

To my first funeral. . . . and then I'm

in the current of the

night flowing river

waiting to flow inside

Aoyama Saijoh

to say good-bye

to Terayama Shuji. I've never been very good

at figuring out the volume

of large groups, but

there must have been

thousands of people there,

dressed in black, flowing

inside to place a white

chrysanthemum in front

of his memory. There were so many of us

that we had to wait outside

in the hot sun before

we could go inside. I've never been to a more

quieter place than the

silence of so many people

moving like a night flowing

river. It was so quiet that

I saw a black ant

crawl under a man's shoe

in front of me. The ant crawled under the

right shoe passing between

the heel and the sole.

The funeral-black shoe

was like a midnight bridge

over the ant. Then the

ant was inbetween the man's

legs. The river of mourners had

stopped moving for a moment.

All it would have to do

would be to start moving

right now and that black ant

would be at its own funeral. Then the ant started crawling

toward the man's left shoe

with all intent to pass under

this shoe as it had done with

the right shoe. I looked up from the ant

to the head of the procession

motionless outside the funeral

home. The procession still wasn't

moving, but it was a long distance

between that man's legs

for an ant to crawl over to

and under the left shoe,

and the future itself is as

fragile and uncertain

as that ant's journey. The procession paused like

stationary black glass

just long enough for that

ant to make it under the

man's shoe and into the future,

and then the procession moved

effortlessly like a night flowing

river into Aoyama Saijoh. Good-bye, Terayama Shuji. First Published

"Yoru ni nagareru kawa." Asahi Shinbun , [Tokyo, Japan], Evening Edition, 6 June 1983, p. 5.

Translated by Shuntaro Tanikawa.

First publication in Japanese. Republished

"Richard Brautigan: Tokyo and Montana." Friends of the Washington Review of the Arts , vol. 9, no. 5, Feb./Mar. 1984, p. 9.

Featured this poem, a story titled "The Lost tree," and a photograph of Brautigan by Toby Thompson. Background

Textual references . . .

"Peter Fonda's wife Becky": American writer Tom McGuane's ex-wife, Rebecca Crockett, married American actor Peter Fonda (1939- ) in 1975.

"Aoyama Saijoh": A funeral hall in Tokyo.

"Terayama Shuji": A Japanese playwright and tanka poet, owner of the underground theater Tenjo Sajik, in Tokyo (1936-4 May 1983). Brautigan attended his funeral in Tokyo, Japan, and wrote this poem after the ceremony. Brautigan talked about his experience at Terayama Shuji's funeral at the One World Poetry Festival, in Amsterdam, in February 1984.

1989

Somehow We Live and Die Again

Somehow We Live and Die Again Somehow we live and die again,

I wonder why to me it just seems

another beginning.

Everything leads to something else, so

I think I'll start

over again.

Maybe I'll learn something new

Maybe I won't

Maybe it will just be the same

beginning again

Time goes fast

for no reason

Because it all starts

over again

I'm not going anyplace

except where I've

been before. First Published

Abbott, Keith. Downstream from Trout Fishing in America . Capra Press, 1989, p. 137.

Reflection

Reflection God, all the shit

that is going to be written

about me

after I am dead. First Published

Abbott, Keith. Downstream from Trout Fishing in America . Capra Press, 1989, p. 138. Background

Written 10 January 1984 in the Keio Plaza Hotel, Tokyo, Japan.

Death Growth

Death Growth There was a darkness

upon the darkness,

and only the death

growth

was growing. It

grew like

the darkness upon darkness

growing. First Published

Abbott, Keith. Downstream from Trout Fishing in America . Capra Press, 1989, p. 138. Background

Written 12 January 1984 in the Keio Plaza Hotel, Tokyo, Japan.

1997

Poem for Michael McClure

Poem for Michael McClure It's like playing Russian roulette

with a carnival.

You never know what act or ride

you're going to get in your ear. March 14, 1967 First Published

Ogar, Richard, editor. The Poet's Eye: A Tribute to Lawrence Ferlinghetti and City Lights Books . The Friends of the Bancroft Library, 1997, pp. 61-63. Background

This book associated with the Symposium and 49th Annual Meeting of The Friends of Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, California, 12-13 April 1996. The theme was "Ferlinghetti, City Lights Books, and the Beats in San Francisco: From the Margins to the Mainstream." Also featured a poem titled "Remembering City Lights" by Brautigan's daughter Ianthe. Poet Michael McClure and Brautigan were good friends. LEARN more. S. A. Griffith, a Los Angeles, California, poet, actor, and one of the founding members of Carma Bums, a group of touring poets, wrote a description of the event.

Rainy Gary Snyder Poetry Reading Night

Rainy Gary Snyder Poetry Reading Night For Albert and Jay Gee,

a great beautiful poetry tower!

with lights and pictures coming from it

right in the middle

of the Fillmore Auditorium,

and Gary Snyder sitting on the stage floor

reading Mountains and Rivers without End

and the lights and pictures flashing

behind him on the wall. He reads dramatically for almost two hours

the precise things of a man's life:

thousands of experiences speeded

up to no fucking around. There is a candle burning beside him

and the Fillmore is filled with flowers

and oranges. It is raining very hard outside.

Sometimes the sound of the rain

bumps up against the distant edges

of his voice. After the reading friends stay

and majestically clean up the Fillmore.

There is the putting away of chairs

and sweeping of the floor. Lew Welch goes out and gets a bottle

of vodka

and pours it into our coffee,

so now we're drinking

Russian coffee. I walk home alone up Geary Street in the rain.

Water pours down the pillar

of a pedestrian overpass.

It looks like a small waterfall

and pleases me.

I feel relaxed and see a flat

dead pigeon forming a peninsula

in the rain-driven gutter. The bird has been freshly run over

and its guts look like canned vegetables

but it doesn't bother me. I end up here in my house on Geary

lying in bed with incense burning

on the dresser,

listening to the wet // slash of car tires

on the street,

and thinking about the poetry tower

with lights and pictures

coming from it. San Francisco

March 16, 1967 First Published

Ogar, Richard, editor. The Poet's Eye: A Tribute to Lawrence Ferlinghetti and City Lights Books . The Friends of the Bancroft Library, 1997, pp. 61-63. Background

This book associated with the Symposium and 49th Annual Meeting of The Friends of Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, California, 12-13 April 1996. The theme was "Ferlinghetti, City Lights Books, and the Beats in San Francisco: From the Margins to the Mainstream." Also featured a poem titled "Remembering City Lights" by Brautigan's daughter Ianthe. Poet Michael McClure and Brautigan were good friends. LEARN more. S. A. Griffith, a Los Angeles, California, poet, actor, and one of the founding members of Carma Bums, a group of touring poets, wrote a description of the event. The reference to "Mountains and Rivers without End" " is from Six Sections from Mountains and Rivers without End, Part One (1965) by San Francisco poet Lew Welch.

2001

Desire in a Bowl of Potatoes

Desire in a Bowl of Potatoes *** text of poem *** First Published

X-Ray , no. 8, Summer 2001.

Limited edition of 100 lettered and 26 lettered and signed copies

4" x 4" letterpress broadside

Included in this issue of X-Ray and also issued separately

LEARN more at the X-Ray X-Ray Press website. Published by X-Ray Book and Novelty Company, Ventura, California, and laid into a 5" x 5" box with other items as an art assemblage. The box itself featured a letterpress wrapper. Also contained several letterpress broadsides featuring work by Hunter S. Thompson, Charles Bukowski, Dan Fante, Billy Childish, Michael Montfort, Bern Porter, Gerald Locklin, A.D. Winans, and others. Selected Reprints

Desire in a Bowl of Potatoes

2005

Pasadena, CA. X-Ray Book Company, publisher of X-Ray magazine, an innnovative magazine of art and literature edited and assembled by Johnny Brewton. LEARN more. Fourteen poems by Brautigan written 1955-1956 and submitted to The MacMillan Company. Brautigan's three-page manuscript was rejected, and returned to Edna Webster in May 1956. Apparently, Brautigan gave her address as his return address. Brautigan gave his juvenilia writings, photographs, and personal items to Webster on 3 November 1955. These writings were published as The Edna Webster Collection of Undiscovered Writings . LEARN more. This group of poems, however, was published separately, in limited hardbound and wrapper editions. Hardbound version

Limited Edition of 250 numbered copies and 26 lettered hardbound copies

First printing summer 2005

2.5" x 4.25"

Letterpress chapbook

Hard Cover; Boards covered with gold cloth; Issued without a dustjacket

Designed and printed by Johnny Brewton. LEARN more. Wrapper version

Limited Edition of 250 numbered copies and 26 lettered hardbound copies

14 pages; 2.5" x 4.25"

Letterpress chapbook

Printed wrappers; Handsewn binding

Designed and printed by Johnny Brewton Proof Copy

Printer's proof copy printed on chipboard

14 pages; 2.5" x 4.25"

Letterpress chapbook

Printed on chioboard; Handsewn binding

Designed and printed by Johnny Brewton Contents

The contents of this speciality publication in order of their appearance

"love is where you find it"

"when I was a piece of death"

"please"

"stars"

"once upon a time"

"love is not a house"

"a lion"

"linda"

"I knew a gal who was cold as death"

"come dreamers and lovers"

"desire in a bowl of potatoes"

"hey"

"the spider"

"somewhere in the world"

and a one page dedication with a dedication to "Linda" [Webster]. Of the fourteen poems included in this publication, only "stars" and "hey" were titled in the original manuscript. The titles for the remaining poems suggested here are comprised of their first line or phrase. Background

Desire in a Bowl of Potatoes was transcribed from a three-page manuscript (two pages of fourteen poems; one page with a dedication "for Linda") typed by Brautigan. Described as "an unpublished manuscript by Richard Brautigan," originally titled Linda , the manuscript was sent to The Macmillan Company who rejected it for publication in 1956, sending Brautigan the following letter. May 10, 1956 Dear Mr. Brautigan:

We appreciate your kindness in submitting for our consideration your manuscript, Linda. We have examined it carefully, but have decided that there is no place where it will fit in with our publishing plans. We are sorry, therefore, to have to return it to you without an offer. Many reasons enter into every publishing decision, and a rejection is not necessarily an indication of lack of merit. We do wish you to feel, however, that we are pleased to have been allowed to see your manuscript, which we are returning to you under separate cover. Sincerely yours,

R. L. De Wilton

Assistant Editor in Chief

The Macmillan Company Previous Publication

Only two of the poems in this group were previously published: "Please" and "Desire in A Bowl of Potatoes." Both were first published as mini-broadsides in previous X-Ray publication projects, as noted above.

2003

Please

Please please don't come and see me

when I am dead and buried

under spring and stars

and little children laughing.

please. First Published

X-Ray , no. 9, Summer 2003.

Limited edition of 100 numbered and 26 lettered and signed copies

4" x 4" letterpress broadside

Published by X-Ray Book and Novelty Company, Ventura, California, and included with a flex-disc, various small broadsides and chapbooks, photographs, and art objects in a 8.5" x 7.75" cardboard box with printed wrap-around band as an art assemblage. Included in this issue was work by Thurston Moore, Charles Bukowski, Dan Fante, Billy Childish, Michael Montfort, Bern Porter, A.D. Winans, and others. Selected Reprints

Desire in a Bowl of Potatoes

2005

Pasadena, CA. X-Ray Book Company, publisher of X-Ray magazine, an innnovative magazine of art and literature edited and assembled by Johnny Brewton. Fourteen poems by Brautigan written 1955-1956 and submitted to The MacMillan Company. Brautigan's three-page manuscript was rejected, and returned to Edna Webster in May 1956. Apparently, Brautigan gave her address as his return address. Brautigan gave his juvenilia writings, photographs, and personal items to Webster on 3 November 1955. These writings were published as The Edna Webster Collection of Undiscovered Writings . LEARN more. This group of poems, however, was published separately, in limited hardbound and wrapper editions. Hardbound version

Limited Edition chapbook; 26 lettered copies; First printing summer 2005

2.5" x 4.25"

Hard Cover; Boards covered with gold cloth; Issued without a dustjacket

Designed and printed by Johnny Brewton Wrapper version

Limited Edition chapbook; 250 numbered copies

14 pages; 2.5" x 4.25"

Letterpress chapbook

Printed wrappers; Handsewn binding

Designed and printed by Johnny Brewton Proof Copy

Printer's proof copy printed on chipboard

14 pages; 2.5" x 4.25"

Letterpress chapbook

Printed wrappers; Handsewn binding

Designed and printed by Johnny Brewton Contents

The contents of this speciality publication in order of their appearance

"love is where you find it"

"when I was a piece of death"

"please"

"stars"

"once upon a time"

"love is not a house"

"a lion"

"linda"

"I knew a gal who was cold as death"

"come dreamers and lovers"

"desire in a bowl of potatoes"

"hey"

"the spider"

"somewhere in the world"

and a one page dedication with a dedication to "Linda" [Webster]. Of the fourteen poems included in this publication, only "stars" and "hey" were titled in the original manuscript. The titles for the remaining poems suggested here are comprised of their first line or phrase. Background

Desire in a Bowl of Potatoes was transcribed from a three-page manuscript (two pages of fourteen poems; one page with a dedication "for Linda") typed by Brautigan. Described as "an unpublished manuscript by Richard Brautigan," originally titled Linda , the manuscript was sent to The Macmillan Company who rejected it for publication in 1956, sending Brautigan the following letter. May 10, 1956 Dear Mr. Brautigan:

We appreciate your kindness in submitting for our consideration your manuscript, Linda. We have examined it carefully, but have decided that there is no place where it will fit in with our publishing plans. We are sorry, therefore, to have to return it to you without an offer. Many reasons enter into every publishing decision, and a rejection is not necessarily an indication of lack of merit. We do wish you to feel, however, that we are pleased to have been allowed to see your manuscript, which we are returning to you under separate cover. Sincerely yours,

R. L. De Wilton

Assistant Editor in Chief

The Macmillan Company Previous Publication

Only two of the poems in this group were previously published: "Please" and "Desire in A Bowl of Potatoes".Both were first published as mini-broadsides in previous X-Ray publication projects, as noted above.

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