Alan Catlin


from Memories: The Berrigan Sequence

		463-

Keats was a baiter of bears.
So said Ted Berrigan. To Ron P.
In a sonnet.  A sing like Patti Smith.
When. We. Were. Just. Kids. 
Wild horses. Couldn’t. Drag. Me.
Away. Wilding. I like to beat people.
Up. The beat goes on.  Without Sonny.  




		464-

Ford Madox Ford. Wasn’t an Edsel.
He was a good soldier. Just ask
Jean Rhys. Before. After. And during
the transatlantic ménage à trois. 
The Quartet. No musical instruments
involved. Nor a singing group. Group
groping. With Frank O’Hara. At lunchtime.
And after. Asleep. On a Fire Island beach.
 



		465-

Country living as imagined in
an Ashbury art form. No bibles
needed for a Tennis Court Oath.
Nor an Infinite Jest. All you need
is a strong forehand. And a big serve.
Like Tracy Austin.  For volleys at
the Robert Frost memorial net.
Not an Olympic sport. A Green
Mountain Retreat. Bring your lunch. 
Poems.




		466-

I remember Joe Brainard. My dream of
having a drink with Henry Miller.
And a game of ping pong. With a buxom
blonde. Maybe a stripper. Not Candi Divine.
Not a Dante Canto. A Confederate General
From Big Sur. A galvanic moment in time.
For Richard Brautigan. Gary Snyder. Jack 
Kerouac. All along the watchtower. I.
Remember. Joe. B.




		467-

I can be a cowboy. And you can be a
Cow. Girl. Discussing the immutable
Code of the West. With Edward Dorn.
You old gunslinger you. Kell Robertson.
Ezra Pound. Michael Ondaatje. Never 
an English patient.  Maybe a mental
one. A Desert Solitaire. Let’s face it.
Billy Bonney was a serial killer. Not a 
hero at all. No matter who plays him.
In the movies. Like John Wayne. Like
the man who shot Jessie James. Like
Pat Garrett. Like Bobby Dylan with a knife.
Knock knocking on heaven’s door.
Let me in, whee ooh. Hello, Warren Zevon!




		468-

Having a drink with Henry Miller.
Discussing the immutable. Code.
Ford Madox Ford wasn’t an Edsel.
Asleep. On a Fire Island beach.
I remember Joe Brainard.
Like Tracy Austin. Pat Garrett.
Keats was a baiter of bears.
No musical instruments involved.
No bibles needed for a Tennis Court Oath.
He was a good solider. Like John Wayne.
Let’s face it: Billy Bonney was a serial killer.




		469-

Let’s face it: Billy Bonney was a serial killer.
He was a good soldier. Like John Wayne.
No bibles need for a Tennis Court Oath.
No musical instruments involved.
Keats was a baiter of bears.
Like Tracy Austin. Pat Garrett.
I remember Joe Brainard.
Asleep. On a Fire Island beach.
Ford Madox Ford wasn’t an Edsel.
Discussing the immutable. Code.
Having a drink with Henry Miller.

Alan Catlin is a poet, editor and wordsmith currently living in Upstate NY. Among his most recent publications is a group of poems about coming of age in the 60's, Sunshine Superman (Cyberwit) ,and The Road to Perdition (Alien Buddha), three chapbooks length collections in one book, from a series of Noir movie poems now eleven chapbooks long under the working title Hollyweird.

Collations of earlier poems from the series which the above pieces are from have appeared as two books, the first, Memories, is from Alien Buddha, and the second, Memories Too, is from Dos Madres. There's a third ready to go.

 
 

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