Photos and Video from Flowetry in Motion, April 23, 2022

Thanks to Morgan Paige, Zachary Wolk, The Carlson Quartet, Lifted Events, Jaja PDX, and The Haven PDX for Flowetry in Motion. What an honor it was to have been invited by my dear friend Morgan Paige to perform in this inaugural event for the collective of artists stirring things up at this magical space on SE Taylor Street in Portland. Dan Raphael and I performed near the beginning of the show, and then there were several more hours of poetry, juggling, hip hop, jazz, bellydancing, and more. What a memorable night.

I would also like to thank Morgan and Zachary for the wonderful photos and videos.

I am so grateful to have been given the opportunity to engage in my favorite activity--reading my poetry accompanied by a hot jazz band. The poems I shared during this part of the set were a suite of short pieces written for National Poetry Month in April 2020, most of which are slated to appear in Voracity, forthcoming from Igor Brezhnev's Lightship Press.

I also read a short excerpt from Beneath the Underdog by Charles Mingus to commemorate the centennial of this legendary American musician and composer. Thanks to The Carlson Quartet for their beauitful music and support.

Dan Raphael reads "Children of the Blue 
Supermarket" with The Carlson Quartet. 

Morgan Paige and Christopher Luna

Christopher Luna and Dan Raphael

Christopher Luna reads with The Carlson Quartet

Christopher Luna reads with The Carlson Quartet

Morgan Paige and Christopher Luna

Dan Raphael reads his poetry with The Carlson Quartet

Dan Raphael reads his poetry with The Carlson Quartet

Dan Raphael reads his poetry with The Carlson Quartet

Roman Norfleet and Jacque Hammond blowing our minds

Water closet selfie--much love!

Igor Brezhnev readfs his poetry with Backbeat Jazz Band

Morgan Paige and Christopher Luna

Morgan Paige and Christopher Luna

So much love for my poetry community!

Christopher Luna, Dan Raphael, and Morgan Paige

After Visions of Cody: A Poem and Collage for Jack Kerouac

I have been telling people for years that Visions of Cody is my favorite novel by Jack Kerouac, a brilliant, panoramic portrait of the American landscape that also contains pages and pages of transcribed conversations between Kerouac and his good friend Neal Cassady, both of whom were famous talkers.

In my opinion, the best poetry Kerouac produced can be found in Mexico City Blues. 

The following poem was inspired by Kerouac's life and work as well as my impressions of these two literary masterpieces.   

After Visions of Cody
Collage by Christopher Luna

After Visions of Cody

by Christopher Luna 

pages and pages of

oomp-pa-pi-dah

hip jive

& muzzy gobbledygook

 

            mid-Century mascu-line

Buddhist glossolalia

 

exophonic explorer’s

linguistic innovations

the gift of idetic recall

in panoramic

sweep across the soil

of the American landscape

 

a tale told by conquerors

conquerors’ sons

perpetrators of

genocide and

their filial beneficiaries

 

wild, joyful

not yet pickled

nor doomed

to descend

into boredom

 

not yet become

just another

reactionary

who moved back

in with Mom

 

to hide from the world

beat by capitalism

 

beatific

 

in spite of himself

 

visionary           free