foto by smith
i saw myself today on a wall up above the cash register in a book store (foto above).
the portrait to the left is Daniel Thompson, 1935 – 2004, poet laureate of cuyahoga county.
to the right is Jack Micheline, 1929 – 1998, one of the last of the beat poets.
i’m hung between the two, an early 1990s portrait.
all three drawn by Tim Herron.
just below Micheline is another Daniel Thompson by another artist.
i knew both poets.
i was one of Thompson’s many friends and many publishers for 20 years. now that Daniel’s dead, they’re starting to fashion a market to his memory, so they can sell him like they sell the other cleveland poetry saint – da levy.
my relationship to Micheline was somewhat different – he tried to move in with mom and me in 1994 and we wouldn’t let him.
anyway, i’m on the wall, and i didn’t even have to die.
tim gave me the drawing in 1993. i collaged american flag frags on it, along with a Mike Hammer book, broken mirror shard, X-Ray specs in a bag, american flag pin on a card, and a religious pamplet. when we left the country, i gave it back to him and he added the 3rd eye mandala and star shine.
i’ve no idea how it got up on Mac’s Backs book store wall. it wasn’t there when lady and i left town 15 months ago.
foto by smith