Selected poems, 1958-1984

"It is thrilling to watch the drama develop!" Allen GinsbergSo quoth one of the 20th century's most well-known poets - and not about the latest piece of manufactured pop culture suspense, be it from John Grisham or Jerry Bruckheimer, but about the poetic work of John Wieners. Wieners, unknown to so many today, was schooled at the famed Black Mountain College and, taking his cue from contemporaneous poets, focused his art on such themes as drugs, sex, and homosexuality.Considered by many to be a most undeservedly unrecognized genius, in this collection "Wieners' glory is solitary, as pure poet" (Ginsberg). Certainly, Wieners has the capacity, as great poets must, to heighten and change one's consciousness of the world; this collection brings the pains and joys of a unique man, the Weltanschauung of one who has seen more than most, to the willing reader. DAVID ASPELIN died at 16put a rifle in his mouth, and laid across his bed at night. After he held my hand on the way home and said I will be dead tomorrow.("A Poem for the Dead I Know")