John Bennett

Subject Matter:
(a modified version of what they teach you in writing class)

Write about
what you
know or
better yet
what you
think you
see coming
around
the bend.

Doing It Over Again

If I
had it
all to
do over
again I
wouldn't.

Hack Proof

The best
thing about
writing longhand
on yellow
pads is
it's
hack proof.

The Sound of Music

Alzheimer's rubs
out all
we thought
we knew.

Only music
is beyond
its reach.

Bountiful Gifts

I'm the
only person
on the
hill today.

I'm going
to sit
here in
this splendid
silence until
the stars
come out.

 

John Bennett was for many years the driving force behind Vagabond Press which operated on the run from Munich to DC to New Orleans to San Francisco and beyond.  He’s published four novels, two novellas, five short story collections and numerous books of poetry, essays and shards, a poem/story hybrid of his own invention.

He keeps slamming out the words, if anything with more ferocity than ever. As Henry Miller said so eloquently around half a century ago, “You may as well have your say, they’re going to shit on you anyway.”