Poetry

Revolutionary Letters: 50th Anniversary Edition: Pocket Poets Series No. 27

Revolutionary Letters: 50th Anniversary Edition: Pocket Poets Series No. 27

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  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-10-09 19:21:09
  • Update Date：2025-09-07
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Diane di Prima
  • ISBN：0872868796
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Reviews

KC ，

I don't like a lot of poetry， but "this shit slaps" feels apt here。 I don't like a lot of poetry， but "this shit slaps" feels apt here。 。。。more

John Burroughs ，

Day 7 of 31 - #TheSealeyChallenge 2021

Peter ，

Truth be told， I read a printed 。pdf from the Anarchist Library， because this rightly should never be allowed to lapse into obscurity。 The fact that di Prima's exhortations and lamentations ring so true today can be either a source of inspiration or of hopelessness， depending on whether you are bound by linear time。 She is not， and implores us to do the same; reading this will help。 Truth be told， I read a printed 。pdf from the Anarchist Library， because this rightly should never be allowed to lapse into obscurity。 The fact that di Prima's exhortations and lamentations ring so true today can be either a source of inspiration or of hopelessness， depending on whether you are bound by linear time。 She is not， and implores us to do the same; reading this will help。 。。。more

Noémi ，

Soul-fire in the form of poetry。 Forever thankful that I was able to find and read this book。

Jerrod ，

live fire transmuted into words

Ygraine ，

let no one work for anotherexcept for love， and what you makeabove your needs be given to the tribea common-wealthnone of us knows the answers， think aboutthese thingsthe day will come when we will have to knowthe answers。attaching this article bc it came to mind Often while i was working my way through this collection ？anyway， i think a lot of this is really Good & really Galvanising， full of tender， generous， relentless questions & demands & challenges， & am taking it as an invitation to figur let no one work for anotherexcept for love， and what you makeabove your needs be given to the tribea common-wealthnone of us knows the answers， think aboutthese thingsthe day will come when we will have to knowthe answers。attaching this article bc it came to mind Often while i was working my way through this collection ？anyway， i think a lot of this is really Good & really Galvanising， full of tender， generous， relentless questions & demands & challenges， & am taking it as an invitation to figure my shit out， politically & personally。 。。。more

Mahulena ，

"ALL POWER TO JOY。 which will remake the world。" "ALL POWER TO JOY。 which will remake the world。" 。。。more

Mina-Louise ，

This is ; poetry， love， a guide， a how-to book， and advice for revolutionaries。 Written tenderly， and achingly， with hatred。

Joe ，

Some lines that were stilletos in 1966 are clown shoes in 2020 but "BLOW UP THE PIPELINES" is timeless。 So is "declare a moratorium on debt。" Admire the ferocity and conviction: "a million times a day， we are born / a million times， each breath life and death: / get up， put on your shoes， get / started， someone will finish。" The book is sold out everywhere。 Had to ILL it。 Some lines that were stilletos in 1966 are clown shoes in 2020 but "BLOW UP THE PIPELINES" is timeless。 So is "declare a moratorium on debt。" Admire the ferocity and conviction: "a million times a day， we are born / a million times， each breath life and death: / get up， put on your shoes， get / started， someone will finish。" The book is sold out everywhere。 Had to ILL it。 。。。more

Liv Lunch ，

these were very important to me this year

Robert Reinhard ，

Diane di Prima died October 25， 2020 in San Francisco。 These poems originating in the 60's but some few added as late as in the 2000's， you couldn't just label them one of the great "beat" or "protest" or "feminist"or whatever style of books or "new" since they are based in the origins of poems。 From the vantage point of the upside down conspiracy， right-wing world we live in now， her seeming radicalism is like being centrist。 also musical， beautiful， coherent。 It's sad to imagine a time without Diane di Prima died October 25， 2020 in San Francisco。 These poems originating in the 60's but some few added as late as in the 2000's， you couldn't just label them one of the great "beat" or "protest" or "feminist"or whatever style of books or "new" since they are based in the origins of poems。 From the vantage point of the upside down conspiracy， right-wing world we live in now， her seeming radicalism is like being centrist。 also musical， beautiful， coherent。 It's sad to imagine a time without such a person alive in it。 Among the late incantatory letters #93 is outstanding， written on Memorial DayRemember Sacco & VanzettiRemember HaymarketRemember John BrownRemember slave revoltsRemember MalcolmRemember Paracelsus。。。。Remember to take yr life back into yr handsIt's Memorial Day， remember what you love& do it。 Don't waitRemember life hangs by a thread --- anybody's life。。。 。。。more

Beatrice ，

required reading， finish the sentences， keep going off the page:"。。。we areendless as the sea， not separate， we diea million times a day， we are borna million times， each breath life and death :get up， put on your shoes， getstarted， someone will finish" required reading， finish the sentences， keep going off the page:"。。。we areendless as the sea， not separate， we diea million times a day， we are borna million times， each breath life and death :get up， put on your shoes， getstarted， someone will finish" 。。。more

manasa k ，

reread this bc it was FORMATIVE and im sad about diane di prima :（

Viola ，

Diane di Prima （1934-2020）Diane di Prima， famous beat poet， radical， anarchist， activist， died at age 86 on October 25， 2020。 One of the better tributes to her was an interview with her daughter， Dominique di Prima， on CBC radio in Canada:https://www。cbc。ca/radio/asithappens/。。。To get the full flavour of the interview you need to listen to it， as the transcript omits any reference to di Prima’s anarchist politics。 Here is one of di Prima’s poems， Revolutionary Letter No。 4:REVOLUTIONARY LETTER # Diane di Prima （1934-2020）Diane di Prima， famous beat poet， radical， anarchist， activist， died at age 86 on October 25， 2020。 One of the better tributes to her was an interview with her daughter， Dominique di Prima， on CBC radio in Canada:https://www。cbc。ca/radio/asithappens/。。。To get the full flavour of the interview you need to listen to it， as the transcript omits any reference to di Prima’s anarchist politics。 Here is one of di Prima’s poems， Revolutionary Letter No。 4:REVOLUTIONARY LETTER #4Left to themselves peoplegrow their hair。Left to themselves theytake off their shoe’s。Left to themselves they make lovesleep easilyshare blankets， dope & childrenthey are not lazy or afraidSource Robert Grahamhttps://robertgraham。wordpress。com/20。。。 。。。more

Brice Fuqua ，

Anarchist beat poetry， mainly from the late 1960s and early 1970s。 About as dated as poetry can be。 Revolutionary Letters is earnest， self-righteous and completely humorless。 Many of her targets were worth attacking but they are done in such a heavy handed way the poems come close to parody。 However， one can credit di Prima for being concerned with events outside her own life。 Most of the Beats were navel-gazing egotists detached from larger world events。 The great irony of this book is that man Anarchist beat poetry， mainly from the late 1960s and early 1970s。 About as dated as poetry can be。 Revolutionary Letters is earnest， self-righteous and completely humorless。 Many of her targets were worth attacking but they are done in such a heavy handed way the poems come close to parody。 However， one can credit di Prima for being concerned with events outside her own life。 Most of the Beats were navel-gazing egotists detached from larger world events。 The great irony of this book is that many of the ideas of this leftist radical are now echoed by anti-government right-wing groups。 。。。more

Kayla Randolph ，

Shocking how much is still relatable today。

Cait ，

nowhere we can go but they are waiting for usno exile where we will not hear welcome home‘goodmorning sister， let me work with yougoodmorning brother， let mefight by your side’ shared with me by a former student who stumbled across it on her own and wanted to know my thoughts。 this was wonderful， clear-headed， pragmatic poetry--reflections and instructions for the times at hand （both in 1971 and today）。 there were a few moments where it steered almost into an uncomfortable hint of ecofascism， nowhere we can go but they are waiting for usno exile where we will not hear welcome home‘goodmorning sister， let me work with yougoodmorning brother， let mefight by your side’ shared with me by a former student who stumbled across it on her own and wanted to know my thoughts。 this was wonderful， clear-headed， pragmatic poetry--reflections and instructions for the times at hand （both in 1971 and today）。 there were a few moments where it steered almost into an uncomfortable hint of ecofascism， but she explicitly and emphatically corrected course。I have copied a few of my favorites here。 if you are interested in reading the entire work （it's only 43 pages！）， please let me know and I will help connect you with the book。REVOLUTIONARY LETTER #3store water; make a point of filling your bathtubat the first news of trouble: they turned off the waterin the 4th ward for a whole day during the Newark riots;or better yet make a habitof keeping the tub clean and full when not in usechange this once a day， it should be good enoughfor washing， flushing toilets when necessaryand cooking， in a pinch， but it’s a good ideato keep some bottled water handy tooget a couple of five gallon jugs and keep them fullfor cooking//store food — dry stuff like rice and beans stores bestgoes farthest。 SALT VERY IMPORTANT: it’s health and energyhealing too， keep a couple poundssea salt around， and， because we’re spoiled， some tinstuna， etc。 to keep up morale — keep up the senseof ‘balanced diet’ ‘protein intake’ rememberthe stores may be closed for quite some time， the trucksmay not enter your section of the city for weeks， you can cool it indefinitely//with 20 lb brown rice20 lb whole wheat flour10 lb cornmeal10 lb good beans — kidney or soy5 lb sea salt2 qts good oildried fruit and nutsadd nutrients and a sense of luxuryto this diet， a squash or coconutin a cool place in your pad will keep six months。//remember we are all used to eating lessthan the ‘average American’ and take it easybefore weever notice we’re hungry the rest of the folk will be starvingused as they are to meat and fresh milk dailyand help will arrive， until the day no help arrivesand then you’re on your own。//hoard matches， we aren’t goodat rubbing sticks together any morea tinder box is useful， if you can work itdon’t count on gas stove， gas heaterelectric lightkeep hibachi and charcoal， CHARCOAL STARTER a helpkerosene lamp and candles， learn to keep warmwith breathingremember the blessed American habit of bundling REVOLUTIONARY LETTER #advocatingthe overthrow of government is a crimeoverthrowing it is something elsealtogether， it is sometimes calledrevolutionbut don’t kid yourself: governmentis not where it’s at: it’s onlya good place to start:1。 kill head of Dow Chemical2。 destroy plant3。 MAKE IT UNPROFITABLE FOR THEM to build again。i。e。， destroy the concept of moneyas we know it， get rid of interest，savings， inheritance（Pound’s money， as dated coupons that come in the mailto everyone， and are void in 30 daysis still a good idea）or， let’s start with no money at all and invent itif we need itor， mimeograph it and everyoneprint as much as they wantand see what happens//declare a moratorium on debtthe Continental Congress did‘on all debts public and private’& no one ‘owns’ the landit can be heldfor use， no man holding morethan he can work， himself and family working//let no one work for anotherexcept for love， and what you make above your needs be given to the tribea Common-Wealth//None of us knows the answers， think aboutthese things。The day will come when we have to knowthe answers。 REVOLUTIONARY LETTER #22what do you wantyour kids to learn， do you careif they know factoring， chemical formulae， theoryof numbers， equations， philosophy， semanticssymbolic logic， latin， history， socalled， which ismerely history of mind of western man， least interestingof numberless manifestations on this planet？//do you careif he learns to eat off the woods， to seta broken arm， to mendhis own clothes， cook simple food， delivera calf or baby？ if there are cars should he notbe able to keep his running？how will he learn these things， will he learn themcut off in a plaster box， encasedin a larger cement box called ‘school’ dealing with paperfrom morning till night， grinding no clay or mortar， nopigment， setting no seedlings in black earthcome spring， how will heknow to trap a rabbit， build a raft，to navigate by stars， or find safe groundto sleep on？ what is he doing all his learning yearsinside， as if the planet were no more than a vehiclefor carrying our plastic constructs around the sun REVOLUTIONARY LETTER #31（for LeRoi， at long last）not all the works of Mozart worth one human lifenot all the brocaded of the Potala palacebetter we should wear homespun， than some in orlonsome in Thailand silkthe children of Bengal weave gold thread in silk sarissix years old， eight years old， for export， they don’t singthe singers are for export， Folkways recordsbetter we should all have homemade flutesand practice excruciatingly upon them， one hundred yearstill we learn tomake our own music REVOLUTIONARY LETTER #46And as you learn the magic， learn to believe itDon’t be ‘surprised’ when it works， you undercutyour power。 。。。more

Bailey ，

favorite poetry I've ever read。 powerful thinker， incredible woman favorite poetry I've ever read。 powerful thinker， incredible woman 。。。more

Vivienne DiFiore ，

What to say。。。what to say。Anything in prose seems lacking。I spent a lot of time with this book of poems。 I had been seeing references to it all over。 I don't even remember hearing about it before this year。This text feels uncannily close to us。 And by us I mean those of you who know what I mean when I say us。 Even the shorthand use of "yr" and "wd" is strikingly similar to how I txt。 Let alone the nuances of the pieces revolutionary inclinations。 The troublings， the poetics， the practicalities。T What to say。。。what to say。Anything in prose seems lacking。I spent a lot of time with this book of poems。 I had been seeing references to it all over。 I don't even remember hearing about it before this year。This text feels uncannily close to us。 And by us I mean those of you who know what I mean when I say us。 Even the shorthand use of "yr" and "wd" is strikingly similar to how I txt。 Let alone the nuances of the pieces revolutionary inclinations。 The troublings， the poetics， the practicalities。The name drops had me welling up in the first pages。 This may be magical thinking， but it's as if this was the best time in my life to read this。 At no other point would it have resonated as well。 A rekindling of affinity for the magical and the poetic coupled with all sorts of points of affinity。The sort of 'western radical interpretation' of 'eastern spirituality' and so on would have at previous points had me turn away thinking it ignorant and 2nd hand。 But what does come off as misunderstood never becomes so odious as to spoil the experience and I too have come to different understandings of what it means to engage with such things。There is strategic advise about emergency supplies and terrain。 There is wise quips about how it is to be done。 There is pushing further to the root， condemnations of all civilization rather than just western。 There are condemnations of scientism。 There is anti-work sentiment。 There is a practical and healthy aversion to leaders and rulers。Reading it I had quite a few moments where I had to put it down to write down the ideas I had-- sometimes happening for dozens of pages in a row。 It is a very generative， troubling， and yet also affirming collection of poems。As much as it seems like it could have been written yesterday by our comrades， as much as it slips into messianic time， the poems are also very of the times they were written。 Both in spirit， in what it addresses， and so on。 At first some of the 'healthy living' and 'prepping for collapse' stuff rubbed me the wrong way， but eventually I started to see some perhaps neglected truths in it。 Some redeeming characteristics of DIY， communes， free love， and so on。 This text places us in a continuum with rebel desert nomads， the people in the hills， in the swamps， in the ghettos， throughout time。 This text is for those who live or dream of living anarchically and against the law even if you cut out the explicit references to anarchists， which are already few。There are beautiful lines and important points。 Small details that stick out and nestle in my mind。 There are sweeping passages that go on and take me in。"someplace it isn't maybesomeplace it endssome hills maybestill free but hungry （eyesblaze over ancient guns"Understanding that we die a million times as a recipe for living free from the inculcation of fear and inaction。miner's lettuceTuna。Kaliyuga。Kill Yelabuga。OMNIA SUNT COMMUNIAall power to joycunningcourage+love 。。。more

Penelope Winkle ，

I was surprised this turned out to be a bit of an anarchist poetry book！ I’m not an anarchist but I did enjoy what the poems had to say。 I just happened upon this in a used bookstore and I’m really glad I did！

Pineapple ，

One of my favourite poets。 She is not the fringe of the beats。 She is the centre。 I also like some of the male beats of course。 The best of the beats: Diane Di Prima， Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg。

Lea Dokter ，

Greatly inspiring with regards to poetic form， revolutionary food for thought。 "For every revolutionary must at last will his own destruction/rooted as he is in the past he sets out to destroy" （Revolutionary Letters No。 12） Greatly inspiring with regards to poetic form， revolutionary food for thought。 "For every revolutionary must at last will his own destruction/rooted as he is in the past he sets out to destroy" （Revolutionary Letters No。 12） 。。。more

A ，

Diane di Prima's writing is feisty and elegant。 Diane di Prima's writing is feisty and elegant。 。。。more

Gloria ，

all the fingers of the night point home to us - #70

Dana ，

These poems are more like the ultimate hippie manifesto/ step by step manual and instructions for an imminent revolution

Levi ，

really good， did not like some of the "back-to-nature" anarcho-primitivist poems tho really good， did not like some of the "back-to-nature" anarcho-primitivist poems tho 。。。more

John ，

heavy stuff moving into revolution---

Liza ，

kind of weirdly reactionary？ like it made me realize i want my revolution to include vaccines and cities。 but also， helpfully mind-freeing and oddly stirring to read。

James Payne ，

Some stellar， unforgettable poems and conceits amid some alt-left woo-woo。

Felicity ，

To reread again， right now。