Post by somethingimpromptu on Feb 3, 2016 5:44:23 GMT
Diane Di Prima (born 1934) is an anarchist (or at least deeply anarchist-influenced) Beat poet. Her grandmother (Domenico Mallozzi) was an anarchist activist as well. I just discovered that Di Prima is going through health problems and painful surgeries, and she has a mountain of medical bills she's struggling with. To anyone who can spare a donation, here is a link to her fundraising campaign (here's a second one that was started recently)-- and, even if you can't afford to donate, re-post the link on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter-- whatever social media you can.
I can't do Revolutionary Letters (1971) justice, except to say that it's probably my all-time favorite poetry, so I'll let it speak for itself with a few selections, below. Here's a link to the unabridged book at The Anarchist Library (hard copies available from Last Gasp Publishing, but currently sold out).
Revolutionary Letter #9
advocating
the overthrow of government is a crime
overthrowing it is something else
altogether, it is sometimes called
revolution
but don’t kid yourself: government
is not where it’s at: it’s only
a good place to start:
1. kill head of Dow Chemical
2. destroy plant
3. MAKE IT UNPROFITABLE FOR THEM to build again.
i.e., destroy the concept of money
as we know it, get rid of interest,
savings, inheritance
(Pound’s money, as dated coupons that come in the mail
to everyone, and are void in 30 days
is still a good idea)
or, let’s start with no money at all and invent it
if we need it
or, mimeograph it and everyone
print as much as they want
and see what happens
//
declare a moratorium on debt
the Continental Congress did
‘on all debts public and private’
& no one ‘owns’ the land
it can be held
for use, no man holding more
than he can work, himself and family working
//
let no one work for another
except for love, and what you make above your needs be given to the tribe
a Common-Wealth
//
None of us knows the answers, think about
these things.
The day will come when we have to know
the answers.
Revolutionary Letter #1
I have just realized that the stakes are myself
I have no other
ransom money, nothing to break or barter but my life
my spirit measured out, in bits, spread over
the roulette table, I recoup what I can
nothing else to shove under the nose of the maitre de jeu
nothing to thrust out the window, no white flag
this flesh all I have to offer, to make the play with
this immediate head, what it comes up with, my move
as we slither over this go board, stepping always
(we hope) between the lines
Revolutionary Letter #8
Everytime you pick the spot for a be-in
a demonstration, a march, a rally, you are choosing the ground
for a potential battle.
You are still calling these shots.
Pick your terrain with that in mind.
Remember the old gang rules:
stick to your neighborhood, don’t let them lure you
to Central Park everytime, I would hate
to stumble bloody out of that park to find help:
Central Park West, or Fifth Avenue, which would you
choose?
//
go to love-ins
with incense, flowers, food, and a plastic bag
with a damp cloth in it, for tear gas, wear no jewelry
wear clothes you can move in easily, wear no glasses
contact lenses
earrings for pierced ears are especially hazardous
//
try to be clear
in front, what you will do if it comes
to trouble
if you’re going to try to split stay out of the center
don’t stampede or panic others
don’t waver between active and passive resistance
know your limitations, bear contempt
neither for yourself, nor any of your brothers
//
NO ONE WAY WORKS, it will take all of us
shoving at the thing from all sides
to bring it down.
Revolutionary Letter #15
When you seize Columbia, when you
seize Paris, take
the media, tell the people what you’re doing
what you’re up to and why and how you mean
to do it, how they can help, keep the news
coming, steady, you have 70 years
of media conditioning to combat, it is a wall
you must get through, somehow, to reach
the instinctive man, who is struggling like a plant
for light, for air
//
when you seize a town, a campus, get hold of the power
stations, the water, the transportation,
forget to negotiate, forget how
to negotiate, don’t wait for De Gaulle or Kirk
to abdicate, they won’t, you are not
‘demonstrating’ you are fighting
a war, fight to win, don’t wait for Johnson or
Humphrey or Rockefeller, to agree to your terms
take what you need, ‘it’s free
because it’s yours’
Revolutionary Letter #22
what do you want
your kids to learn, do you care
if they know factoring, chemical formulae, theory
of numbers, equations, philosophy, semantics
symbolic logic, latin, history, socalled, which is
merely history of mind of western man, least interesting
of numberless manifestations on this planet?
//
do you care
if he learns to eat off the woods, to set
a broken arm, to mend
his own clothes, cook simple food, deliver
a calf or baby? if there are cars should he not
be able to keep his running?
how will he learn these things, will he learn them
cut off in a plaster box, encased
in a larger cement box called ‘school’ dealing with paper
from morning till night, grinding no clay or mortar, no
pigment, setting no seedlings in black earth
come spring, how will he
know to trap a rabbit, build a raft,
to navigate by stars, or find safe ground
to sleep on? what is he doing all his learning years
inside, as if the planet were no more than a vehicle
for carrying our plastic constructs around the sun
Revolutionary Letter #26
‘DOES THE END
JUSTIFY THE MEANS?’ this is
process, there is no end, there are only
means, each one
had better justify itself.
To whom?
Revolutionary Letter #5
at some point
you may be called upon
to keep going for several days without sleep:
keep some ups around, to be
clearheaded, avoid ‘comedown’ as much as possible,
take vitamin B along with amphetamines, try
powdered guarana root, available
at herb drugstores, it is an up
used by Peruvian mountainfolk, tastes
like mocha (bitter) can be put in tea
will clear your head, increase oxygen supply
keep you going past amphetamine wooziness
//
at some point
you may have to crash, under tension, keep some downs
on’ hand, you may have to cool out
sickness, or freak-out, or sorrow, keep some downs
on hand, I don’t mean
tranquillizers, ye olde fashioned SLEEPING PILL
(sleep heals heads, heals souls) chloryll hydrate
(Mickey Finn) one of the best, but
nembutal, etc. OK in a pinch, remember
no liquor with barbiturates
//
at some point
you will need painkillers, darvon
is glorified shit, stash some codeine & remember
it’s about five times more effective
if taken with aspirin
//
ups, downs & painkillers are
the essence: antibiotics
for extreme infections, any good
wide-spectrum one will do, avoid penicillin
too many allergies, speaking of which
cortisone is good for really bad attacks
(someone who freaks out asthma-style, or with hives)
//
USE ALL THESE AS LITTLE
as possible, side effects multifarious
and they cloud the brain
tend to weaken the body and obscure
judgment
//
ginseng tea, ginger compresses, sea salt,
prayer and love
are better healers, easier come by, save the others
for life and death trips, you will know
when you see one
Revolutionary Letter #53
HOW TO BECOME A WALKING ALCHEMICAL EXPERIMENT
eat mercury (in wheat & fish)
breathe sulphur fumes (everywhere)
take plenty of (macrobiotic) salt
& cook the mixture in the heat
of an atomic explosion
I can't do Revolutionary Letters (1971) justice, except to say that it's probably my all-time favorite poetry, so I'll let it speak for itself with a few selections, below. Here's a link to the unabridged book at The Anarchist Library (hard copies available from Last Gasp Publishing, but currently sold out).
Revolutionary Letter #9
advocating
the overthrow of government is a crime
overthrowing it is something else
altogether, it is sometimes called
revolution
but don’t kid yourself: government
is not where it’s at: it’s only
a good place to start:
1. kill head of Dow Chemical
2. destroy plant
3. MAKE IT UNPROFITABLE FOR THEM to build again.
i.e., destroy the concept of money
as we know it, get rid of interest,
savings, inheritance
(Pound’s money, as dated coupons that come in the mail
to everyone, and are void in 30 days
is still a good idea)
or, let’s start with no money at all and invent it
if we need it
or, mimeograph it and everyone
print as much as they want
and see what happens
//
declare a moratorium on debt
the Continental Congress did
‘on all debts public and private’
& no one ‘owns’ the land
it can be held
for use, no man holding more
than he can work, himself and family working
//
let no one work for another
except for love, and what you make above your needs be given to the tribe
a Common-Wealth
//
None of us knows the answers, think about
these things.
The day will come when we have to know
the answers.
Revolutionary Letter #1
I have just realized that the stakes are myself
I have no other
ransom money, nothing to break or barter but my life
my spirit measured out, in bits, spread over
the roulette table, I recoup what I can
nothing else to shove under the nose of the maitre de jeu
nothing to thrust out the window, no white flag
this flesh all I have to offer, to make the play with
this immediate head, what it comes up with, my move
as we slither over this go board, stepping always
(we hope) between the lines
Revolutionary Letter #8
Everytime you pick the spot for a be-in
a demonstration, a march, a rally, you are choosing the ground
for a potential battle.
You are still calling these shots.
Pick your terrain with that in mind.
Remember the old gang rules:
stick to your neighborhood, don’t let them lure you
to Central Park everytime, I would hate
to stumble bloody out of that park to find help:
Central Park West, or Fifth Avenue, which would you
choose?
//
go to love-ins
with incense, flowers, food, and a plastic bag
with a damp cloth in it, for tear gas, wear no jewelry
wear clothes you can move in easily, wear no glasses
contact lenses
earrings for pierced ears are especially hazardous
//
try to be clear
in front, what you will do if it comes
to trouble
if you’re going to try to split stay out of the center
don’t stampede or panic others
don’t waver between active and passive resistance
know your limitations, bear contempt
neither for yourself, nor any of your brothers
//
NO ONE WAY WORKS, it will take all of us
shoving at the thing from all sides
to bring it down.
Revolutionary Letter #15
When you seize Columbia, when you
seize Paris, take
the media, tell the people what you’re doing
what you’re up to and why and how you mean
to do it, how they can help, keep the news
coming, steady, you have 70 years
of media conditioning to combat, it is a wall
you must get through, somehow, to reach
the instinctive man, who is struggling like a plant
for light, for air
//
when you seize a town, a campus, get hold of the power
stations, the water, the transportation,
forget to negotiate, forget how
to negotiate, don’t wait for De Gaulle or Kirk
to abdicate, they won’t, you are not
‘demonstrating’ you are fighting
a war, fight to win, don’t wait for Johnson or
Humphrey or Rockefeller, to agree to your terms
take what you need, ‘it’s free
because it’s yours’
Revolutionary Letter #22
what do you want
your kids to learn, do you care
if they know factoring, chemical formulae, theory
of numbers, equations, philosophy, semantics
symbolic logic, latin, history, socalled, which is
merely history of mind of western man, least interesting
of numberless manifestations on this planet?
//
do you care
if he learns to eat off the woods, to set
a broken arm, to mend
his own clothes, cook simple food, deliver
a calf or baby? if there are cars should he not
be able to keep his running?
how will he learn these things, will he learn them
cut off in a plaster box, encased
in a larger cement box called ‘school’ dealing with paper
from morning till night, grinding no clay or mortar, no
pigment, setting no seedlings in black earth
come spring, how will he
know to trap a rabbit, build a raft,
to navigate by stars, or find safe ground
to sleep on? what is he doing all his learning years
inside, as if the planet were no more than a vehicle
for carrying our plastic constructs around the sun
Revolutionary Letter #26
‘DOES THE END
JUSTIFY THE MEANS?’ this is
process, there is no end, there are only
means, each one
had better justify itself.
To whom?
Revolutionary Letter #5
at some point
you may be called upon
to keep going for several days without sleep:
keep some ups around, to be
clearheaded, avoid ‘comedown’ as much as possible,
take vitamin B along with amphetamines, try
powdered guarana root, available
at herb drugstores, it is an up
used by Peruvian mountainfolk, tastes
like mocha (bitter) can be put in tea
will clear your head, increase oxygen supply
keep you going past amphetamine wooziness
//
at some point
you may have to crash, under tension, keep some downs
on’ hand, you may have to cool out
sickness, or freak-out, or sorrow, keep some downs
on hand, I don’t mean
tranquillizers, ye olde fashioned SLEEPING PILL
(sleep heals heads, heals souls) chloryll hydrate
(Mickey Finn) one of the best, but
nembutal, etc. OK in a pinch, remember
no liquor with barbiturates
//
at some point
you will need painkillers, darvon
is glorified shit, stash some codeine & remember
it’s about five times more effective
if taken with aspirin
//
ups, downs & painkillers are
the essence: antibiotics
for extreme infections, any good
wide-spectrum one will do, avoid penicillin
too many allergies, speaking of which
cortisone is good for really bad attacks
(someone who freaks out asthma-style, or with hives)
//
USE ALL THESE AS LITTLE
as possible, side effects multifarious
and they cloud the brain
tend to weaken the body and obscure
judgment
//
ginseng tea, ginger compresses, sea salt,
prayer and love
are better healers, easier come by, save the others
for life and death trips, you will know
when you see one
Revolutionary Letter #53
HOW TO BECOME A WALKING ALCHEMICAL EXPERIMENT
eat mercury (in wheat & fish)
breathe sulphur fumes (everywhere)
take plenty of (macrobiotic) salt
& cook the mixture in the heat
of an atomic explosion
