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National Poetry Month: “Epistemic Purchase” and “The Being”

Earlier today we introduced The Buffalo Poets who will be helping us celebrate National Poetry Month. Below are poems by James Honzik and David Acevedo.

Epistemic Purchase

By James Honzik

You walk out under gunmetal grey stratus;
overcast.

Dusky footed woodrats nest rock outcrops,
orange velvet algae and lace lichen drape ancient Cypress,poetry1.jpg
crows harry a red tailed hawk,

Seals bask on sea stacks;
In kelp, otters,
In coves, Sea wolves; lobos,
And the spindrift charged wind.

In wet forests, by the beautiful
red fly agaric, amanita muscaria
I decay to moss and broken bark,
while you step over fallen logs and find
your path has become a stream, returning to ocean’s edge.

The beds of white quartz sand,
In brown sea shaped sandstone curves a nude figure,
Hunched conglomerates of chaos and stone, and
granite headlands: trees cling to them like eternity.

(note to myself)

At 5:37 pm on January 9th, 2005
dusk sun comes out,
at western horizon.
For a moment it’s as if time stops and the surface of the sea is a
crumpled sheet of silver.


The Being

By David Acevedo

Dropping things and picking them back up
old habits will weigh down souls
and games fade out and turn old
and I wonder how long it’ll be
until I can smile without hiding
or admitting that I listen
when reality speaks something
special to me.
The conditions are right
so why does mind seem
combustible thoughts are
very thick and hard to get break through.
I owe it to myself, something one day
remember the past and the games
we used to play. Well off and young
what really happens when we learn to use the tongue?
Chopping up language for a new frame of sense
whatever they try to say it comes out in raw bits.
Man kind is nothing but an alien
recreating natural effects with artificial elements
to prove once and for all that we be long
touching far subsonic cultures with indigenous folk songs
the message buried deep in the sand
Look out for the lord, a simple man with bare hands.


Born out of the seedy underbelly of the poetry scene at the turn of the millennium – The Buffalo Poets, known buffallo1.jpgfor their unique energy and wit, began hosting open readings as a direct reaction to Slam Poetics and Cookie Cutter Style Poets found in New York City.Hailing originally from New York City, the Buffalo are composed of four core members: Roger Kenny aka King Otho, Aaron Arnout, Noah Levin and David Acevedo. The Buffalo have many artists throughout America including, James Honzik, Michael Franklin, Kevin Callahan and the infamous activist Rafael Bueno.

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  1. […] present more of their art. Be sure to read last weeks posts also! (Fevers of Artistic Dreams, “Epistemic Purchase” and “The Being.”, Poetical Understanding of Reality and The Buffalo Reading). Listen to the poem being read by […]

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