POET WRITER AUTHOR GENTLEMAN OUTSIDER
~ R.M. Engelhardt, The Last Cigarette: The Collected Poems Of R.M. Engelhardt 1989-2006
2001
Words are powerful. Words make a difference. They can create and destroy. They can open doors and close doors. Words can create illusion or magic, love or destruction. … All those things.
Let’s be honest.
2021 was not the best of year’s for many of us with covid still rampant as well as for many of us still stuck working from home. But for me there were a few bright spots. Jai & I were able to create many new books for Poets & Authors at DeadMansPressInk & create a brand new open mic at The Fuzebox. One of the best moments for me was an interview with Jim Gilbert & Nippertown about my latest book ” We Rise Like Smoke Poems Psalms & Incantations Published by DeadMansPressInk. Dedicated to our girl, our cat Cordelia we lost in April. Life isn’t the same without her.
Best to you & yours in the coming New Year.
*****************
An interview with Jim Gilbert of Nippertown with poet R.M. Engelhardt about the Upstate New York Poetry Scene and about his new book ” We Rise Like Smoke Poems Psalms & Incantations” Published by DeadMansPressInk Now Available on Amazon 2021.
William Butler Yeats on Magic (from Essays and Introductions):
I believe in the practice and philosophy of what we have agreed to call magic, in what I must call the evocation of spirits, though I do not know what they are, in the power of creating magical illusion, in the visions of truth in the depths of the mind when the eyes are closed; and I believe in three doctrines, which have, as I think, been handed down from early times and been the foundation of nearly all magical practices. These doctrines are:
(1) That the borders of our minds are ever-shifting, and that many minds can flow into one another, as it were, and create or reveal a single mind, a single energy.
(2) That the borders of our memories are as shifting, and that our memories are a part of one great memory, the memory of Nature herself.
(3) That this great mind and great memory can be evoked by symbols.
INVOCATION:
An appeal made by a poet to a muse or deity for help in composing the poem. The invocation of a muse was a convention in ancient Greek and Latin poetry, especially in the epic; it was followed later by many poets of the Renaissance and neoclassical periods. Usually it is placed at the beginning of the poem, but may also appear in later positions, such as at the start of a new canto. The invocation is one of the conventions ridiculed in mock-epic poems: Byron begins the third Canto (1821) of Don Juan with the exclamation ‘Hail, Muse! et cetera’. In terms of rhetoric, the invocation is a special variety of apostrophe.
SOMETHING NEW IS COMING TO ALBANY NY.
INVOCATION OF THE MUSE:
An Open Mic For Poets, Poetry & The
Spoken Word.
DeadMansPressInk & myself are excited to announce the return of The Poetry Open Mic at the newly reopened FUZEBOX 12 Central Avenue, Albany NY.
*Join Us For Our First Open Mic On MONDAY November 1st 2021 At The FUZEBOX.
7:30pm SignUp*8PM Start $5.00 Donation Requested.
POETRY LIVES IN ALBANY NY !
Note:
Please bring a valid ID, a proof of vaccination, or a negative Covid-19 test from at least 72 hours. And whenever possible please wear a mask.
https://www.facebook.com/events/967632553787817/permalink/967632563787816/?sfnsn=mo
To many of those of you who follow or read my work there are only a few that are aware that I run, along with my friend and coeditor Hex M’ Jai a small independent poetry press known as DeadMansPressInk as well as a page called The School of Night Newsletter which promotes the teachings & mysteries, articles and rituals of magic. DeadMansPressInk has a very fun & all inclusive popular group for poets called POETS WHO HATE POETS ON FACEBOOK which has been growing day by day and allows writers & poets to share their work in a safe, secure atmosphere of respect and humor with an eternal ” no trolls allowed” policy.
I hope that if you are a writer who would like to publish your book of pagan based poems ( we also are interested in noir, the occult & the macabre) that you will send us your manuscript or join our group to just enjoy people’s work and share your own. Find us on Facebook as well as Instagram.
Many Thanks. Join Us.
~ R.M. Engelhardt Editor DeadMansPressInk
New Poem From We Rise Like Smoke Poems Psalms Incantations Published by DeadMansPressInk Now Available on Amazon
THE STARS IN NIGHT IN FLIGHT
The stars in night in flight
The migration of the birds in
Flight revolutions of chaos around the
Circumference of the sun
(Like shadows)
But the gods haven’t noticed
As the starless night remains
Our dark evolution vast & sad
Beautiful & tragic
But Jesus doesn’t want to be found
& Buddha just doesn’t care
And Gaia just watches
Helpless
The Stars In Flight At Night
The migration of the birds in
Flight revolutions of chaos around the
Circumference of the sun
Humanity has risen
Not risen
Doesn’t notice
Doesn’t realize
Doesn’t care
Denies the stars
Denies itself
The stars migration
Love’s failure to love
One another
Each other
(Ourselves)
Death &
Beauty
Always the
Story of
Ourselves
Never
Ending
~ R.M. Engelhardt
Upon The Rise & Resurrection Of Pagan Poetry
In the late 1990s & into the early part of this century I created and ran a spoken word poetry open mic called THE SCHOOL OF NIGHT at Valentine’s as well as at a few other locations afterwards in Albany, NY. The open mic was always extremely crowded and popular and we did alot of themed nights also such as Beat Generation Night, Poe Halloween Benefits Bukowski Night and some other cool evenings before alot of these ideas took hold in other places. But as all good things my SON had a predecessor. The original group of poets in the time of Marlowe, Raleigh & Shakespeare.
Who knows?
Whenever history needs inspiration it might just return again .
https://shakesphere1.blogspot.com/2012/08/sir-walter-raleigh-and-his-school-of.html?m=1
THIS NIGHT, INVISIBLE
an
invocation
a
trance
at dusk
the souls
wander in
1 by 1
in a procession
of
tragedy
faith
&
loss
where the clocks
all time
has stopped
and
the dance
begins which
never ends
moves beyond
the flesh
your gods
as
sound –
words –
voices-
writhe-
wound –
annihilate
worship
a once empty
space
a void
S
C
R
E
A
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
I
N
G
maniacally
through the
vast & vaulted
air
as the
music endures
plays
on
where
there is
no kingdom
no glory
no power
false angels
or starflecked demons
the life after
ever after
where
there is only
you & I
in this night
invisible
this night
unseen
and so
in my grief
my sorrow
& as a friend
I invite you
with all love
and all respect
imperfect
and un-true
as always
in whatever mirror
conjured
this night
all beautiful
all living
or dead
you are
desired
you are
loved
without
end
~ R.M. Engelhardt
It’s Arrived.
Now Available on Amazon
2nd Paperback Edition
R.M. ENGELHARDT 