by kenz | Jan 22, 2020 | Memoir, Non-Fiction, Stories
The Habit of Hope I am a creature of bad habits. When my last relationship ended I fell back into them joyfully, like an elephant falls into cool mud. Dishes piled in the sink, candy wrappers littered my desk, mounds of unopened business envelopes grew into mountains.... by kenz | Sep 17, 2018 | Memoir, Non-Fiction, Stories
There was that one night when Timothy Leary threw himself into my arms— literally— and over and over again, too. It was spring term, 1988, and I was working hard on writing the poems to finish up my MFA thesis. But Kesey’s novel class was in the revision stage, and... by kenz | Jun 30, 2018 | Memoir, Non-Fiction, Stories
For Ken, Who Saved My Life In the fall of 1977 I moved to New York City, having dropped out of college to become a hippie poet along with my buddies Tony and Bill. We were going to start a new magazine of American surrealism, which we already called New Honolulu... by kenz | Jun 7, 2018 | Blog Posts, Essays, Non-Fiction
Percy Shelley, in his essay “A Defense of Poetry” claims somewhat wildly that “poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.” I’ve always loved this exuberant statement, though I recognize its obvious absurdity. Poets, in their hovels and cafes, hiding in... by kenz | Jun 3, 2018 | Blog Posts, Essays, Memoir, Non-Fiction, Stories
Ursula LeGuin died today. Though I’ve seen her read her works and speak several times, I met her only once, in 1988. For a few years back then, the What’s Happenin’ weekly paper, now the Eugene Weekly, sponsored a writing contest for poetry and fiction, which was... 
by kenz | May 20, 2018 | Memoir, Non-Fiction, Stories
In conclusion, I might say that this funky and often tedious memoir work I’ve been busy with for who knows how long now— dredging through boxes of old journals mildewed and nearly illegible, photographs cracked and worn, blurred words and broken trinkets and solitary...
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