Bohemian Birthday
It’s the birthday of the bohemian poet Kenneth Rexroth, born in South Bend, Indiana (1905). His father was a wholesale drug salesman, and Rexroth was offered a position in the business and that would have eventually made him one of the top executives. He spent a couple days thinking about that job offer and finally decided that he’d rather try to go off and become some kind of artist.
… I try to say, as simply as I can, the simplest and most profound experiences of my life…
He wasn’t sure what kind of artist he wanted to be, but in the 1920s he was drawn to the artistic community in Chicago’s West Side, where speakeasies with names like the Dill Pickle Club and the Wind Blew Inn were full of politics, theater, jazz, and poetry. It was there that Kenneth Rexroth became one of the first poets to try reading his poetry to the accompaniment of jazz music.
He eventually settled in San Francisco, and California changed the way he wrote poetry. His early poems had been full of references to Greek mythology and philosophy, but after his arrival in California, he began to write poems about camping trips and fly fishing and love affairs, in addition to politics.
Kenneth Rexroth said, “I’ve never understood why I’m [considered] a member of the avant-garde. … I [just] try to say, as simply as I can, the simplest and most profound experiences of my life.”
The Complete Poems of Kenneth Rexroth came out in 2002.
Available by e-mail daily.
Further “bohemian” reading available at Amazon Canada, US and UK
Start MSN Chat
