THE DAILY BEAT: If it's Wednesday this must be Western Haiku Day

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

If it's Wednesday this must be Western Haiku Day

April snow
Shovel put away
Thirsty flowers

Nothing to get
No one to get it
Emptiness an illusion

The parrot said
What's on your mind?
I laughed

Sixty-four haikus later
Devastated and spent
No matter the price of ink

Note: To understand what a Western Haiku is, read Jack Kerouac's explanatory note in Scattered Poems (accessible here). By the way, Happy National Poetry Month.

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Reviews of The Beat Handbook

Gerald Nicosia, author of the acclaimed Kerouac biography Memory Babe, said The Beat Handbook is "full of Jack's heart."

Jared Randall, author of the excellent book of poetry, Apocryphal Road Code, said this about The Beat Handbook: "Sometimes a book comes along at just the right time. In my wandering pack of experiences, I find they often do. Enter The Beat Handbook by Rick Dale."

Kenneth Morris, Kerouacian extraordinaire, said this:
"I just finished reading Rick Dale's beautiful utterance and call to action of Kerouac mind-set and zen sensibilities. It made me laugh and reflect on my own life and road I have naturally grooved into after absorbing the Kerouac canon. The road less traveled always had my name on it. And that has made all the difference. The Beat Handbook 100 Days of Kerouactions reaffirms the attitudes and ideology that made the Beats and Kerouac the important men of ideas that America (and the world) thirsted for, needed, and swallowed whole. Beautiful, absorbing, Top Ten whipsmart from my articulate, tender-hearted friend and fellow traveler. Highly recommended."