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| Bobbie Louise Hawkins with Jackson Mac Low, Jim Carroll, Peter Lamborn Wilson, and Steven Taylor in the tent at the 1999 Summer Writing Program, Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics, Boulder, CO |
A Few Words of Encouragement from a
Retired Muse
With Love and Respect for Bobbie Louise Hawkins
your hand on my
shoulder
your gaze of steel
and your love
emanating
in the form of a
growl of command
as you let me know
that you think I
ought to keep it up
a quick moment
you’d soon forget
an act of
generosity
powerful enough
to sustain me
for going-on two
decades
thank you for the
permission
to tell family
secrets
to eschew
starfucking
& to proceed
without fear
never explain
never apologize
make friends with the microphone
even the fiercest
of protectors
must eventually
leave us
if all goes well to
be transformed
into
guiding spirits
angels of
reassurance
reminders of our
impermanence
our damnably
reliable
temporariness
Resurrection Ritual for Bill Scheffel
based on notes from his
Shambala Meditation Practicum
Naropa Institute, Fall
1997
I wouldn’t say that I understand the environment;
I simply experience it. John Cage
are you on time?
what is your experience of time?
do you feel you have enough time?
can you listen to someone
without simultaneously critiquing
what they’ve said?
how much are we tasting all of our experience?
how much do you consider the beauty in your life?
does the universe have an opinion?
is there consciousness before opinion?
before opinions is the cosmic mirror
nowness is intuitive intelligence
something intelligent that just witnesses
This is perfect (perfected, complete, flawless).
Expression of a man I admire.
we carry the burden
of survival
we are under duress
we need to undo this numbness
we are dominated by narration
we internalize metaphors, and they can become
very powerful
we can hold on to a particular thought for our
entire lives
this
thought may not be true
the drala has been dispelled by the modern
industrial world
barrage of competing thoughts like gunfire
patchwork of masks which form a cocoon
we don’t want to deal with the intensity of the
moment
emotions are energy, not a story
what we see is largely memory
get over your mythology
reverse the process, flip figure & ground
notch, catalogue, pivot
change allegiance from thought to intuition
return to awareness
become where you are
look at what is
when you notice an intensity
become a block of wood (this is a metaphor)
(this
creates space)
vastness
in the moment
experience has a duration
beneath fear is tenderness
the warrior cultivates both fearlessness &
gentleness
faith, creativity, joy, nature, trust
curiosity is high intelligence
awareness is my home
It’s a lofty goal, but I’m not a bodhistattva
I’m
right here
I have already survived
What did you learn from Bobbie Louise Hawkins?
A Call for Submissions Kona Morris has been working on creating a craft book with Bobbie, tentatively entitled Bobbie On Writing. Kona and Bobbie’s daughter, Sarah Creeley, have decided that in addition to the pages compiling Bobbie’s remarkable insight on the art, craft, and process of writing, they will also include a section in the book from people whom Bobbie inspired.
We are asking anyone who ever internalized something from Bobbie’s exceptional wisdom—about the craft of writing and performance, but also about life and anything else—to submit a piece for the book.
These essays (or whatever form they take) will serve as a sort of collective Afterward, a compilation of testimonies, for all those people who were never fortunate enough to learn straight from the source, and for those who have yet to discover the extraordinary gift that the literary world had in Bobbie Louise Hawkins.
Please share this with anyone who knew Bobbie, and email all submissions to the following email address by December 31st, 2018: BobbieOnWriting@gmail.com
