Richard Brautigan - Poet

Fifteen years ago my friend H.D. Bassett introduced me to a beat poet from the 60’s and 70’s I had never heard of by the name of Richard Brautigan. I became a fan and here are four of my favorites of his…

KARMA REPAIR KIT: ITEMS 1-4

1. Get enough food to eat, and eat it.

2. Find a place to sleep where it is quiet, and sleep there.

3. Reduce intellectual and emotional noise until you arrive at the silence of

yourself, and listen to it.

4.

THE MEMOIRS OF JESSE JAMES

I remember all those thousands of hours
that I spent in grade school watching the clock,
waiting for recess or lunch or to go home.
Waiting: for anything but school.
My teachers could easily have ridden with Jesse James
for all the time they stole from me.

I'LL AFFECT YOU SLOWLY

I'll affect you slowly
as if you were having
a picnic in a dream.
There will be no ants.
It won't rain.

I LIVE IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

I live in the Twentieth Century

and you lie here beside me. You

were unhappy when you fell asleep.

There was nothing I could do about

it. I felt hopeless. Your face

is so beautiful that I cannot stop

to describe it, and there's nothing

I can do to make you happy while

you sleep.

Brautigan was probably more of an "off-beat" poet than a beat poet. His prespective on life and his humor really appeal to me.