Years ago my now-journalist friend Anthony Crupi (MediaWeek.com) used to have this joke about Robert Frost and Jim Morrison about the shirtless, crucifixion-esque Morrison poster that read, An American Poet, saying “That’s like having a poster of Frost in a turtleneck and saying Robert Frost: American Rockstar.” Anselm Berrigan truly is an American poet, and in my humble esteem, a should-be American Rockstar (he’s got that much indie punk-heart spirit.) I can’t begin to describe both the shock and the elation of walking into Syracuse University’s Bookstore and having Chris Hirsh, the friend who introduced me to Anselm Berrigan, hold up a magazine, Poets & Writers, with a picture of Anselm on the cover. Good stuff, to be certain. Anselm, so the profile says, is set to release his fourth collection of poems, entitled Free Cell. I was a huge fan of ZERO STAR HOTEL, and in point of fact have an autographed copy from the man himself. California Life-Section has long been my favorite poem of Anselm’s:
LIFE SECTION – MARCH 1994
Plagiarism is in, Ranting & Raving is out
Drinking alone is in, Marijuana etiquette is out
Misunderstanding is in, Cynicism is out
Fingering your asshole is in, all other forms of masturbation are out
Defoe is in but Fielding is out
Words are in but Language is out
My Mother is in & your Mother is out
At 9AM I’ll be in, then I’ll be out until about 6:30
Darth Vader is in, Yoda is out
Fake Interviews are in, Doctored Photographs are out
Luxembourg is in, Amsterdam is out
Swearing is in but obscenity is out, so, for example:
“Jesus Fucking Christ” is in “Holy Fucking Shit” is out”
Being out to lunch is in, being in it for the long haul is out
Knobby knees are in, as are clubbed feet
The starving artist is out, but taking what they’re giving cause you’re working for a living is in
At its beginning this poem was in, now, conveniently, its gone out
Anselm, son of New york school legend poet and friend to the Beats, Ted Berrigan, whose Sonnets were one of the great works of the 60’s era, has already been anthologized by Robert Creeley. In 2003, an excerpt of his book-length poem ZERO STAR HOTEL appeared in Best American Poetry. In-person, Anselm is charming and oftentimes quiet, ruminative, and singularly highbrow-lowbrow in his distinct brand of humor. When reading his delightful poems, Anselm often makes himself laugh.
A funny Anselm anecdote is that when friend Jody LoCascio was in Paris at the same Christmastime as Anselm (who was visiting mother and widow to Ted, the acclaimed poet Alice Notley, coincidentally with Jody’s then- employer Frank Gifford (of the Frank and Kathie Lee Gifford Show), Jody made the introduction outside the Eiffel Tower of two “you couldn’t get further apart in life-sensibility” gentlemen, introducing Anselm to Frank Gifford, who apparently offered Anselm $50 bucks on the spot to replace his well-loved/hole-worn White Chuck Taylor All-Stars, the footwear of all Great Poetic Royalty. Anselm, the tale goes, politely declined.
Anselm Berrigan on the cover of this month’s Poets & Writers magazine:
Posted by chaseevan 
Posted by chaseevan 
Posted by chaseevan 
