Eleven “poets who were not afraid to let a little weirdness into their work, a little bit of the imagination”, as guest editor Paul Nelson puts it. Plus readings and interviews in audio. When I was asked by Rattapallax editor Flavia Rocha to curate a selection of West Coast poets, there were several facets of this project that I considered a given. First, I wanted to limit the poets to the Northwest,... 

Rattapallax has the unique opportunity to meet with myriad internationally-renown poets and a staff that is deeply focused on promoting and publishing new work. Meet the staff and contributors to this, or first issue of Rattapallax Online. Ram Devineni is the editor and publisher of Rattapallax and a film-maker who has had films shown at the Cairo International Film Festival, San Jose Film Festival,... 

by Paul Nelson 7.18.01 – “No time for THAT” she says releasing semi-erect morning penis. 4.20.02 – Behind END ISRAEL OCCUPATION rally, kosher hot dog stand. 4.09.03 – Maintenance man leaves a note says, can’t fix your faucet its threads are striped. 3.12.04 – After the terror bombings cel phones ring next to corpses in Madrid. 5.13.05 – Late night sangrias/enchiladas – morning... 

by Paul Nelson Here’s the crusher. There would be a time when old Comiskey no longer a place where he helped vendors and got in for free, now w/ a kid who wanted to be a shortstop but afraid of a liner in the eye and there he goes with his un official hobby (Steve says) public embarrassment. But it’s a Red Sox golfing outfielder named Hawk Harrelson and Pop had a scream or two for him as I ordered... 

by Paul Nelson It was a Wednesday, four destinations. Nilda would feed us ropa vieja: better than Miami. Raphael puts on his helmet or cashes in his chits for a Lada for a day, we would drive to Cemetario Colón. How a Cuban does this. Here is a stranger, but familia también on to the city of dead, having workshopped en Miramar ... 

by Paul Nelson We would fly right out of Shakespeare’s pages & find a bath in which to go into a trance, maybe ant ourselves w/ a caught ant or splash of vodka, vinegar speaking the name Mortimer, metallic are we tearing about the sky above the city that feeds us, splitting in two connecting by a field, or a membrane, or a star force, vulgar ... 

Father/poet/teacher Paul Nelson is a Chicago native, founder of SPLAB (SPokenword LAB), author of a book of essays on poetics, Organic Poetry (Oct. ‘08, VDM Verlag, Germany) & of a serial poem re-enacting the history of Auburn, Washington, A Time Before Slaughter (Oct. ’09, Apprentice House) (Auburn was originally called Slaughter). For 26 years he worked in radio, interviewing Allen Ginsberg,...