Poems for Antiquity

Hi poetry lovers! I have just released my new booklet of poems which is called: Poems for Antiquity. These poems were written in 2009 and published towards the end of December.

Crow’s Feather is one of the first poems in the book and is available on this blog by clicking on its title above.

Below are links to background on the subject matter discussed in the volume.

Poems’ Links:

foreword poem (first page)

As poets we bring out what is deeply troubling us. We hope it can be used to transform society.

reference: “70. Jesus said, “If you bring forth what is within you, what you have will save you. If you do not have that within you, what you do not have within you [will] kill you.” – The Gospel of Thomas (Gnostic Gospels)

alternative version: “70) Jesus said, “If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.”

“What you don’t see WILL kill you.” – from the new Dracula: Dracula: The Un-Dead (2009) by Dacre Stoker (great-grandnewphew of Bram Stoker who wrote the original story of Dracula) & Ian Holt

One Poem to blow the mine

a take-off on Tolkien’s magic ring from the Hobbit/Lord of the Rings. Poetry can empower, be perceived as dangerous, induce changes, be precious to the conceiver. Those who write know the power of a poem and how it can seat you on the throne that is a perspective on our world, often that others may not share. If for some reason the poem hits its mark someone’s world may be blown apart or at least catalyzed.

The line: “One poem to blow the mine” also reminds me of Princess Diana’s work to eradicate land mines. A short statement by Lady Di here. To see a video of her detonating one of these, Click here. If anyone else had done this work they would have been condemned as a schmerorist! An informative YouTube video documentary on landmines.

Crow’s Feather

Crow’s Feathers

Thunderbirds

Blood is Thick

My father’s 2nd or 3rd cousin lived on Dr. Oetker’s estate in Germany in 1974. We stepped in, or rather drove thru the automatically opening iron gates that led to his property. We had taken a tour to Europe as a family that year and those distant cousins were quite baffled to be visited unannounced!

The ties of kin, which once were thick have thinned out completely for many.

My mother was a big fan of Dr. Oetker pudding putting it in recipes such as cream puffs, with half pudding, half whipped cream, layer tortes, or topped with home-made raspberry compote. So the Pudding Doctor played a huge role in our inner family cuisine and so I have immortalized him here – just in time too; most people have forgotten all about him. There is picture of him on the company website. He looks a little bloated.

Davidoff Magnums Review of the cigarette

Kathryn Kuhlman
Kathryn Kuhlman was a famous healer of the 1960s and 70s. Her audio sermons are available online. One source for these is the Kathryn Kuhlman Foundation. Video: Kathryn in action: video at YouTube

a Czar of East Vancouver

This is the news item that inspired the poem. Perhaps not this article exactly, but this was the somewhat distasteful news in the Downtown Eastside, where I live, circa February 2009.

The Story of the Last Elephant

Handmade book printed on pink and light-coloured papers by Seawrack Press. Only 12 of these were ever made. To see one please visit University of British Columbia Special Collections library located in the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre. You may be offered archival white gloves for handling it, as I was once, when I went to review it. Maybe it’s the long hair that scared them.

This poem was inspired in what I consider an altered state.

It is filed under an old name I used: Rudy K. Penner. Gina Page is paper artist and proprietor of Sea Wrack Press. The booklet was made in 1990.

Red

A mini-book, with the poem Red found on this website, published by Trabarni Editions. The poem was written as a Remembrance Day piece.

Crane

A chapbook published privately in the 90s

Crane book cover, illustration by the author

for family and friends. Includes a poem on Kung Fu.

Poems by Rudolf Kurt Penner

This is my first public offering of poems to the world, circa 1991 or so. Formerly entitled Poems by Rudy K. Penner the 8-1/2″ X 11″ document included 29 poems and 5 illustrations. Some of these were hand-coloured.