From "Lookout to Ashram: The Way of Gary Snyder": Part One

Transcription

1 Iow Review Volume 1 Issue 3 Summer Article From "Lookout to Ashrm: Wy Gry ": Prt One Shermn Pul Follow th dditionl works t: Prt Cretive Writg Commons Recommended Cittion Pul, Shermn. "From "Lookout to Ashrm: Wy Gry ": Prt One." Iow Review 1.3 (1970): Web. Avilble t: Th Contents brought to you for free open ccess by Iow Reserch Onle. It hs been ccepted for clusion Iow Review by n uthorized dmtrtor Iow Reserch Onle. For more formtion, plese contct lib-ir@uiow.edu.

2 From Lookout to Ashrm: Wy Gry Shermn Pul PART ONE I know no one sce Thoreu who hs so thoroughly espoused wild s no one who so much its Gry? poet. H root "bck metphor, country," covers ll tht Thoreu, or explicitly implicitly, ment by "wild." "Poetry Primitive," one recent essys collected Erth House Hold (1969), h most importnt sttement resolution much h work, n essy comprble import, though not dtction style, to Thoreu's Thoreu's "Wlkg." essy, lecture clled " origlly Wild," testmentry, so 's, though h not terml. It does not conclude life but drws phse life to conclusion, th wy by ffirm tion writg, nnounces new deprture t deeper depth reliztion. two essys tht follow it, "Dhrm "Suw-no-Se Isl Queries" Bnyn Ashrm," record h vows prctice, ltter begs h life new with h mrrige to Ms Uehr, whom he celebrtes Regrdg Wve (1969), h ltest book poems. Erth House Hold, spnng yers 1952 to 1967, n excellent tro provides duction to poet whose poetry, becuse its nture l utobiogrphicl lusions to Orientl Americn Ind lore, not vilble. Its lwys redily title feelgly trnsltes "ecology," science tht Pul Sheprd Dniel Mc consider Kley subversive?subversive, to urgent, respect ttitudes ends overly-technologicl civiliztion.* Its subtide, "Technicl Notes & to Queries Fellow Dhrm Revolutionries," th suggests revolutionry chrcter, s mnul for revolution, it fers wy ( thought ction) dictes studies dciples tht, uthor's experience, led us bck to bck country where we my enjoy "Housekeepg on Erth." As "dhrm" th revolution turns on implies, truth; it wht Emerson clled silent revo lution thought, thought, much it, Orientl, "priml thought" Whitmn's to Indi." revolutionries re seek spoken "Pssge spiritul ers whom not without, humor, now ddresses s He once clled guerrills. m "Dhrm-hobos" ( 1956) Jck Kerouc, title novel re ltg h meetg experience with, clled m "Dhrm-bums" ( * Subversive Science: New York, Essys Towrd n Ecology Mn, Houghton Miffl Co., 76 University Iow collbortg with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, extend ccess to Iow Review

3 1958). Kerouc even prophesied "rucksck revolution" h novel Jphy Ryder (Gry ) sys: "Thk wht gret world revolution will tke plce when Est meets West flly, it'll be guys like us tht strt thg. Thk millions guys ll over world with ruckscks on ir bcks trmp g round bck country hitchhikg brgg word down to everybody." here? 1950's? one who withdrws from revolutionry he society; "signs f," s Thoreu would sy, becomes sunterer, holy ler. Bum, for Kerouc, trnsltes bhikkhu, monk; hoppg freights hitch hikg re keepg with free life voluntry poverty. Or, phrse uses to chrcterize h friend Nno Skki? tht lso chrcter phrse izes him remds one Bsh?? revolutionry my be "werer whose morl " th s declres for him poet," only impertive yug," self first journl, to communicte. Now, t end 1960's, s subtitle dictes, th socil pssivity, so much gr Estern thought, dclimed; "revolutionry" hs meng 1960's gol revolu tion for I. W. W. new represented slogn, "Formg society with shell old." 's book begs where Kerouc's Dhrm Bums, book bout dividul slvtion, ends. It reflects chngg life-style, ctivm cresg communitrm, pst decde, its quiet confidence sense vst tributry support (mostly out pst? dtes some essys poems from time erliest cve re ptgs) noteworthy. It my be described briefly s development from lookout to shrm. revolution Gry tends vouched for by h life work, by h poetry by se journls essys?th record life. Like Thoreu, he figure: he himself exemplifies h thought. Th hs much to do with h dtction ttrctiveness. In erly dys Bets, Kerouc pid him tribute Dhrm Bums, which, for ll its rpturous sentiment, essentilly sound portriture. Robert Bly, ten testy Crunk Sixties, clled him n "origl mn" tretg h erly work outled progrm for Americn him imgtion. Jmes Dickey cknowledged by dtguh g h orientlm from " mil order orientlm West Cost crowd." And Kenneth Rexroth, senior West Cost poet to whom dedicted Bck Country, rnked him highest poets h genertion becuse rnge h "rel life" h "life eventfulness." experience, While se ssessments re substntil ccord with resons for prtil, H 's cresg reputtion recognition. populrity mong those whose response mkes mesure lmost s s populrity significnt gret Allen Gs berg's. Like Gsberg, he sts for somethg not esily defed, especilly by someone nor To genertion. young serch n estimble wy beg world (poetry its correltive, one its signi but not necessrily its end), he hero, s chrcter Kerouc's Gsberg, gue novel, once remrked ("Jphy Ryder gret new hero Americn culture"). An ernestness morl seriousness hve much to do with such cceptble popu more thn lrity?certly poetry, which, s hs not poetry, yet been suf 77 Criticm

4 ficiently considered. poetry immeditely terestg n exotic wy, like himself, for both tell us, s Thoreu sid best poets, tht here someone who hs gone " tme civil side nture" hs seen beyond " west side [] mount." lerned, he hs been to cdemy, to Reed, Ind, but he not n cdemic H not "white Berkeley; poet. mn's but "Ind's poetry" report." I remember my troduction to him televed on redg Ntionl Edu ctionl Televion Network: poet student uniform Jpnese nnouncg h beliefs, redg h poems bre (empty, "orientl") room. How dcipled he ws! How tensely ttentive, every movement to ritul contributg event, spekg poem! Such economy richness spirit! ( portrit A Rnge Poems gives similr impression.) I ws immensely impressed by self-possession presence, wonderful power brgg one's full to beg present moment, much s I ws lter when lectures ttendg Zen mster. Or th excellent series hd redgs prepred my surpre, for some m were ws? I enter performnces. Perhps 's thought ted recently when I herd him red before lrge udience wtched him crete sitution he wnted by ritulizg occsion (crefully untyg tyg h bundle books ppers? h blue denim work clos he might hve come from just rod? n orientl usg gesture greetg) by dciplg udience's ttention with h own (by eye contct, prece explntion, exct brethg syg poem, significnt silence). thought did not dturb me becuse I preferred se conditions to more fmilir vudeville? plyg down by which older poets identify with young. And se conditions were pproprite to 's high conception poetry poetry love he ws redg (from Regrdg Wve, pre Goddess ). Perhps y trnscended performnce by trnsformg it to ritul prticiption; s I told fterwrd, I felt tht redg hd been one memorble meetgs my life. Yet I ws dturbed, s one my be when sub jected to so much spiritul power so willgly grtifies it, by possibility rrognce, I found wher A myself wonderg portrits Rnge Poems, Bck Country, Erth House Hold might not be form self-dvertement. spiritul, remrkble mn: he hs unquestionbly, center, ssured, possesses dcipled freedom tht ppels to both young old. ( young perhps respond most to h morl permsiveness, old to h morl tough ness.) Though se respects he bove or beyond younger genertion s morl hero should be, he lso m becuse h life still seems open to novelty ("we hve to nothg fer," he sys, "if we re to tr ourselves willg to open up, explore grow") becuse he identifies with m pot deprture (fter World Wr II, he expls, " suspicion grew tht perhps whole Western Trdition... f trck") concern for wht he clls " Gret Subculture" ("it trnsmits community style life, with n ecstticlly positive vion spiritul physicl love.... It hs tught tht mn's nturl to be trusted beg followed"). 78

5 As ccount our htoricl personl moment, "Why Tribe," essy just comments quoted, fter fshion or essys Erth House Hold on privte recorded re. "At th to experience pot"? referrg observtion on Western Trdition?"mny, myself cluded, found Buddh-Dhrm method for one's md prcticl clerg trivi, preju dices flse vlues tht our hd lid on us...." And th conditiong where Erth House Hold begs, with lookout on mount top clerg h md "to to tryg penetrte non-self Self." deepest Erth House Hold begs bck country which ws lso 's boyhood world. Though he ws born Sn Frncco ( 1930), h formtive yers were spent Pcific Northwest. Durg depression, h fmily tried diry frmg Wshgton,, fter 1942, lived Portl, where he Oregon, ttended Reed College. Northwest h personl geogrphy: low country "Nooksck Vlley," where, sittg " berry-pickers cb / At edge wide muddy field / Stretchg to woods cloudy mounts," smell cedr remds him "our frm-house, hlf built '35"; high country mount wilderness North Cscdes which he first entered h Th mount youth. lscpe, especilly wilderness, like borigl, "Fur Countries" tht hd erly rejoiced Thoreu "gret west northwest on stretchg fitely fr gr wild" tht he lter sid qulified ll h thoughts?"tht only Americ I know.... Tht rod to new life freedom.... Tht northwest gret where severl our shrubs, fruitless here, ret mture ir fruits Wilderness th properly." kd, remds us, s much from s from personl experience htoricl report, wht Americns confronted on frontier. Here ws " vst wild tht ws For ecology" "md-shkg." Americns, nture, he sys, ment wilder ness, n "untmed relm totl freedom?not bruth nsty, but beutiful terrible." And it ment Ind, whose wys like, Thoreu, studied seriously (h bchelor's s, " Dimensions trets Myth," * Hid) whose he ghost, sys mnner portentous Lwrence, "will clim next s its own." genertion th possessed primitive lscpe mny wys, mong m lern by g woodcrft s mount s boy, climbg youth, forest workg s tril-mker, lookout h mnhood. And while he ws logger, erly possessg it, he ws, s student folklore, Orientl mythology, religion, its lnguges, extendg deepeng mengs, bck trnsformg country * rnge quiry th importnt work 's development suggested by " h conclusion: "In its totlity study myth study 'mn h works.' In course considerg nthropologicl, folklort, psychologicl, literry, socil spects myth, surveys much tht consequence to h lter writg seems to be sttement mkg bout h voction s poet. 79 Criticm

6 to spiritul dom. By time he goes to Crter Mount Lookout 1952, bck country hs become "Buddh l," plce spiritul enlighten ment to which one scends mens he re. Crter by dciples prctices Mount becomes "Crter Shn," nor Cold Mount, whose nmeske Hn-shn wrote "Cold Mount" poems tht lter trnslted, poems defg bck country s condition beg: "Freely driftg, I prowl woods strems / And lger wtchg thgs mselves. /Men don't get th fr to mounts."* All high plces become one hve th signifi cnce, s lter, when Glcier Pek Wilderness climbg Are, reclls Cold Mount himself Tibetn imges mounteer, Jpnese woodcutter, n exiled Chese trveler. nture he enters universl, like tht Thoreu sid he entered on h dily wlk: "I wlk out to nture such s old prophets poets, Menu, Moses, Homer, Chucer, wlked. You my nme it Americ, but it not Americ.... re truer ccount it mythology thn ny htory Americ...." For bck country bck. It reched by gog bck to wht Peter Levi, recent review 's poetry, clled "sources" work res ("'s tortion sources, defence us sense sprgs," wkeng "lost dimension life"). And bck down, sl descent, s Willim Crlos Willims spoke it, to fertile chos, very "mor stuff" our beg, to unconscious from which, believes, we cn reconstruct, mens medi by ttion, whtever spects previous cultures we desire. Like primitive wilderness? "nked" world where both Thoreu believe we re most live? sources re still re, down where love rooted deeper cretive forces nture tht womn ply, lwys ("no humn mn cn to mounts s re belong except y nture, nture womn" ). Here md untmed "seeds stct," to use Thoreu's re nur phrse, tured (for true culture, Thoreu remrked, does not "tme It tigers"). drkness, too, perhps like "bck" where Coyote lives ("H house ws bck bck hills") or "Deep North" Bsh?'s lst journey, "or shore," or world fter deth, bck country tht one 's "Journeys" enters s wilderness only by dyg. Flly, unconscious, outer ner bck equivlents, country beyond?beyond society, civiliztion its d contents ("I did not men to come th fr," writes "Twelve Hours out New York,"?"bsebll on gmes rdio / commercils tht turn your hir?"). It "old, dirty countries," bckwrd countries he hs wered, plces where old trditions re still livg, plces like Suw-no-Se Isl where primitive communl life he now dvoctes cn be lived. Erth House Hold? very title declres it?records th wreness deepeng significnce bck country. In it, one follows rom course () life, sees it nurturg poet, itself. con focusg concentrtg * Dhrm Bums, much it bout mount climbg, dedicted to Hn-shn. 80

7 eludg essys, most recent, or compre pltform progrm, re rdently didctic. But re exerces one's erly journls recordg life, prt dciple beg. In th, y remd one journls Emerson Thoreu. mn to young whom troduce us our first y us?y give erliest glimpse? lredy pursug wy wholly tent on overseeg h shpg perceptions; th, ccounts for perhps, impersonl qulity personl 's work dtguhes him from or utobiogrphicl (confessionl) poets h genertion. re journls work Zennt poet, poet who hs lerned much bout form from Pound but more, I thk, from Chese Jpnese poetry. first prt "Lookout's Journl," tht coverg summer 1952 on Crter Mount, best ll journls Erth House Hold. In none ors experiment form experience so fully relized. It, I thk, more drg work thn ny erly poems collected Riprp more (1959)?lrger, open, ble to cont, more ex substntively formlly, perience. trjectory it experience presents psses through experience, which, unrecorded, kd given crefully-wrought Pound cdenced poem purifiction, clrity, serenity commemortg followg summer's lookout, t Mount "Mid-August Sourdough Lookout," itil poem Riprp: Down smoke hze vlley Three dys het, fter five dys r Pitch on glows fir-cones Across rocks medows Swrms new flies. I cnnot remember thgs I once red A few friends, but y re cities. Drkg cold snow-wter from t cup Lookg down for miles Through high still ir. Th might be clled stori poem. It fulfills need recorded first journl: "to look with djust mechnm perception." And it re mds one Thoreu's reliztion t Widen ("Both plce time were chnged, I dwelt nerer to those prts universe to those ers htory which hd most ttrcted me") Emerson's relce on power prospects. journl gives essentil prticulrs experience tht contributed to such ttment. It begs lte June, t Rnger Sttion, with followg brief entry: Hitchhiked here, long vlley Skgit. Old crs prked weeds, little houses fields brken. A few cows, stumpl. 81 Criticm

8 Ate t cfe" rel lemon "prkwy pie don't "?why you here" get jukebox "? mn sid we weren't importnt enough" One notices first bbrevited probbly syntx?n one expression economy, tht tells us tht trditionl syntx n't essentil enough telegrphs quick grsp thgs, like sumi ptg. We re given objective frgments, but even th simplest entry re y rrnged plced on empty spce pge. Like hiku poem, y work by mens rt omsion, by wht y suggest. y tell rrivl but dicte journey (compre th entry with Kerouc's ccount Dhrm Bums) give sense cresg sprseness We re bck emptess. country now, old crs weeds, little houses, few cows not stumpl, plce importnt enough frequented commercil enough?for jukebox but still bckwrd enough, its vlues, s would hve Hemgwy noted, to serve undulterted lemon pie. As poted out reviewg book prose trnsltions Chese poems, le cretes mnner which "ny irregulr rrngement redg rhythm, poeticl." So here. entry poem. blnced cdence "Old crs prked weeds, little houses fields brken" rtful. Ech entry forml design, field experience, which poet tends frgments (thoughts, perceptions, nottions objects) to relte, become whole. unity entry ten unspoken ground to which ll refer, s followg: Grnite creek Gurd sttion 9 July boulder creek never moves wter lwys fllg toger! A rmshckle little cb built by Frnk Beebe mer. Two dys wlk to here from rodhed. rts Jpnese: moon-wtchg Redg sutr Hui N?ng. sect-herg one does not need universities librries one need be live to wht bout syg "I don't cre" ground, here, resolve to pursue wy; entry relly very tense builds to ttitude not crg bout "world" below. poet still strugglg with?perhps rehersg? "complete totl choice" he mde bout th time to scholr's creer nthro relquh "pressionl pology" set himself loose "to sk or swim s poet." entry begs with poet's ply ( rhythmic cpitliztion loction) with hiku poem pproprite to resolute thought, it moves ssocitively from olted little 82

9 cb mer to medittive rts seclusion prcticed by to h own dciple (redg sutr) thoughts ( recognition truth bout lerng), determed sttement choice. Jpnese, Zen Th prciple form pplies to journl s whole to mny poems. observes th journl tht form "levg thgs out t right spot / ellipse, emptess." Th not it emptess empty; ultimte, fullness life which few crefully selected crefully plced thgs my mke us wre. not or re re sixteen dted journl diry dybook/ only entries for period two hlf months. While suggestg dtnce between events, n olted se to fertile plce, pot emptess not, s do eqully frequent entries Sourdough Journl, to slckness boredom. y lso chrt complete event, ctul scent descent "Crter Shn"? pttern experience tht repetition, it seems, does not lwys recover its origl freshness exhilrtion. On ll ccounts (we her it Dhrm Bums), ws n exemplry lookout. But th not primry work recorded journl. H work, he notes, "Zzen non-life. An rt: mount-wtchg." It begs with h rrivl?with h openness ttentiveness to persons, plces, thgs. second entry, for exmple, chrcteriztion by speech Blckie Burns, forester, one roughs, to use Whitmn's term, to whom dedicted Riprp. H speech, though strong, not corse, like some woodsmen's necdotes its me Burns n Sourdough Journl, significnt. nounces concern ecologicl 's work: "GREEDY & SELFISH NO RESPECT FOR THE LAND." cpitliztion, prt 's design Burns' speech, lso serves to emphsize wht most importnt, n ttitude md fostered by Western Trdition ( Judso-Chrt trdition, ccordg to Pul Sheprd, which contributed to " htred for th world crried by our whole culture"). Greed selfhness, Buddh sid, were prcipl cuses dstfction sufferg were to be overcome by dciplg md, by chngg one's pot view. Chngg one's pot view (djustg mechnm perception) revolutionry sue; only dciple s rdicl s tht undertken by will, he believes, crete n ecologicl con science, prepre us to respect l, very ground our beg. ecologicl sue, refore, t center h spiritul undertkg, s poetry. A few entries lter, he writes:?if one whed to write poetry nture, where n udience? Must come from very conflict n ttempt to rticulte vion poetry & nture our time. pre-emently poet nture. And t begng h creer he knows, s he sys subtitle recent essy, tht poetry (requirg highest dciple poet, communictg "vion") n "ecologicl survivl technique." entries tht follow h resolution on Zen enlightenment record strenuous 83 Criticm

10 wywrd pursuit. entry July 11, somewht nture Whitmn ctlog, conveys by its romness n eger redess for new experiences or thn those recorded. first entry from mount lookout gives ele vtion, which, honestly cknowledged, only mtter feet ("8049 feet"). Everythg goes wrong, he's dpirited ("Even here, cold foggy rocky plce, re's life?4 ptrmign...") hs only energy enough to red science-fiction. But second hlf entry, with compron light lookout to tht shoji, reports revivg spirits resolve; refter, with entry July 28 from "Crter Shn," journl gives n ccount?hppy contented, I thk, when compred to Sourdough Journl? h dciple its fruits. Unlike or lookouts whose rdio converstions he enters journl s necessry fct, s bllst to h own experience, he tensely occupied ("poor lonely lookouts," he remrks, "rdiog bck forth"). He not lonely, no more thn Thoreu t Widen, who expled tht "nerest to ll thgs tht power which fshions ir beg." He hs close schedule work study,, like Thoreu, metphoriclly literlly, trnsctg busess with "Celestil Empire":?first I turn on rdio?n mke te & et brekfst?study Chese until eleven?mke lunch, snow go to melt chop wter, red Chucer fternoon. erly On August 10, he reports, First wrote hiku pted hig for it; n repired Om Mni Pdme Hum pryer flg, n constructed stone n shved down shke on pltform, pted zeng it, n studied lesson. Trnscriptions from texts he or reclls dicte h redg progress?most re from Orientl scripture, but Chucer's le on "drsty rymg" cited (per hps he redg Pterson IV) n Americn Ind song used to express h own feelg ("Is th rel / Is th rel / Th life I m livg?"). Sometimes hiku poem mrks h contentment? loneless: sittg sun doorwy pickg my teeth with broomstrw lten to buzz flies. By exposure, he comes to know h environment: rock live, not brren. flowers lichen pus lbicul mice even grss. chipmunks 84

11 He medittes on vstness time, sufficiency time, for chnge lithosph?re,, s syntx tells us ("When storm blows, coverg south wll with r blottg out mounts.") he himself cught up tremendous elementl ction, flity it. And n, towrd end h sty, he mkes crucil entry: Almost hd it lst no night: identity. One thks, "I emerged from some non-differentited I return to generl, it." One thg, hs never left relity it; re no return, my fdes. lnguge Imges erosion.j Wher he ever hs it left doubt, but concludg entry shows tht whtever good to senses spirit he hs hd hs not been lost on h return to Sn Frncco: Boys on bicycles sphlt plyground wheelg cir clg imlessly cr. prked like plyful gulls or swllows. Smell fresh Th exceptionl journl? brief Widen?ws work n exceptionl young mn, only 22, who lredy knew impertives rt set forth poetic directive "Riprp." Like Roy Mrchbnks, nor roughs by whom he ws tught s member tril crew Yosemite Ntionl Prk 1955, he respects workmnship, th stnce perfect selection plcg grnite rocks "tight cobble ptterns on hrd slb." So he structs himself poem tht exemplifies h skill rems h test rt: Ly down se words Before your md like rocks. plced solid, by hs In choice set plce, Before body md spce time : Solidity brk, lef, or wll riprp thgs : Cobble milky wy, stryg plnets, se poems, people, lost ponies with Drggg sddles? sure-foot trils. rocky worlds like n endless four-dimensionl Gme Go. nts pebbles In th lom, ech rock word creek-wshed stone 85 Criticm

12 Grnite: gred with torment fire weight Crystl sediment lked hot ll chnge, thoughts, As well s thgs. re modernt: unit impertives composition composition sgle word, like rock, solid prticulr thg weight texture tht exts plce time to ppels senses ("body md"); ct composition rchitecturl, buildg by words, deliberte hwork? kd lbor with thgs tht Thoreu sid removed plver from schol r's style tht, for, identifies him with workgmen. Poetry h crft: " riprp on slick rock s metphysics," he sys lter Myths?- Texts. "riprp thgs" cludes ll thgs, "cobble milky wy"? phrse wonderfully extrvgnt Thoreu's sense, like h own metphor fhg upper ir? "nts dimutive pebbles," thgs tht, one reclls "Song were Myself," objects Whitmn's ltered perception, pros love. substnce wht rt poetry, poetry, riprp words, chieves universl: extentil footg world, result ex grnitic under perience pressure world time chnge tht, crefully used, foundtion wy. Tested by se strds none or journls s good. Sourdough Journl (1953) written rr loose more prgrphs, route, necdotl, slckness due to to wreness without n descriptive. pssivity, edge, fltness experience without subjectivity. Artess feigned nivete d tress one immeditely. journl opens with, " cr it to ntique mnged Mrblemount lst week"?ntique, used g from Reder's "ptter ntique Digests he's found chez Lookout," one puts f, s does "mnged" very cdence le. And one soon reds Huck Fn-h sort entry: "... bunkhouse found with n mgze rticle bout n eighteen-yer-old girl who could dnce sew ws pt good lookg, too, with lots troubled?se re some pictures." journl dictions?, though it res bove th flly level, comes to neir resolution nor form. journl 's first sty Jpn, "JPn First Time Around" ( ), lso prgrphs, with little design. It both impressiontic medittive, recordg ssimiltion Jpn to h previous experience fluid movement n open specultive md. "Tnker Notes" ( ) re rom jottgs poet-semn, ebullient firemn Spp Creek ("?mdly sgg lughg [ Hn-shn boiler room], on perched pipes high on shipside ptg lower enge-room white?th wht I ws born for?"). poet now one roughs complements ustere trg Zen he hs just undergone (see h essy, "Sprg Sessh t Shokoku-Ji") with its worldly, humble spect. Much th journl given over to converstion folk-experience crew; n occsionl ungrm mticl phrse, like tht openg sentence ("ws took on lunch to th 86

13 ship"), styltic identifiction. Its longest entry, high-spirited ccount riotous shore-leve Smo, depicts rhythm 's wy beg morlly justified s spontneous ct ("Everyone so beutiful") perhps s sense fulfillg "higher responsibility to holy ghosts foolhness mess." lst tht journl, week's mount Glcier Pek climbg Wilderness Are (1965), seems more like first design thn ny ors, but design imposed rty observtion superficil, s th portion second entry: descendg to previous pond for lunch over steep her pick your wy thru like best Juste down wshes brests strips rms, tho ll chill; her jens color lkeside sedge hillside her, hir color mount wd. [Pugh creek goes to Whitechuck Whitechuck goes to S uk S uk goes to Skgit Skgit goes to Sound. ] Rts, lmbs, men, whles ll drk milk. North Fork Suk Tril White Mt Shelter 5-> White Pss &-? scent Glcier Pek ( compny Allen Gsberg), though effec tively given short phrses, complete sentences, stge-by-stge entries, good but not s good, I thk, s Kerouc's ccount mount climbg Dhrm Bums. All se journls lck contuous tensity first, but ll re signifi cnt lmrks 's development vluble glosses on poetry tht ccompnies it. Sourdough Journl conveys sense some burden cr, witg-out experience?"chese [Hsio-chg]; plus Blke's collected, Widen sumi ptg, pss time." only entry pprochg those first journl long medittion on desire dciple tht ends with followg exmple wreness reltionship: " desk under pencil." As poem on Dick Brewer's vit tells us, he lonely determed to go to Jpn ("Me bck to my mount fr, fr west"). journl ends with 87 Criticm

14 n entry from Berkeley where he hs gone to prepre himself for Zen study re. period t Berkeley ( ) ws long solitry. "I ws livg little cottge," he reclls, " studyg Chese Jpnese... gog up to woods mounts summer, writg redg. Intellectully, every wy, tht ws period gret excitement for me...." ( lst months th period re recorded Dhrm Bums.) Th tellectul quickeng growth pprent, I thk, journl h first sty Jpn, for th journl h thoughts re colescg cquirg ir subse direction. As erlier quent journls, he wre vstness com plex processes geologicl time; he medittes, he sys, on "ecology, food chs sex." reltion sex to food-chs dicted ecology th entry: "Depth body. How does one perceive ternl physicl sttes yog systems I guess?well well, soil conservtion / reforesttion / birth control / spellg reform: 'love body.'" Sex hs become proment element h thought, he workg out love ethic. He pprovgly cites Lwrence; he sees tht " Goddess mor, dughter, wife t sme time" ("Look g t girls s mors or dughters or sters for chnge view. Curious switch"); he begs to chrt connections between Zen, Avtmsk Tntr: givg love reltionship Bodhttv relxtion ferful defenses personl self-terest com strivgs?which munictes unverbl to or leves m do sme. th terior ese freedom crried "Enlightenment" not to only persons but to ll universe.... So Zen, founded on beg Avtmsk, net-network thgs; Tntr beg ppliction "terction with no obstcles" vion on level? "or" personl-humn becomes lover, through cn be... perceived. whom vrious lks net Poetry, too, now defed s n ct love, love: poet nture poet POETRY to give ccess to persons?cuttg wy fer reserve crmpg socil life: thus for Chese Nture too: poetry. poetry "th wht I've seen." Th ethic centrl, revolutionry consequence. It contributes to eco logicl survivl: " orgnm lters itself rr thn contue fruitless compe tition." And it contributes to socil vion which set forth two drems:?dremed new drk dustril-ge ges: filthy nrrow streets dirty buildgs with rickety wlks over streets from buildg to buildg?unwshed illiterte brutl cops? motorcycle cop sidecr drove up over ft 88

15 workgmn grbge who got knocked down fight?t electric wires droopg everywhere cns One I dremt I ws with Miur night R?shi, or n un mybe herd Polh revolutionry poet with bld hed?lookg t Berkeley. But new Berkeley? future? By bech clen white, by blue pure; white buildgs lovely boulevrd tll Monterey pes tht stretched wy bck to hills. We sw girl from some wys f wlkg towrd us, long-legged, her hir bound loosely bck. ltter drem, one testimonies tensive medittion, Joycen epiphny cllg poet to h work. It nswers choice he puts himself erlier:... must poet choose: eir to step strem deep h people, htory, trdition, foldg foldg himself welth persons psts; philosophy, humnity, to become richly foundtioned gret sne ordered. Or, to step beyond bound onto wy out, to horrors ngels, possible mdness or silly Fust doom, possible utter trns cendence, possible enlightened return, possible ignomious wormh perhg. He hs found not not wy-, wy-out, Rimbud's wy; when he goes to bck country it not to trde but, phrse from th journl tht defes work lter essys, to "knit old dhrm-trils." And, he sys "Tnker Notes," he will s on rely poet neir contrivnce nor vionry de rngement but on only Muse, on reverentil love, on cool wter spirtion, "cler sprg" md, deeper thn tellect un conscious, tht "reflects ll thgs feeds ll thgs but itself trnsprent." second prt th essy will pper Fll 1970 sue TIR. 89 Criticm