by Thom the World Poet

In 1968, I was a member of E.A.T. (Experiments in Art & Technology)
It was a New York based group of experimental artists
Who were willing to take risks both in content and style
For the free expression of their chosen creative projects.
I made two films out of discarded 16mm B&W newsreel footage
I screened them backwards. The show went for 32 minutes.
The length of a reel through a Bell & Howell borrowed University projector.
I hired a band -- Lobby Lloyd and the Colored Balls
To play on Jimi Hendrix's Birthday -- not knowing exactly when Jimi
Was born -- but knowing his name would draw more audience
Than Lob by Lloyd (who incidentally, knew no Hendrix songs at all)
I presented a donkey to the governor of Queensland
In honor of the gerrymandered electorates, our police state
And the subliterate (Floridian) donkey votes
I started a club on campus called the FEDOR CLUB
Named after a fictitious Russian writer -- Feodor Vladimir Lanovitch.
I had 200 members (membership was free)
Including the President of the student union.
Eventually, I became Editor of the student newspaper --
Through news agencies in the city. It lasted a year, successfully
When we started the first Austin poetry festival in 1993,
A poet called Joseph Colin Murphey -- distinguished academic
Who left the University life for a more liberal lifestyle
That is how he found us. That is how he gained new material/fresh visions.
That is why I mention him. A seed of such rebellion lives in Billy Cope
Who treads these same Austin streets as a young writing rebel
When he could easily be ensconced as a tutor with an MFA.
No one is as they appear these days. Not even me.