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So glad you have signed up to receive the For Random Learning Comes Newsletter! This is the one hundred and fourth edition.
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I have one poem for Earth Day, Land of Hydration. If you've ever been in Florida in the hot humid summer, you know what I mean.
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Two weeks ago, at the time of my last newsletter, I went to the St Augustine PoetFest and sat on a panel called From Bookstaplers to Substack: Publishing 101 at 11 am. I stayed from about nine in the morning until the presentations were over. I was ready to drive home, so I skipped the snacks and drinks afterwards.
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The event was very enjoyable with all sorts of poets. I was introduced to the concept of Beat Poetry, although of course, I knew vaguely of its existence, especially since the Florida Beat Poet Laureate, Chris Bodor, lives in St Augustine and organized the PoetFest.
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I found it interesting to hear the way rhythm and stressing different words gave a kind of music to beat poetry. I really enjoyed the presentation on the Jack Kerouac House in St Petersburg (there is also one in Orlando) which involved some of Jack Kerouac's writing. I remember trying to read On The Road when I still had infants in my house, but I don't remember getting very far.
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I got the impression, much as when I read Gertrude Stein, of the never-ending sentence. What a change, from the cut-up, unadorned sentences and curt language that both dominate today's broadcasting and internet.
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Not that Beat is Victorian, as in flowery or overladen with adjectives. More like racing, racing to get to a destination and not bothering to pick up any punctuation along the way.
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The highlight for me was the reading by Ron Whitehead. He was a sight to behold. Gandalfian, tall and white-maned, with glittering crystals in the long strings of his beard, and a jacket like a rhinestone cowboy, with shiny silver fringe.
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His presentation lasted a breathless 23 minutes, but it felt like a trip on a bullet train, incorporating quotes from famous transcendentalists and philosophers, coming at you so quickly and forcefully, you hardly had time to recognize the names.
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The lines that stuck with me had to do with saying "No. I refuse." He talked about the demons of AI and occupational specialization, and how they were keeping us all from approaching happiness and fulfillment through art, which is our natural state of being as well as purpose (I am paraphrasing here, but hopefully I'm not too far off the mark.)
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His message seemed to be that resistance is not futile (ala The Borg, in Star Trek The Next Generation.) It is our only hope.
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He mentioned, that he knew Hunter S. Thompson. All in all, it was a remarkable experience.
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In my own small part on the panel, as I told my friends, I opened my mouth and words came out. I hope they were helpful. Much information was shared by everyone there, all about producing content in paper form and on the internet and publishing oneself and others.
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I got a very nice compliment afterwards, when a young woman told me she loved the name of my blog, For Random Learning Comes. She immediately got it. That meant a lot to me. I also got to hand out a lot of my business cards, for whatever that is worth.
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My novel stands at 33,448 words. I have a chapbook of poems out in the ether at a contest (no word expected till summer) and a few entries in the Florida Writer's Association's Royal Palm Literary Awards competition. Also a poem sent in for the annual FWA collection. All my fingers are crossed.
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So much for writing a short newsletter! Sorry for sending off-schedule. Best to get it out there, when I have the time!
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May we all care for the Earth in whatever way we can. so that it is around and still recognizable, to the seventh generation and beyond.
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So Close and Yet So Far
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This essay discusses the Semiquincentennial celebration and compares it with Fourths of Years gone by.
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Drawing
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A poem on redistricting, the drawing of new districts to serve the ruling party's political purposes, with the blessing of the Supreme Court and with enthusiasm unchecked by either the people's will nor the State's Constitutional provisions.
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Attempt
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A poem describing the swirling emotions on and offline provoked by the attempted assassination of President Trump at the dinner for the press. Caveat: I do not doubt the attempt on his life was real. P.S. The photo is an attempt at beauty.
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Approaching May 1st, 2026, Anniversary of The Great Fire, Jacksonville, FL
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A poem about a very dry spring in Florida which calls to mind the terrible fire which consumed Jacksonville early in the 20th century.
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Smiles
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This poem analyzes the loss of reputation of the US in the eyes of its closest allies, and the attitude it projects, about that loss.
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