April 22, 2020
Poet and ecological activist Lewis MacAdams died yesterday, and there is a part of me that believes he chose to leave this planet yesterday so that attention would be called not just to the L.A. River, but to all the rivers of Mother Earth.
In thinking of all the rivers as “One River,” I recall that one of the first books of poetry I published was Jim Grabill’s One River. I would to proclaim him as my choice for Poet Laureate of Mother Earth. If there is any poet who will be seen in retrospect as a William Blake of this period — someone who worked to a large extent in obscurity, but whose vision was the most pertinent — then I believe it will be Jim Grabill, a poet I have never met in person and perhaps never will.
May he somehow learn the high esteem I retain for his work. Should you wish to find some of his work in a magazine that shares my enthusiasm and that will also put you in touch with similar poetics at work, then I recommend Larry Smith’s Caliban, which will wrap up publication with the upcoming appearance of its 40th issues, many of which have contained Grabill’s writing.
EARTH DAY CELEBRATION OF POETRY THIS COMING WEEKEND:
About Bill Mohr