By Hillary Kaye
In 1954 to escape the street drug scene he was involved with in New York, he hitchhiked “On the Road” style across the country to Venice and immediately fell in love with it. When he returned in ‘59 everything seemed to fall into place at Venice West Cafe.
Frank has written 11 books of poetry including the following poem from “The Kid in the Woods” which is available at Beyond Baroque.
An Interview with Frank T. Rios appears on page 5.
————
The sun is all things
lighting its way
burning flesh
separating the bark
from the tree
the Kid must
write
on wood
put his naked hand
to its naked face
they threaten
to put it all on the Internet
sun & moon
man & woman
the giant oak
the poem is spattered against
O Lady
of the woods
give me power
to keep the poem
human
& the hands naked
against the giant oak
– Frank T. Rios
Categories: History, Poetry, The Venice Beat Poets
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