Big Sur 1978

A rendezvous of rag-tags culminating at Esalen

small brown and wrinkled
dry and slightly hairy thing
seems like one would surely choke
if ever one could swallow

 

and so we wind up winding
careening and turning tightly on
a black-top single digit highway
in bright red insectoid machines

 

I am driving

 

and the sea below is tossing
over rocks and sand and abalone
the road slices through fragile rock
seeking a time to be released

 

I flirt with treacherous fogs
I raise my shoulders slightly
to protect us from the fear
we shiver and are afraid to laugh

 

next to me sits my trusty friend
the dark and haunted violinist
I don’t remember meeting him
he was standing in the hot road

 

his dark beard comforts me now
he is my shy and diminutive brother
he seems very sad and concerned
I call him my furious worrier

 

I am driving

 

with the german feline in the back
and next to her some burly guy
and barely twixt their tightened thighs
the deft magician who brought us here

 

we met the magus strategically
camped out by the twisting black oaks
I made him an egg in the middle
and he gave me stranger food for sup

 

they locked the gates at two a.m.
but not before the time they let us in
and there in that hot dark pool of babel
we spoke naked and in ancient tongues

 

I am driving

 

and as I am reversing our course
I call out to that compound by the sea

 

we flirt with these tonight my friend
we flirt with the ghouls of esalen

 

I want to ruffle his curly head

 

but he is tired

 

and sulking

Reviews

[Allen Smuckler]

I just stumbled on this beautifully descriptive diary....boy was I ever impressed with the vivid and colorful images conveyed by your words....and voice.
You told an intriguing and mystifying tale, Keve and you had me hanging on every word.
Great write Keve....I'll be back
allen

[An owl on the moon]

You create a vast atmosphere of rich darkness... ancient voices casting shadows in the now... Powerful and moving, and filled with intriguing imagery.

[bookworm]

This is one of the most interesting pieces I've read today...very captivating through such detailed imagery...I was completely there, engrossed and enamoured with the characters you described. I love the flow and feel of this, a touch abstract but very relatable. So, I guess you are a story teller AND a poet!

[bob, small b. aka invs]

i just finished re-reading one of my favorite books, Confederate General From Big Sur by Richard Brautigan. this reminded me of it again. if you haven't read it, i highly recommend you look it up.
as far as this writing... i like it. very atmospheric. slightly abstract. it really painted a picture of that place and time. well done.

[RainQueen]

This is a unique piece. Somehow, you managed to turn a journey into a sepia-toned snapshot. You get a sense of the whole trip and the characters kind of in one frame.

makes me long for adventure...Lovely write!