from Kent Johnson

As a supporter of most things Kent Johnson as well as the publisher of his forthcoming book Lyric Poetry After Auschwitz, I present to you his open letter to Campus Watch:

Dear Campus Watch,

I have recently read the diatribe on the poet and activist Ammiel
Alcalay, published in the American Thinker on March 4.

I am not writing this letter to argue politics with you, for that would
be silly, wouldn't it? I am writing, rather, to ask that you add me to
the list of American poets you are putting under surveillance. Allow me
to briefly list some of my credentials, as I think you will agree I
deserve to be given a file in the archives of your organization.

I was one of the poets published in Sam Hammill's Poets Against the War
anthology. My poem, which was widely distributed before its anthology
publication, including by the openly Marxist journal Monthly Review, is
titled Baghdad, and it is loosely based on the children's book Goodnight
Moon.

Days went by... Then, the torture scandal at Abu Ghraib prison
happened, and I published a poem titled "Lyric Poetry After Auschwitz,
Or: Get the Hood Back On." This poem may be of particular interest to
you, since (in addition to the fact that it is accompanied by
photographs and the music of Dean Martin) Ammiel Alcalay himself saw fit
to send it abroad for possible translation into Arabic. I don't know if
it has been translated yet, but the English version is available here,
where it has received thousands of visits since its appearance :
http://www.blazevox.org/kent.htm

Further, this poem is now the title poem of a collection of mine that
is soon to appear. This book will contain numerous pieces by me (not
everyone would judge it poetry!), all of which have some relation to the
war in Iraq. The cover of this book will be, I think, somewhat original:
The infamous shot of the American soldier holding the leash which is
clipped to the neck of the prone prisoner shall be surrounded by
pictures of daffodils among which shall be little Cupids shooting their
arrows inward, toward the picture.

But the most important thing I wanted to say about the forthcoming book
is this: I intend to announce in the book that all author royalties from
the sale of the collection are to be donated to Campus Watch. I wish to
do this (and I hope you will accept the gesture) because I strongly
believe your proto-fascist activities are an excellent stimulant to the
defense of American values, like civil liberties and other stuff.

Also, I should tell you that I correspond with Joseph Safdie, one of
the "leftist" poets mentioned in the American Thinker article! He and I
almost co-edited a book of recipes and favorite dinner anecdotes by
poets. Alas, this book idea fell through, though I now can't quite
remember why. But someone else should certainly do it, as it is a
wonderful idea. Oh, and I should also say that in the 1980's I worked as
a literacy teacher in Nicaragua on two different occasions. This was
when the Sandinista's were in power. Though I'm more or less a social
democrat now, I was *really* radical back then. From our village, we
could hear the Contra mortars going off almost every night. Some of my
friends died. Then I came back and founded the Milwaukee Central America
Solidarity chapter, which went on to do all sorts of protest activities.
One event we organized was called "Who's Watching You in 1984?" and
hundreds of people attended, including numerous FBI agents. Not to get
too sentimental, but it was at this event that I met my future wife.

So, these would be some reasons you might wish to accept my request to
be inducted into your files. I will be sure to send you a copy of the
forthcoming book, which, again, shall go to support the activities of
your organization.

Sincerely,

Kent Johnson

Comments

[justin]

I must have a copy.

-j

[scott]

I am agraid and hopeful that everyone will.

S

[agraidy cat]

I'm sorry but I must....

What the fruck is 'agraid'?

[scott]

you don't know the word "agraid"? And I thought you were a poet...

[argasid]

Oh!... You mean 'Argasid'?... The tick lacking a dorsal sheild and having mouth parts on the underside of the head?

[Carlo Parcelli]

Just what one would expect from Kent. Another chance to shamelessly promote himself this time exploiting the invasion of Iraq and its tens of thousands of victims. And, wow, what leftist credentials. Kent the fellow traveler wannabe.