Roque Dalton: Salvadorian poet-hero-martyr (1935–1975) was liquidated by fellow FMLN revolutionists for tactical differences of opinion.

     Velemir Khlebnikov (1885–1922), Snake Train (Ann Arbor: Ardis House, 1976). The classic Futurist poet perished after returning by train from Pyatigorsk to Moscow, “weakened by malnutrition and repeated bouts of typhus and malaria.” See The King of Time, Selected Writings of the Russian Futurian, trans. Paul Schmidt (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1983).

(p. 951) Spot Anger

     “Drive All Blames into One”—i.e., oneself. Jamgon Kongtrul, The Great Path of Awakening. A Commentary on the Mahayana Teaching of the Seven Points of Mind Training, trans. Ken McLeod (Boston: Shambhala Press, 1987). Original text by Atisa.

(p. 952) London Dream Doors

     “God sent him to sea for pearls”: “For in my nature I quested for beauty, but God, God hath sent me to sea for pearls.” Christopher Smart, Jubilate Agno, ed. W. H. Bond (New York: Greenwood Press, 1969).

(p. 954) Cosmopolitan Greetings

     Response to Macedonian request for message to Struga Evenings of Poetry festival, on receiving 1986 Golden Laurel Wreath prize.

     “Molecule/clinking against molecule.”: See “Winter Night,” Attila Józef’s Selected Poems and Texts, trans. John Bátki (Iowa City: International Writing Program, University of Iowa, 1976).

     First Thought, Best Thought, Chögyam Trungpa (Boston: Shambhala Press, 1984).

     “If the mind is shapely, the art will be shapely”: Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, conversation 1958, Cherry Plains, N.Y.

(p. 957) Fifth Internationale

     See the “Internationale,” former Soviet national anthem:

“Arise ye prisoners of starvation,

Arise ye wretched of the earth,

For justice thunders condemnation,

A better world’s in birth,” etc.

     Crazy Wisdom: i.e., wild wisdom “whispered lineage,” characteristic of Kagyu school, Tibetan Buddhism. See Chögyam Trungpa, Rinpoche, Crazy Wisdom (Boston: Shambhala Press, 1992).

(p. 959) Europe, Who Knows?

     Russian Chernobyl translates literally as “wormwood.”

(p. 960) “Graphic Winces”

     Collaboration with Brooklyn College M.F.A. Writing Workshop, Fall 1986, and Bob Rosenthal.

(p. 961) Imitation of K.S.

     Jack Micheline, Skinny Dynamite (San Francisco: Second Coming Press, 1980). Story by the poet-painter.

(p. 967) On Cremation of Chögyam Trungpa

     Cremation ceremony took place at Karme-Chöling Retreat Center, Barnet, Vermont.

(p. 969) Nanao

     Written for back jacket copy, Break the Mirror: The Poems of

Nanao Sakaki (San Francisco: North Point Press, 1987).

(p. 976) Salutations to Fernando Pessoa

     See “Salutation to Walt Whitman,” The Poems of Fernando Pessoa, trans. Edwin Honig and Susan M. Brown (New York: Ecco Press, 1987).

(p. 979) May Days 1988

     “Arabs should throw words not stones,” Elie Wiesel, quoted in New York Post sometime 1988.

(p. 984) Return of Kral Majales

     See “Kral Majales,” p. 353 and notes, Collected Poems 1947–1980 (New York: Harper & Row, 1984).

     Sen. Jesse Helms & Heritage Foundation’s October 1988 law directed Federal Communications Commission to enforce 24-hour ban on “indecent” language over all airwaves, declared unconstitutional by subsequent court decisions. At poem’s writing, ban extended 6:00 A.M. to midnight. Court decisions 1993 froze ban as of 6:00 A.M. to 8:00 P.M., leaving as “safe harbor” late evening to 6:00 A.M. Daytime broadcast for students (& adults) reading the author’s “questionable” poems in schools is now forbidden by law.

     All gone all gone …: version of Prajnaparamita, Highest Perfect Wisdom, 17-syllable Sanskrit mantra: “Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi Svaha.”

(p. 985) Elephant in the Meditation Hall

     “As late as 1988, 333 House members and 61 Senators hosted significant donations from Savings & Loan lobbyists.” “S & L Scandal: The Gang’s all Here,” by Mary Fricher and Steve Pizzo, New York Times Op-Ed, July 27, 1990.

(p. 987) Poem in the Form of a Snake That Bites Its Tail

     Ojus: hard coral limestone formations, North Miami area, Florida.

(p. 997) CIA Dope Calypso

     See New York Times, March 12, 1989:

HULL BAILED OUT IN COSTA RI CA

     San Jose, Costa Rica, March 10 (AP)—American-born John Hull, who has been linked to Nicaraguan rebel supply network, was released from prison Friday after he posted $37,000 bail, his attorney said. The 69-year-old Mr. Hull, who was jailed on Jan. 13 on charges of drug trafficking and violating Costa Rican security, was freed soon after friends collected bail money. Mr. Hull has lived in Costa Rica for 20 years. He is accused of allowing his ranch to be used by the Nicaraguan contras and of narcotics trafficking between 1982–1985.

     Part I originally published in First Blues (New York: Full Court Press, 1979). Here two additional sections update events. For scholarly history of government intelligence involvement with drug trafficking to aid or fund “off-the-shelf” secret & illegal operations, including most references in “CIA Dope Calypso,” see Alfred McCoy, The Politics of Heroin (Brooklyn: Lawrence Hill Books, 1991), to which poet contributed research.

(p. 1002) Just Say Yes Calypso

     After aiding CIA overthrow of Iran’s legal Premier Mohammed Mossadegh, General N. Schwarzkopf’s father, Norman Schwarzkopf, Sr., trained the Shah’s dreaded secret police, the Savak. See “Capitol Air,” Collected Poems 1947–1980; Lies of Our Times, vol. 2, no. 2 (February 19, 1991) (New York: Sheridan Square Press); and James Breslin, “A Son Follows Suit in the Matter of Oil,” New York Newsday, September 9, 1990.

(p. 1004) Hum Bom!

     Part I and shorter version of Part II were published in Collected Poems 1947–1980. Additional verses added 1991.

(p. 1011) Big Eats

     Mahamudra poetics exercise suggested by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso, Rinpoche, Rocky Mountain Dharma Center, Summer 1991. The first of five verses, 21 syllables each, begins in “neurotic confusion” (Samsara), the last concludes grounded in “ordinary mind” (Dharmakaya).

(p. 1019) After Lalon

     Lalon Shah (1774–1890), Bengali Baul singer, devotional forerunner of Rabindranath Tagore. See Songs of Lalon Shah, trans. Abu Rushd (Dhaka: Bangla Academy Press, 1991).

(p. 1024) Get It?

     Verse 1: Ref Rodney King videotape beating and police trials, Los Angeles 1992–93.