The poems in this volume come from an earlier period
in Knoxville. Most of them were written then, and the few that were written later
were naturally a part of this group. The three books were originally published
separately by Rich Mountain Bound, but I always viewed them as a trilogy
connected in time and setting and theme. Iris Press publishes them here for the
first time together and under this title.
The
earlier period I speak of was when I returned to Knoxville in the spring of 1981
after what I call my 'hermit year' in relative seclusion in the Smoky Mountains.
When I left the mountains in early '81 I first traveled out west and lived and
worked in the state of Washington for a few months before going south to San
Francisco. There I stayed for about a month and met a number of writers and
artists including some of the Beat writers and their younger contemporaries. By
late May I hitchhiked back to Knoxville and started over with the city. It was a
wild time of awakening for Knoxville, and of a new self-determination coming
into the larger light of a world's fair exhibition soon to take place downtown.
In many ways because of this cultural phenomenon, but also in coincidental
confluence with it, a series of other cultural and artistic forces were at play
that would alter the city's long traditions of art and music and
literature.
There are far too many significant
details of that time to list here: the many artists, the bands, the exhibition
spaces, the incredible number of exhibitions and performances,
the skits and plays and performance art, the street art, the Alley des Refuses,
the publications, the poetry readings, the manifestoes, the astounding music that
was being made everywhere, all the new faces and talents converging on
the scene, the many tribes coming together, and all those
who were returning to town bringing new energy and ideas from abroad, the
new ground being broken, the city politics trying to employ it and then just
keep a handle or lid on it all, the new world view and city
identity, the recognition of Knoxville's own history and re-connection with its
traditions and central figures and movements, the new connections being made to
New York and Chicago and Los Angeles and San Francisco and Europe, a changing of
the guard in old hard Knoxville.
And from it came
the first stirrings of a revival and revitalization of downtown. The Old City
itself was born during this time. The latent world's fair site was unwrapped
with the reopening of the seven houses that became known as the Artists Colony.
This was followed with the opening of the Candy Factory and then the creation of
the Knoxville Museum of Art. Long before the decade was over Knoxville would
have a new geographical continuum of creative spirit stretched across its
center, from UT and the Fort Sanders community through the world's fair site to
downtown and into the Old City. It wasn't propped up by any single entity such
as the university or the city government, or by any singular event like the
world's fair exhibition, but was a legitimate outgrowth of the unfolding culture
spawned and held together by a number of entities and events and natural
collusion within the city.
For those who
were here, it's easy to see the significance of this period. For those who were
actively involved, there's always a feeling that the importance of this time has
gone relatively unrecognized, often misunderstood, and only marginally
documented. So much of importance that was set in motion then is still in play
now, still growing out of the seeds and inspiration of those days. These poems
are from there.