When I Was a Poet

by David Meltzer

A milestone in City Lights history, David Meltzer's When I Was a Poet is number sixty of the famous Pocket Poets Series. The title work is an ambitious late masterpiece from a legendary poet at the height of his powers, a spiritual assessment of the meaning of a lifetime of writing poetry. Also included are reminiscences of California bohemian life, a series of mystical amulets, and profound meditations on love, loss, aging and death. Associated with the Beat Generation and late '60s psychedelia, musician, novelist and editor David Meltzer is one of America's foremost living poets. "Meltzer is a prolific poet of many modes and voices, quite a few of which are here, love poems, poems out of childhood, a series of "amulets," cryptic short wisdom poems, and much more. These are all tasty, often ironic and/or mysterious, pieces of Davidness to be savored . . . "—Richard Silberg, Poetry Flash

Genres: Poetry

135 pages, Paperback

First published May 31, 2011

About the author

David Meltzer was a poet associated with both the Beat Generation and the San Francisco Renaissance. A pioneer of jazz poetry readings, Meltzer also formed a psychedelic folk-rock group. He performed with the music and poetry review, "Rockpile." He edited many anthologies, including San Francisco Beat: Talking with the Poets (City Lights, 2001), and published 11 erotic novels. He taught for many years in the poetics program at New College of California.

Reviews

[Chairness · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been awhile since a book of poetry has truly astonished me but David Meltzer's When I was a Poet has: completely. While not all the pocket poets series from City Lights float my boat, this one really has because Meltzer applies his own unique brand of poetry crafting in order to talk about issues that are familiar to us: love, death, and life. He moves you from page to page seemlessly and lovingly. I don't often like poems that talk about love, but I'll be damned if Meltzer isn't a master of talking frankly about it, rather than a wistful way. Definitely a must-read for the aspiring poet.

[lotb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fecund, mystical, jazzy, and always exuberant — Meltzer deserves the same recognition proffered to the better known beat poets based off of this collection alone. The brisk pace of the book, coupled with a smattering of novel ideas, pushed me to the end in the course of two sittings. I may not have internalized / made sense of everything said, but like all great works this demands rereading.

[J.C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this collection from Meltzer's work. Some of the more whimsical elements, his use of humor and rhyme mostly, remind me of Syd Barrett's, or at least I was frequently reminded of Syd while reading these poems.

I understand that David was a musician and was in a band in the sixties. I often wondered how much the process of songwriting influenced his poetry, and vice versa. There's still a feeling of psychedelic 60's in the poems, but so much more than that. These poems deal with life and death, huge topics.

[City Lights Booksellers & Publishers · Rating 5 out of 5]

"An erudite man with interests that range from Jewish mysticism to jazz, Meltzer is anything but bookish. He writes quick, wry poetry, embedded with wisdom, his short lines delivered in a dancing street vernacular that gathers force as it uncovers fresh discoveries."-- The San Francisco Chronicle

[Brendan]

Rating: 3 1/2

The title piece is definitely the stand-out here.

"Pepper" - about jazz saxophonist Art Pepper is notable, as is "Zone".

To a lesser extent: "asking questions leads to more", "California Dreamin", "Cold", and "Jewelbox".

[agenbiteofinwit · Rating 4 out of 5]

i find Meltzer's poetic voice quite amusing, especailly for the title piece, which is a stand-out from the other beat poets, in a way that Meltzer's using simple words to pile up such strong emotions that underline the identity of being a poet. the other longer poems are also distinctively fine and well-written, however, the shorter ones with one or two stanzas seem to be particularly lacking in content and a complete flow that completes the poem, they felt less like quotes as well because the words become bland without a better given context. all in all, Meltzer's poems are refreshing and delighting in a way that within a short premise, man can lay pretty much everything nice on the paper, all panned out for the readers. (happy to have bought this little book from city lights bookstore as well, however i still think i'd opt for Ginsberg's more emotional tiderising style of poetry.)

[Swell Versed · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my favorite piece of Beat poetry, as it is a passionate ode to the craft of poetry and all that poets can do with their words. I really enjoyed the unique rhythm of the very short lines of this very long piece, the scant but effective use of rhyme, the very rich imagery and wordplay, and the creative use of other sound devices (e.g. alliteration and assonance). My most favorite lines are "When I was a Poet / Passion was a Wire / plugged into Nerve Ends / of lover Spines / charging our volts / with Jolts of Jazz / & deep juice / parting like Red Seas".

[Scott Ballard · Rating 4 out of 5]

“When I was a Poet
Everything was Possible
There wasn’t Anything
That wasn’t Poetry”

[Seth Arnopole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not all of the poems resonated with me, but ones like "Dogma," "California Dreaming," "Mr Peanut," and the title poem make the collection worth reading.

[Darryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Meltzer (1937-), a noted Beat Poet, musician and long time San Francisco resident, moved to the city by the Bay in 1957, after he read two notable Beat poetry collections, Lawrence Ferlinghetti's [Pictures of the Gone World], published in 1955, and Allen Ginsberg's [Howl], which was released the following year. He befriended the two men, and also began to write poetry and fiction. He also played jazz guitar in the late 1950s and early 1960s, then became a part of the San Francisco rock scene in the middle of the decade, hosting jam sessions with artists such as David Crosby and Jerry Garcia. He later joined the psychedelic band Serpent Power, whose self titled album was proclaimed one of the best of the Summer of Love by Rolling Stone.

Despite his prolific output, [When I Was a Poet] is the first collection to be published by City Lights, which was released in 2011 as part of its Pocket Poets Series. The poems highlight the bohemian life of Meltzer, Ginsberg and their friends in 1950s San Francisco, with a style that favors but does not mimic that of his contemporaries. Meltzer, still active in his mid 70s, also writes about his life, and those close to him he has loved and lost, along with mid-century bebop and modern jazz, such as this tribute to legendary saxophonist Art Pepper:

Art's desire to get it all said
to all who thought him dead
in the joint & beside the point

Art's struggle to sing it all
through jazz warfare & tell
everything he knew in brass
speed rap stir crazy utopia
of muscle chops push it in your face
rough unrelenting grace

fierce Art pitbull clamps down
pulls edges out in time to break through
scream knotty beauty
toe to toe w/ any joe
who thinks they know better

Art tattoos blue needles into moonlight skin
junk light makes mirrors perfect
Art's smoke aches out of wounds

L.A. Art burritos & bebop
black guacamole serge zoots
Central Avenue cat copping

Pepper at Club Alabam
in Lee Young's band
all the chicks & the hatcheck chick
have big eyes for Art's horn

These poems, particularly "California Dreamin", are enjoyable to read. However, like most Beat poetry, they are best appreciated in a smoky club or cozy bookstore, preferably with the backing of a jazz bassist or small ensemble. I missed seeing Meltzer read from this book at City Lights last year, but I hope to be able to catch him live in performance during a future trip to San Francisco.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been reading and writing poetry (albeit sporadically) for about 50 years, and I have to admit two things: 1. I've always liked poets more than poetry; and 2. I've not often read any book of poems cover-to-cover, (although I'm proud to have completed the epics - Iliad, Odyssey, Diving Comedy, Paradise Lost.) I have, however, read "When I Was a Poet" all the way through.

That being said, it seems the poets I've most loved we're all born in the mid to late thirties, have almost all been associated with the Beat Generation and/or the San Francisco Renaissance, (with a few East Coasters, Black Mountain folks, and international all-stars thrown in for good measure,) and are a dying breed. I think I can name McClure, Ferlinghetti, Ed Sanders, Anne Waldman, Jerry Rothenberg, Snyder, David Meltzer, and not many others as being above ground, and producing - though not producing all that much.

I loved the poets because they were the wild men and women of letters. All eventually mellowed, but they were (and a few still are) explorers of cosmic consciousness, heroes who brought us the news; "yawpers," they've been called, who pulled very few punches, were impolite and impolitic, and who actually believed in something more than tenure, or the dainty tea cups of refined sensation. I loved them for their wild personas, their wild lives and politics, and their wild poems. They were the pre-MFA generation.

David Meltzer was on my top poets list because of the depths of Jewish mystic thought, and eroticism he brought to his work, so I was thrilled when City Lights published his latest as #60 in the Pocket Poets Series.

This review is my first take - four stars mean, according to the goodreads scheme, "really like it," and I do. It's true to an unvarnished, but not unsophisticated form; it appears simple in structure but contains the depths of first thought, best thought, mixed with precision that must come from rewriting; and it deals with life and death as though both matter. What it's not, thank God, is New Yorker or Atlantic Monthly material. I'm prepared to live with this book for awhile and have it end up in the goodreads five star firmament of "amazing." Meltzer is a scrappy poet, and this is a scrappy book, and that's how I like my poetry.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started reading this a long time ago, when it was gifted to me by a friend, but as I was able to see by the notes I had made on a bookmark within the book, I was not in the right place at the time. But today I was.

There are some beautiful poems here. Particularly the title poem, "California Dreamin", "Cupped, Tarzan yodeled...", and my favorite, "Jewelbox."

(The experience was somewhat enhanced by reading it on a sunny day on my sidewalk as vacuum salesmen and prostitutes both tried to earn their living.)

[Sian Lile-Pastore · Rating 3 out of 5]

i absolutely loved the title poem.
i love the lines

'When I was a Poet
Everything was Possible
there wasn't Anything
that wasn't Poetry'

unfortunately the rest of the poems didn't grab me in the same way as this one, though am sure that is my fault and not Meltzer...

[Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

potent little collection of relatively recent poetry from one of the less well known original beatniks. Meltzer muses on his past, his loves, old age, death and the writing process. one poem is about Art Pepper - one of my favorite jazz artists

[Latif Harris]

A wonderful book covers many periods of poet's work. Delightful playland of occult wisdom. Still reading and will write more anon.

[Sunnylyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The raw rhythm of the real -- pure joy

[James Payne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this dude was kind of dummie.

[Christopher Newton · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually like Meltzer's stuff, but I just couldn't find the door into this one. Maybe my taste is changing.