On the Spontaneous Formation of a Political Party

ON THE SPONTANEOUS FORMATION OF A POLITICAL PARTY

After the 2007 Naropa Summer Writing Program, Lisa Birman (that program’s Director) and I were discussing that in 2008, the Democratic political convention would be held down the road in Denver. We decided quite effortlessly, creatively one might say, that what’s needed in the national political dialogue are poets, artists, those with fresh, dynamic perspectives. Not just in Presidential politics, but on the state and local level as well, poets entering the conversation. Before we knew it, we were suggesting the formation of a political party. Because Lisa is from Australia, we are already international in scope.

Do we have a platform? Yes, free speech, free press, free assembly, separation of church and state. Radical notions in these times. Might anyone we support actually get into office? Not necessarily, but at least we’re providing a way into the discourse. What are we called? The Poets Party.

Wanna be part of it? We’re starting now, and already have a few slogans: The Poets Party: In Agreement with Dissent… The Poets Party: We Write Our Own Speeches… The Poets Party: The Truth for a Change….



Junior Burke, November 7, 2007. Boulder, Colorado, USA