Bennett, John

Betrayal's Like That

Ellensburg, WA: Vagabond Publications, 2000. First Printing. Stapled Wrappers. "I hit the streets at ten," writes the Hunckean Beat-&-Beyond poet John Bennett. "Carnival gigs and fruit tramp days. Shady doings in South Philly and Cleveland." Of age to fight in the Vietnam War, Bennett continues: "The army drew me in like a magnet and shot me straight off to Nam. I was only tunnel rat over six feet tall, a contortionist from the school of hard knocks. For the first time in my life, I was grounded in purpose." Bennett's story is all-too-familiar--poignantly so, echoing the fates which befell many PTSD-stricken Vietnam Veterans as they returned to America. "I hit the streets when the war crashed and burned, and the next thing I know, I'm on a chain bus to prison." Bennett's story, at least, has a happier turn (we'll leave that to this book's future reader), but his healing resulted in the writing of what he terms "shards." "A shard is a knee-jerk reaction to a rug burn. A blowtorch in the face of betrayal. / Tattooed and tabooed, I rock on." (Quoted selections from Bennett's poem "Ballad of a Shard Writer"). Your Devoted Curator is among the privileged recipients of a regular showering of shards that Bennett dispatches by e-mail to a list of similarly-informed aficionados. Signed by John Bennett to Jeffrey Weinberg of Water Row Press, friend of Third Mind Books. Signature reads: "for Jeffrey Weinberg / John Bennett / February 3, 2000." Book in very fine condition with only slightest rusting to staples at interior, exterior. A rewarding Bennett collectible. Very Fine. [Item #3874]

Price: $30.00