Selected Poems

This book was my first introduction to Lew Welch and I came out of it feeling as if I knew him. It includes poems, songs and even a couple drawings by him and in its own dizzying way documents Welch's search for his totem animal. Early in his life he feels he is Leo, a lion, but eventually accepts that he is a turkey buzzard. Full of nuances and silliness, I have to read it four more times to unravel his (then) contemporary and ancient allusions. One example of his simple brilliance:(included in a section in which he sums up his education, subject by subject)BOTANYConsider the Passion Flower:Who'd ever think a plant would go to/ so much troublejust to get f--ked/ by a Bee.