John Dorsey

Working class poems set in Missouri. As fellow poet Shawn Pavey says in the Foreword, Dorsey "loves our beat up and rusted out cars, the dive bars and chicken joints which are the only places we can really afford even though settling the tab always brings on that discernible stab of anxiety." His "subjects would be off center, off balance, and blurred just a little in grainy black and white." Yet amid life's failures are the small triumphs that make it all worth living.

"John Dorsey's book is a tribute to small town life. He carefully dissects the lives of his characters to find the crossroads where dreams were thwarted, and how the survivors of these lost dreams manage to carry on anyway, sometimes as though they don't even know how close they came to escaping the bear trap of smoky bars and bar fights and the endless cycle of pregnancy and childrearing. Each inhabitant of these poems is treated with delicate dignity, leaving you with the feeling that you've met each and every one of these characters at some point in your own life, or may have even been in one of two of these poems yourself."-Holly Day, author of Into the Cracks"John Dorsey is one of my favorite living poets - clear minute particulars and broken-hearted honesty. Generous empathetic outlook for our hardened times."-Marc Olmsted, author of Don't Hesitate: Knowing Allen Ginsberg

About this BookWe sometimes think of organizations as entities in themselves, but in practical terms our experience of them comes down to the people we encounter under the umbrella of these collectives. I met John Dorsey at and through the Osage Arts Community and he is one of the people who made my experience of the organization so valuable, even magical. When OAC proposed a book project containing images of my exhibition Unravelling I thought "Sure, if John will be in it." John and I are pretty hard workers, but the rest is up to the individuals holding this book; you create the gestalt.-Aaron Fine - 2022 A statement on the poems-Like Bob Rafelson's classic film "Five Easy Pieces" and the best poems of Richard Hugo, to observe Aaron Fine's artwork in this collection requires an examination of the things we don't say, rather than what we do. It requires a certain level of comfort with silence, if not always with our place in it. A comfort and an ability to subtract words in a way that leaves us with little more than bone. This is how I approached Aaron's work when I sat with it in the gallery to write these poems. This collaboration is a true honor and I feel like the work I've created here fits with the intentions, both creative and emotional, at the core of the original project.-John Dorsey, 1-9-22

John Dorsey's book is a tribute to small town life. He carefully dissects the lives of his characters to find the crossroads where dreams were thwarted, and how the survivors of these lost dreams manage to carry on anyway, sometimes as though they don't even know how close they came to escaping the bear trap of smoky bars and bar fights and the endless cycle of pregnancy and childrearing. Each inhabitant of these poems is treated with delicate dignity, leaving you with the feeling that you've met each and every one of these characters at some point in your own life, or may have even been in one of two of these poems yourself. Holly Day, author of INTO THE CRACKS John Dorsey is one of my favorite living poets - clear minute particulars and broken-hearted honesty. Generous empathetic outlook for our hardened times. Marc Olmsted, author of DON'T HESITATE: KNOWING ALLEN GINSBERG There's a bleakness to the landscape of John Dorsey's characters. The clouds are always low. Someone is always scraping together money for a cheeseburger or a pint of wine. Despite that, the landscape is livable because the cheeseburgers are tasty and the wine quenches a thirst. His characters know that "painting flowers with a closed fist / lacks imagination." Reading this fine collection is like coming upon a magical "tar paper shack / full of poems / & beehives / & music." Mike James, author of Leftover Distances

"Outlaws in literature are rogues who carry no gun, but fire into the center of our awareness. They use the present, past, and interior world of their dreaming and living. John Dorsey has done a hell of a job This book will give you a thought provoking introduction to Dorsey's style and talent. I find his writing clear, weirdly funny, moving, and sorrowful. If I were to compare John Dorsey to a respected literary figure, it would have to be Ed Abbey. Both were protectors and observers and laid it out to be remembered " ---Ann Menebroker, Author of tiny teeth: The Wormwood Review Poems R. L. Crow Publications, 2004.

Jason Ryberg is currently listening to an old transistor radioplay nothing but sad songs in a room that rents for $20 / hour, in a motel (owned by the sheriff's brother-in-law, they say) outby the highway on just another hot and nasty Saturday night, just outside of just another Damned If I Know, USA. Everynow and then a truck or car or bus speeds by. Every now andthen a star falls. Most of the time there's never any trouble. John Dorsey lived for several years in Toledo, Ohio. He is the author of several collections of poetry, including Teaching the Dead to Sing: The Outlaw's Prayer (Rose of Sharon Press, 2006), Sodomy is a City in New Jersey (American Mettle Books, 2010), Tombstone Factory, (Epic Rites Press, 2013), Appalachian Frankenstein (GTK Press, 2015) Being the Fire (Tangerine Press, 2016) and Shoot the Messenger (Red Flag Poetry, 2017), Your Daughter's Country (Blue Horse Press, 2019), and Which Way to the River: Selected Poems 2016-2020 (OAC Books, 2020). His work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and the Stanley Hanks Memorial Poetry Prize. He was the winner of the 2019 Terri Award given out at the Poetry Rendezvous. He may be reached at [email protected]. Victor Clevenger spends his days in a Madhouse and his nightswriting. Selected pieces of his work have appeared in printmagazines and journals around the world; it has also beennominated for the Best of the Net Anthology and the Pushcart Prize. He is the author of several collections of poetry including Sandpaper Lovin'(Crisis Chronicles Press, 2017), A Finger in the Hornets' Nest (Red Flag Poetry, 2018), Corned Beef Hash By Candlelight (Luchador Press, 2019), A Wildflower In Blood(Roaring Junior Press, 2020), and Mourning Eyes (Between Shadows Press, 2021). Together with American poet John Dorsey, they run River Dog. He can be reached at: [email protected]

Memento meets Groundhog Day, Dream Lover is the story of Lionel Trimmer, a Wild West Casino cowboy caught somewhere between reality and a world set on repeat in a dream that's ever changing, piece by piece, where he must choose between the woman he loves and his very existence, all the while being followed by the pint sized "keepers of the dream code" who will stop at nothing to make sure the world as they know it keeps going around in circles like a crazed carnival ride wrapped in mystery. An Original Screenplay by John Dorsey

"Outlaws in literature are rogues who carry no gun, but fire into the center of our awareness. They use the present, past, and interior world of their dreaming and living. John Dorsey has done a hell of a job This book will give you a thought provoking introduction to Dorsey's style and talent. I find his writing clear, weirdly funny, moving, and sorrowful. If I were to compare John Dorsey to a respected literary figure, it would have to be Ed Abbey. Both were protectors and observers and laid it out to be remembered "-Ann Menebroker, Author of tiny teeth: The Wormwood Review Poems R. L. Crow Publications, 2004." I read John Dorsey's compelling, lyrical book in one sitting. He mixes beautiful imagery, insight, candor, vulnerability and wit. What a very cool sandwich : )"-ellyn maybe, Author of the cowardice of amnesia 2.13.61 Publications, 1998." I always know when I am reading a John Dorsey poem. His style is uniquely his. It's as unmistakable as a Greg Corso or a Kell Robertson poem. It's playful, dark, bardic and authentically American."-Todd Moore, Author of Dillinger's Thompson Phony Lid Publications, 2002." I've written about John Dorsey before. He's a vagabond angel, a word lunatic, a visionary. I saw him read at The Beat Museum and it blew me away. If Gregory Corso and Allen Ginsberg have a spiritual heir, it's John Dorsey. He is carrying the torch, lighting the landscape, singing alone in the wasteland. There is nobody that touches him. Nobody comes close. True genius. Every poem is a complete reward for the moments spent reading it. I feel honored to have met him. I hope to God I see him read again."-David Barker, Author of Charles Bukowski Spit in My Face, a Memoir Salem, Or, 1982.

A graphic novel which seeks to awaken the higher consciousness that exists within all of us.

The Gasconade Review is a literary and arts publication based out of the Osage Arts Community (http: //osageac.org/), located on the Gasconade River, just outside of Belle, Missouri. It appears twice annually, focusing primarily, but not exclusively, on writers and artists from the region and state, but occasionally also features folks what ain't from around here. All submissions must be hand delivered between the months of April and October and the hours of 3pm to 6pm. A decent bourbon is appreciated. Proper river attire required. Don't worry, the dogs won't bite.

From eighteenth-century mansions to urban high-rise buildings, A Guide to Baltimore Architecture chronicles two hundred years of architectural history through an exploration of the city’s most beautiful and significant structures. Grouped by neighborhood in fifteen walking and driving tours, more than two hundred notable Baltimore buildings are pictured and described with commentary on their history and style. Thoroughly rewritten, the guide incorporates new photographs, maps, and tours as well as updated biographies of Baltimore architects. This edition also features a fresh examination of twentieth-century design in Baltimore by architectural historian Phoebe B. Stanton.