THE COLLECTED POEMS OF BOB KAUFMAN: BOOK REVIEW
The best feeling is when one of your favorite artists introduces you to another great. Towards the beginning of this year, R.A.P. Ferreira released the project Bob’s Son with Scallops Hotel, a journey through the mind of one of the most exciting beat poets of the 1970s, Bob Kaufman. Bob’s Son opened my ears to a whole new world, and Kaufman then opened my mind to a whole new way of seeing the universe. “The Collected Poems of Bob Kaufman,” published in 2019, offers a survey of his career, covering both his books and uncollected poems in a collection unrivaled in its wackiness.
Kaufman often compared his poetry to jazz, and the spirit of jazz and free improvisation permeate every aspect of his work. Even in his most subdued moments, Kaufman’s writing oozes with a swagger and rhythm that you rarely find in other work. Understanding this connection with jazz is key to understanding his work because every word he writes hums with an internal rhythm. His work is just as much Jazz as a John Coltrane solo or Cecil Taylor comping. He writes,
One thousand saxophones infiltrate the city,
Each with a man inside,
Hidden in ordinary cases,
Labeled FRAGILE
While Kaufman was never widely read in the US, he was relatively big in France where he was known as the "Black American Rimbaud." Kaufman was deeply tied to the beat poet movement and wrote in New York City along with others like Alan Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs. His work carries much of the same feeling of anti-poetry that the work of Ginsberg and Burroughs does. It never feels like he is sacrificing anything to get words on the page. Every line feels like we are getting to experience some of Kaufman’s heart and soul.
One of Kaufman’s most famous poetic themes is “abomunism”; a made-up political philosophy that rejects everything except snowmen. Abomunism encapsulates what makes Kaufman’s writing captivating. He brandishes the ability to take you by surprise and push the boundaries of your thought. Throughout the book, we get snippets of what abomunism means. First, we get the abomunist manifesto, then the abomunist notes, craxioms, and a lexicon. All of this helps build an entire world where abomunism is as real as any other political philosophy. Here is an excerpt from the manifesto:
ABOMUNISTS DO NOT FEEL PAIN, NO MATTER HOW MUCH IT HURTS
ABONUMINSTS DO NOT USE THE WORD SQUARE EXCEPT WHEN TALKING TO SQUARES
ABONUISTS READ NEWSPAPERS ONLY TO ASCERTAIN THEIR ABOMUNIUBILITY
History has the tendency to erase people like Kaufman. He was as weird and original as you can get, and just the fact that his work has survived until today is a small miracle. Bob Kaufman’s poetry breathes life into the world. Even if his style doesn’t fit what you want from an artist, the way he writes introduces something new to the page. The Collected Poems is the perfect introduction to his craft and allows you to take a glimpse into beat poetry outside the confines of whiteness.