Jack Kerouac, photo by Allen Ginsberg, 206 East 7th Street (between Aves. B and C), NYC, September 1953, with Railroad Brakeman’s rule-book in pocket:
A smart brakie keeps a firm grip on a grab iron or stanchion when he's riding the caboose platform. Inside, some roads have thoughtfully provided handrails running the full length of the hack. But the general rule is 'sit down, brother,' when the rumble of slack comes surging down a mile of manifest.—Railroad Magazine, 1949
Diane di Prima:
Basho, to a prospective student:
Alan Dugan:
Langston Hughes:
Miroslav Holub (trans. Ewald Osers):
Richard Brautigan:
About Sean Singer
Sean Singer Editorial Services
Subscribe to The Sharpener
The paid-subscriber version of The Sharpener includes craft pieces on literary fixes, deep dives into poets on their birthdays and memorials, information about professional literacy and labor issues for writers, and detailed citations and analyses of the poems I’m reading.