Reference Notes for "On the Approach of My Seventieth Birthday"

Readers of On the Approach of My Seventieth Birthday may find these notes for the Little 5 Points section of the poem of interest.

Dead Angels. In the early 1980s Chuck Oliveros published a short-lived little magazine called Dead Angel. Gerry Caltagerone and I were associate editors. Thereafter we billed ourselves as the Dead Angels when we gave poetry readings together.

You can't kill a Dead Angel. —Chuck Oliveros

Debbie Hiers and I enjoyed a fruitful collaboration on poetry readings and performance pieces during the late 1970s and early '80s.

The Dactyl. "The Pterodactyl in the Wilderness" was Chuck's signature poem in those days. Gerry sometimes referred to him as the Dactyl.

Papa Bizzoso. Alter ego of painter, sculptor, storyteller Normando Ismay, host of Café Bizzoso and Little Beirut Art Space.

Mama, Dada. I Remember Mama, Dada (1980), Son of Mama Dada (1981), and The Return and Revenge of the Son of Mama Dada (1982), written and directed by Del Hamilton, were performed at 7 Stages Theatre in Atlanta. Debbie Hiers, Gerry Caltagerone, and I performed in the spirit of Dada as something of an offstage Greek chorus.

Seaberg Skeleton Theater, acrobatic poetry. Musician, acrobat, artist, and more Steve Seaberg (b. 1930) and his wife the poet Ronnog Seaberg (1932–2007) performed acrobatic poetry with Ronnog reading her poems in a variety of acrobatic poses. Ronnog asked if they could give a tribute performance at my going-away party when I left Atlanta in August 1998. I asked Beth Yinger the host if that be okay. She said it would be fine as long they kept their clothes on. The backyard was the only place suitable for a performance and the neighbors would not understand if they were nude. At 91 Steve is an performing acrobat and teacher.