Awash Returns Ashore!

[August UPDATE: These are now all sold out. Thank you so much to everyone who picked up a copy or two! The original post follows.]

My most recent chapbook, AWASH, was published in July 2025 in a very limited edition by Evansville's Pure Sleeze Press (alongside chaps by John Dorsey, Jason Ryberg, Scott Laudati, and Tony Brewer). AWASH has been out of print since that original run almost immediately sold out.

However.... 

I have just found (among things that I never fully unpacked from last year's road trip to the U.S. Southwest) FIFTEEN unread author copies of AWASH. I'm numbering them 1 through 15, signing them, and selling them on a first come, first serve basis to help fund my forthcoming revised and expanded edition of The Wrest of the Worthwhile.

While they last, if you want a copy (shipped to you free), send me $10 US via Venmo (@jesuscrisis), CashApp ($crisischronicles), PayPal (jc@crisischronicles.com), or cash/check to John Burroughs, 535 Parkside Blvd., Cleveland, Ohio 44143 USA.

Reviews of AWASH:

"John's poems make me think and stop for a second and see things in a different way. Good writers do that."

     —Scot Young, author of Brautigan Meets Bukowski, All Around Cowboy, and more

In reading (and rereading) AWASH, I have only found more to admire in Burroughs' concision, precision, dexterity, and vulnerability. These are beautiful, tenderly-rendered poems.

     —Jennifer Browne, author of American Crow, The Salt of the Geologic World, and more

Throughout AWASH (Pure Sleeze Press, 2024), John Burroughs condenses the big stuff of life into fistfuls of resonant words like the strange debris that comes awash upon the shores of everyday consciousness. 

"Each step into abyss leads to

where feet become ungrounded,

hearts astounded."

(stanza 3, "Faithwalking")

"Potential Energy" from this beautifully produced poetry chapbook will be reprinted in the second volume of Stormwash: Environmental Poems (Seaker Press, August 2025).

     —Hiromi Yoshida, author of Umami, Icarus in Crete, Icarus Superstar, and more

Poems in Awash:

Faithwalking
Darshan
Shaktipat
Bilateral Heart Moon Resolution
Aura
Beacon
Hunger
A Wait, A Final Fall
Deluge
Critical Condition
A Superior Stimulant
But for Now
Potential Energy
Selkie

ISBN: 979-8-88596-400-5. 

Finally, deepest thanks to Jonathan S Baker, K Arizona, and Antoine Ball of Pure Sleeze for seeing this work into print in the first place.

July 28 on Zoom: Time to Arrive Open Mic features John Burroughs

I look forward to joining recent California Beat Poet Laureate Dane Ince and the Time to Arrive Open Mic community as their featured artist this Tuesday, July 28th at 9 p.m. Eastern (that's 6 p.m. Pacific and cetera). Find the Zoom link at eyepublishewe.com or click the photo below.

2025 Anthology of the River Roots Poets Published

So many thanks to Ohio Poetry Association President, Holly Brians Ragusa, for her hard work on this excellent project in collaboration with the OPA and America's River Roots. I'm thrilled to have a poem ("After Kao Ch'an") included alongside the work of so many fantastic writers! View the whole digital flipbook anthology at https://midd.me/aspt.

My poem appears in Stormwash: Environmental Poems, Volume 2 (released this week!)

Good to receive my contributor's copy of Stormwash: Environmental Poems, Volume 2 (Seaker Press). My poem "Potential Energy" appears in it. Thank you to editor Hiromi Yoshida for doing this important work. The book release happens this Thursday, October 9th, at Backspace Gallery in Bloomington, Indiana.

Info: Stormwash: Environmental Poems Showcase

Contributors also include Susan Kay Anderson, J.I.B., Jonathan S. Baker, Tony Brewer, Mary M. Brown, Chris Dean, John Epic, Jessica Reed, April Ridge, Kerry Trautman, Nick Wentzel, and many more.

My "Allen Ginsberg Wants You" appears in Cum Punk

Happy that my poem "Allen Ginsberg Wants You" (which I began writing in 1997 and finished, first published in 2008) is finding a new audience. Fair warning: this publication, as you might have guessed from its title, is "not safe for work" and not to everyone's taste, but I'm grateful to Kum V. for including my work alongside that of such luminaries as Jennifer Browne, Dylan Krieger, and Gina Tron. Dig into it at cumpunk.me.

Word on the streets is that a launch reading will be scheduled soon. Stay tuned.

My "Prayer" featured by Poets Against Racism and Hate USA

"Prayer," a short poem I wrote on the back of a Catherine Joslyn art postcard during the April “Fighting Firehose with Fire” workshop presented by Pauletta Hansel and Tabassam Shah (and sponsored by Poets Against Racism & Hate USA) appears here: https://poetsagainstracism-usa.org/featured-poem.

Poems by Jennifer Browne, Pauletta Hansel, Pam Campbell, Donna Wojnar Dzurilla, Janet E. Irvin, and Dory Macguire are also featured.

My new chapbook, Awash, released today as part of Pure Sleeze Press' summer drop

My latest chapbook, Awash, dropped at 1 a.m. from Pure Sleeze Press, alongside chaps by John Dorsey, Jason Ryberg, Scott Laudati, and Tony Brewer! A very limited edition. Collect them all at

puresleezepress.bigcartel.com.

Poems in Awash:

Faithwalking
Darshan
Shaktipat
Bilateral Heart Moon Resolution
Aura
Beacon
Hunger
A Wait, A Final Fall
Deluge
Critical Condition
A Superior Stimulant
But for Now
Potential Energy
Selkie

ISBN: 979-8-88596-400-5. 

So much gratitude to Jonathan S Baker, K Arizona, and Antoine Ball of Pure Sleeze.

My "Silence in Mourning" is Poem of the Week in BeatLife Magazine

So much gratitude to BeatLife magazine for featuring my piece "Silence in Mourning" as their poem of the week. Though written in March, it appears, in an unforeseen coincidence, mere days after the death of my biological father, Arnold. 

Read the poem and its backstory at https://beatlife.org/poem-of-the-week-by-john-burroughs.

BeatLife is the official magazine of the National Beat Poetry Foundation, Inc.

Five of My Poems Appear in Book 2 of Bards of a Feather

I am grateful to curator Joji Mathew and editors Rhys Hughes and Beena Vijayalakshmy for their work on the lovely new book Bards of a Feather: Wings of Golden Syllables, Book 2 (published by Writingwaters Global), which includes five of my poems: "Elohim," "Call of Poetry," "With a Clatter," "Prophecies of Disaster," and "Jay in December."

I have a poem in Ohio Bards: Poetry Anthology 2025

I'm grateful that my poem, "Redux Isn’t Pronounced Ray Do, But That Hasn’t Stopped Me," appears in this new anthology published by Local Gems Press.

Ohio Bards: Poetry Anthology 2025 is available at localgemspoetrypress.com/ohio-bards-preorders.html.

Alas, I'll be out of town and unable to attend either of these Ohio launch events:

Saturday, May 24 at 7:30pm at
Hilton Garden Inn Columbus-University Area
3232 Olentangy River Rd, Columbus, OH 43202

Sunday May 25th at 5:30pm at
Holiday Inn Express Cincinnati West
5505 Rybolt Rd. Cincinnati, OH  45248

I have two poems in Orange is Not a Colour: Poems Against Totalitarianism

I'm grateful that my poems "Abbreviate" and "What They Did" appear in this new anthology alongside strong work by fine folk.

Edited by Fin Hall and published by Like a Blot from the Blue. 

Available at https://www.lulu.com/shop/fin-hall/orange-is-not-a-colour/paperback/product-4597v7y.html

Writing 30 Poems in 30 Days in March to Benefit Tupelo Press

I'm one of several poets who have signed up to write a poem a day through the month of March for Tupelo Press' 30/30 project. The results will be posted each morning on their website. (The last time I did this was in July 2022 and the poems I wrote then eventually made it into my book The Wrest of the Worthwhile). 

If you can donate any amount to Tupelo Press in appreciation of my effort and to support the important work they do, I will send you a free book.

You may donate at 
https://tupelopress.networkforgood.com/projects/247157-john-burroughs-s-fundraiser.

Read our daily poems at https://www.tupelopress.org/the-march-2025-30-30-page.

A Kindness

I am so grateful to A.M. Hayden, author of American Saunter, for this immense kindness.

I have been enjoying her daily book posts on Facebook. And now my book Rattle and Numb and some of my older poems have made their way into one of them. 

A few notes on these poems:

“Judge Marks”: This poem was written in late 2018 around the time of the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Its title is a play on the name Mark Judge, who was a friend of Kavanaugh's.

“Half Write”: I forget exactly when I wrote this poem, but I recall pulling it out of one of my journals to include in my chapbook Loss and Foundering, which NightBallet Press published in 2018. The full Eliot quotation is: 'As things are, and as fundamentally they must always be, poetry is not a career, but a mug’s game.' [from The Use of Poetry and the Use of Criticism, first delivered as The Charles Eliot Norton Lectures for 1932-33 at Harvard].

“Align”: I began this poem in 2008 and finalized it (or at least gave it a title) in the fall 2011 before it was published that December in The Artistic Muses by True Colors Press. Between then and Rattle & Numb, it also appeared in my chapbook It Takes More Than Chance to Make Change, which The Poet's Haven published in 2013.

“Art Achoke”: This was an impromptu poem written in 2010 and posted on my blog. It was first collected in my chapbook The Eater of the Absurd, published in 2012 by NightBallet Press.

 

Video: Walt Whitman Birthplace Association's Poets Building Bridges on 12/14/24

My last reading of 2024 was for the Walt Whitman Birthplace Association with some incredible poets: Mimi German, Karlostheunhappy, Pankhuri Sinha, Bronwyn Carver, Dave Morgan, David Wigmore, Rachel Appleton, and Judith Mansour. Here's the video. [My poems begin around the 1:16:30 mark.]

 

 

I read five poems: "Electric Miasma," "Flagging," "Potential Energy," "What They Did," and Dianne Borsenik's "Serious Flannel," with my computer unexpectedly crashing and restarting along the way.

 

So many thanks to WWBA Poet-in-Residence George Wallace for putting this together and to WWBA Secretary Robert Savino for moderating.

 

Video permalink: https://youtu.be/eE_L-vj0EoM.

Video: Me reading "What They Did" at the 2023 Beat Poetry Festival

As we prepare for a second Donald Trump presidential term, I am finally getting around to sharing the video of me reading my poem "What They Did" at the National and International Beat Poetry Festival on 2 September 2023 in Barkhamsted, Connecticut. Recording by Paul Richmond. This poem appears in my recent book, The Wrest of the Worthwhile. 

Video permalink: https://youtu.be/DeEIrvf6iO0

My poem "A Matter of Life in Death" published in Common Threads 2024

My poem "A Matter of Life in Death" appears in this lovely new issue of Common Threads, edited by Steve Abbott and published by the Ohio Poetry Association. So many good poets represented here!

Learn more and/or get yours at ohiopoetryassn.org/publications.

Become an OPA member at ohiopoetryassn.org/membership.

My poems recently published in The Long Islander, Ain't No Dead Beats Around Here, and What Is in John's Basement?

I am so pleased to have a poem in each of these recent publications:

 

"In the Wake" in the 10 October 2024 issue of The Long Islander newspaper (with gratitude to George Wallace),

 

"Answered by What It Is" in What Is in John's Basement? (with gratitude to Dane Ince & Eyepublishewe),

 

"Solar Assignation" in Ain't No Dead Beats Around Here (with gratitude to Fin Hall & Like a blot from the blue).

12/14: Walt Whitman Birthplace Association presents Poets Building Bridges on Zoom

This Saturday, 12/14, at noon Eastern on Zoom, I will be one of three Cleveland poets (the others are Judith Mansour & Dianne Borsenik) participating in a Poets Building Bridges event hosted by the Walt Whitman Birthplace Association. 

Flowers of Litter poets Mimi German, Karlostheunhappy, & Pankhuri Sinha - and Bolton UK poets Dave Morgan, Linda Downs, David Wigmore & Laura Taylor - will also be sharing their work. So many thanks to WWBA Writer-in-Residence George Wallace for creating this world poetry triangulation project and for including us.

More info: https://www.waltwhitman.org/event/poets-building-bridges-december-14-2024-flower-litter-poets-bolton-uk-cleveland-poets/.

If you miss it, a recording of the event will be archived on the WWBA's YouTube channel.  

 

My poem "Potential Energy" published in New Generation Beats 2024

I'm overjoyed and grateful that New Generation Beat Publications included my poem "Potential Energy" in this year's National Beat Poetry Foundation anthology, New Generation Beats 2024.

This volume is dedicated to the memory of Andy Clausen and also features poems by Kim Acrylic, Michael D. Amitin, Martin Appleby, Tohm Bakelas, Randy Barnes, Carlos Barrera, B. Elizabeth Beck, Bengt O Björklund, Chris Bodor, Patricia Carragon, Wendy Cartwright, Michael Ceraolo, Claire Conroy, Lesley Constable, Jason Conway, Chris Dean, Lee Desrosiers, William F. DeVault, John Dorsey, Michael E. Duckwall, Carlos Raúl Dufflar, Mercedes Dugger, Les Epstein, Sandra Feen, Bryan Franco, Dayna Genevieve, Mimi German, Fin Hall, Brian Hassett, Joan Hawkins, David Henri, Roxanne Hoffman, Kathleen Hulser, Amie Hyson, Dane Ince, Larry Jaffe, Alex S. Johnson, Karlostheunhappy, Eliot Katz, Joe Kidd, Debbie Tosun Kilday, Tom Lagasse, Scott Laudati, Christen Lee, Mark Lipman, Sheila Lowe-Burke, PD Lyons, Patricia Martin, Angel L. Martinez, Amy Christine Matus, Daniel McTaggart, Amanda R. Morningstar, Jared Morningstar, Jacob R. Moses, MW Murphy, Andrée Myers, Ron Myers, Ben Nardolilli, J.D. Nelson, Marc Olmsted, Carlo Parcelli, Stasha Powell, RescuePoetix, Paul Richmond, April Ridge, Jason Ryberg, Sarah Sarai, Deborah C. Segal, Virginia Shreve, Jay Simpson, Michael Sindler, Megha Sood, Belinda Subraman, Kevin Patrick Sullivan, Igor Pop Trajkov, Tammi J. Truax, J.R. Turek, Tommy Twilite, Chrios Vannoy, Jon Velleux, Chryssa Velissariou, Merritt Waldon, George Wallace, Jeff Weddle, Ron Whitehead, Linda Bratcher Wlodyka, Hiromi Yoshida, Aprilia Zank, and many more. Editing and cover design by NBPF CEO Debbie Tosun Kilday with further editing and formatting by Human Error Publishing.

Click here to order.

I wrote this poem on 22 May 2024. I also want to acknowledge a debt of gratitude to my Renshi Sunshine group (moderated by Wayne Swanger) and to one of its participants, Jeremy Jusek. I've been participating in two email renshi groups this year. How it works is that when it's my turn to write a poem for one of these, I must use the last line of the previous poet's submission as either my title or my first line. So although they are otherwise totally independent poems, the first line of my "Potential Energy" happens to also be the last line of a Jeremy Jusek poem called "The Heat Death of the Universe."

Video of my 2018 Calamari's Interview & Reading in Erie, PA

On August 28th 2018, on the patio of Calamari's Squid Row restaurant in Erie, Pennsylvania, Thasia Anne Lunger interviewed me prior to my featured reading for Poetry Night at Calamari's, hosted by Chuck Joy. The interview and reading were recorded by videographer Bear Lunger for Thasia Anne's TV show, "Poetry, Prose, and Personalities," broadcast on Erie's Cable Access Media (CAM). 

Poems read:
"John Cage Engaged and Uncaged"
"Unfounded"
"Instrumental"
"From Genesis to Exodus"
"Lens"