by James Schwartz
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| Gleefully proclaiming the joys of rock ‘n’ roll, drugs and sex in the streets, John Sinclair reigned as a nationally celebrated troubadour of youth rebellion during the psychedelic era, playing a lead role in making Detroit and Ann Arbor counterculture hot spots with the MC5 band, the White Panther Party, cutting-edge concerts and flamboyant rhetoric. Sinclair, who lived in Detroit, died Tuesday after years of declining health. —Detroit Free Press, April 2, 2024. Photo: James Schwartz and John Sinclair |
A few years ago at a reading,
John Sinclair is discussing where he will be buried—Flint or Detroit,
I chime in,
Rome by Keats,
That makes John smile,
He made me smile as well,
When he told me:
You're lucky to have escaped the Amish!
Rest in power poet.
James Schwartz is a Detroit-based poet and author of various poetry collections including The Literary Party: Growing Up Gay and Amish in America (2011), Punatic (2019), Motor City Mix (2022) and most recently two novellas Sunset in Rome (2022) and Long Lost Friend (2023) from Alien Buddha Press. @queeraspoetry