Poetry is Dead II: Once You're Dead, You're Dead Forever

These are my poems published in the new book.

BLUE PYRAMID

October 1978 inspired by the Grateful Dead's Winterland shows that month, after their return from playing at the pyramids in Egypt. They had a slideshow from Egypt going behind the stage throughout the Winterland run. Blue Pyramid was also the name of a brand of bootleg acid in that form that was in circulation at the time.

ODE TO THE DEAD

April 22, 1979 inspired by Grateful Dead at Spartan Stadium, San Jose, California. An amazing show and most remarkable for being Brent Mydland's first gig as a member of the band. 

GARCIA'S DEATH

August 1995. My eulogy for Jerry.

PHIL'S DEATH

October 25, 2024. My eulogy for Phil.

Save the Date for Poetry is Dead II anthology reading.

The anthology reading for Poetry is Dead II will take place at Alibi Bookshop on Saturday, June 28, 2025 at 4 PM. 

Alibi Bookshop is located at 624 Marin Street in Vallejo, California. 

https://alibibookshop.com/

An Evening of Deadhead Poetry @ Alibi Bookshop

624 Marin, Vallejo, California

June 28, 2025 @ 4 PM

Poetry is Dead II: Once You're Dead, You're Dead Forever Paperback
by Hercules Publishing (Author), D.L. Lang (Editor)
'In this anthology, a global cadre of deadhead poets send us on spiritual, musical, and psychedelic quests. Deadheads from around the world are included in these pages whether they fell in love with a few albums or dedicated their life to being die-hard loyal fans, trekking across the country in a nomadic musical pilgrimage, letting the experience transform them again and again. Poets from Canada, Mexico, Europe, Africa, and Asia as well as from over two dozen states in the United States are all included in these pages, reflecting a global fan community, showcasing the wide reach of the Dead’s music...'. -Editor, D.L. Lang

Over 80 poets from around the world explore their personal histories, experiences, friendships, and connections with the psychedelic rock and roll band Grateful Dead, through the decades and all of the band's many incarnations.

Special event featuring poetry by California contributors:

PW Covington

J. Martin Strangeweather

Nancy Patrice Davenport

Jay Passer

Lisa Schnaid

Hakim

Airlift Underground

K.Lipschutz

Becky Bishop White

Bruce Fisher

D.A. “Roarshock” Wilson

Dan O'Connell

Johanna Ely

Keith Felton

Lenore Weiss

M.J. Arcangelini

Paul Corman-Roberts

D.L. Lang

David Raskin

Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the event. Please support Alibi Bookshop.

Order online here: 

https://bookshop.org/p/books/poetry-is-dead-ii-once-you-re-dead-you-re-dead-forever/b6f964f1b3a1f3b4

Facebook event:

https://www.facebook.com/events/9996181287164013/

Save the date!

Sure. That's what I got into the poetry game for. The Big Money!

Ask most any poet and they will probably say the same.

"If I had a gun for every ace I have drawn
I could arm a town the size of Abilene
Don't you push me, baby, because I'm moaning low
And you know I'm only in it for the gold"

"All that I am asking for is ten gold dollars
And I could pay you back with one good hand
You can look around at the wide world over
But you'll never find another honest man"

~ Robert Hunter

By the way, admission to the June 28 reading is ABSOLUTELY FREE!

Reading coming up soon this Saturday!

"

For music lovers, the sound of their favorite songs or seeing a favorite performer live can be a magical or even life-changing experience. For many fans of The Grateful Dead, better known as Deadheads, poetry has been a rewarding way to express their appreciation for music.

This Saturday, Deadheads and poetry buffs alike can head to Alibi Bookshop in Vallejo to hear readings from “Poetry is Dead II: Once You’re Dead, You’re Dead Forever,” which was released earlier this year. The poetry anthology features over 80 poems about The Grateful Dead by fans."

https://www.timesheraldonline.com/2025/06/24/vallejo-poet-laureate-hosts-evening-of-deadhead-poetry/?fbclid=IwY2xjawLIxllleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFlVHlzb0N1RVpaVXV4MjdTAR4QrwTM9fXX1hTiZYHaclv8XzXi1olOoDHAo7X0gIH52MaFUyQKJO4gvAYjJg_aem_z8PaeHj-LAZi2T5oXGMquQ

In addition to my eulogy for Phil, I will be reading J. Martin Strangeweather's poem "Never Miss a Sunday Show."

The poetry reading rocked!

PHIL'S DEATH

I saw the social media post this morning
But did not want to believe it was true.
And then the internet exploded
And then it was on the newswires.
Phil Lesh has died.
He was looking frail the last few years
He had profoundly avoided death for decades
survived near fatal disease, a liver transplant
~ God bless you Cody ~
to grace the stage with so many great musicians
and he brought along so many new young players
helped enshrine the Grateful Dead canon
in the world musical songbook where they will remain
so long as there is music and time, the songs will fill the air.
Shows always ended with Phil urging all tn the audience
to become organ doners, help save lives.
"Not that anything is ever going to happen to me,
But if it does, I want to be an organ doner."
For almost fifty years now, I have been in the audience
and the Grateful Dead started following me around even before that!
Then, when Jerry died in 1995 the long strange trip seemed over.
Until my thirty ninth birthday on October 9, 1999
when I went to see Phil and Friends at the Warfield Theatre.
The curtain pulled back and there was Phil singing
"Like a Rolling Stone"
And I was back on the bus
for another twenty five years of mind expansion and bliss.
I was seventeen years with Jerry and the Grateful Dead
(on the "Jerry Side" or in the "Phil Zone") 
but they were original psychedelic years!
I recall one night before the first set
when the band took the stage and everyone in the audience
had their auras stretching across the room
and I was focused (like so many other times)
on telephathic communication with the Grateful Dead
and looked at Bob who smiled and looked away
then I looked at Jerry who shrugged and looked away
then I looked at Phil who looked right back at me
and  fiercely flipped me the bird (Ye olde Zoner Salute!)
and brought me humbly right back into my body.
In the Phil and Friends years, I was seldom so psychedelized
but often just as high, and exhanged smiles with Phil
from the floor to the stage, stage to the floor.
I took my favorite original hippie girlfriend
(who had avoided seeing the Dead all those years)
to a show with Phil and the Quintet at the Berkeley Greek Theatre.
She was hooked from the first notes of his bass
and we were show companions for the next twenty plus years
with many iterations of the Friends in various venues far and near
including many visits to Terrapin Crossroads, our "clubhouse."
All precious times I will never forget and  never remotely imagined
when I started on this long strange trip.
So, now Phil is dead
and that part of the journey is in the past
experience and music that remains in recordings
"Preserved in amber." as Phil once said.
But it will never again be that excitement
of waiting for the first set
and the thrill of hearing those first bass notes
when he plugged in and tuned up.
What comes next, I don't know
only that the music will remain and go on
I will enjoy and champion it as long as I still live
and when I die, I don't know
endless sleep seems most likely
but if there is an afterlife
and we all end up in heaven
I will be in that company
with friends and family
and Phil will be in the Angel Band. 
 

~ D. A. "Roarshock" Wilson

Martinez, California
October 25, 2024