Supplication

Supplication

By John Wieners 1934–2002 John Wieners
O poetry, visit this house often,
imbue my life with success,
leave me not alone,
give me a wife and home.
 
Take this curse off
of early death and drugs,
make me a friend among peers,
lend me love, and timeliness.
 
Return me to the men who teach
and above all, cure the
hurts of wanting the impossible
through this suspended vacuum.
 
1969

John Wieners, "Supplication" from Selected Poems, 1958-1984, published by Black Sparrow Books. Copyright © 1986 by John Wieners.  Reprinted by permission of the John Wieners Literary Trust.

Source: Selected Poems, 1958-1984 (Black Sparrow Books, 1986)

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Poet John Wieners 1934–2002

POET’S REGION U.S., New England

SCHOOL / PERIOD Black Mountain

Subjects Living, Life Choices, Arts & Sciences, Poetry & Poets

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Biography

Born in Boston, poet John Wieners received a BA from Boston College and studied at Black Mountain College with Robert Creeley, Charles Olson, and Robert Duncan. He later followed Olson, his mentor, to SUNY Buffalo. A Beat poet and member of the San Francisco Renaissance, Wieners was also an antiwar and gay rights activist. His poetry combines candid accounts of sexual and drug-related experimentation with jazz-influenced . . .

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SUBJECT Living, Life Choices, Arts & Sciences, Poetry & Poets

POET’S REGION U.S., New England

SCHOOL / PERIOD Black Mountain

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Originally appeared in Poetry magazine.

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