Low Temples by James Downs

This book, Low Temples, is James Downs at his best. In it is his love of Joyce, the mountains of Yosemite, philosophy, politics, music and poetry. It touches who he is, and it will touch you if you let it. James passed on October 10, 2020. We miss him so much.

This book is a gift to all of us from James, and a gift from Joyce and myself to James. So many of us found James to be such a good and constant friend, and such a good man. We miss him deeply and always. Poetry is an artistic form that is the truest part of a person and it live on because it comes from the heart. This came from James’ heart. – John Peterson, Friend

There’s a Piece Missing From My Heart – Joyce Downs

When James and I were dating, he would always have a pen. He would scribble poems on napkins at dinner. He told me that he once wrote a poem on a balloon. He was very adamant that he would not write poetry on a computer. I gave him a journal. He later mentioned that that journal opened his heart to me. That I was more than just a nice lady in the TV room, where we first met.

Yes, there is a piece missing from my heart. But, James mended numerous broken pieces along the way.

Amber Blue

out into the blue
you passed to me
a book-journal to fill
in the blanks
of my continuing life
you accepted
my amber heart and
hung it to your chest near
enough
to feel it beating
out into the blue
and back you passed on
something of you
and we share
in its continuing

Newsletter Summer 2022

“The lyrics poured out of her like a hurt bird.” Simon Waronker, about Jazz Singer Jules London A BBC Legends episode noted: “Some singers sing as though they are addressing a crowd; some sing as though they are in a bar with a lot of people— [Julie London] sings as though she's in one room, with you—and that's the difference…”

There does seem to be a bit of loosening in the social environment as Covid settles down some. Public events are opening up. Though bookstores took a big hit during the pandemic and as a result our sales have taken a hit as well, we hope that it is loosening now. Public readings are beginning; I even did a reading at our local Art Center to a nice responsive crowd. I have joined the Art Center. A number of you have done Zoom readings during the pandemic, including Raphael Block and Joe Milosch, this is a nice venue. I hope it will continue. And I hope more public readings will increase.

New and Recent Titles

Chris Hoffman – “The 20th anniversary edition of my ecopsychology & spirituality book, revised and expanded, The Hoop and the Tree www.hoopandtree.org was published last year.”

Chris’ new poetry title, Son of the Earth (iUniverse), is out.

Chris’ poetry title, Realization Point (Poetic Matrix Press) is still in print on our website.

Joyce Downs and John Peterson recently published a posthumous volume of James Downs poetry titled, Low Temples (Poetic Matrix Press), will be on our website soon.

PMP Titles (available to purchase via PayPal on our website)

Cloudbreak by Heather Saunders Estes 114 pages, retail price $17.00

In the Language of Lost Light by Patricia Nelson 116 pages, retail price $18.00

Into Light by Lee Underwood 154 pages, retail price $18.00

We Stand Up For What’s Right by Hassan El-Tayyab and Audra Caravas Illustrated by Angelyca Moffatt 36 pages, price $15.00

What Remains by Charles Entrekin 130 pages, retail price $17.00

At This Table by Raphael Block 148 pages, retail price $18.00

Exploring the Poetic Matrix - Musings on Us and the Planet and How we are in the World by John (poet) Peterson 226 pages, $19.50

PMP Membership and Donations

Poetry House New York City – Yearly new titles Showcase. All of our titles have been collected in their library prior to the pandemic. They are remodeling and will reopen soon, we will update our titles.

PEN America

Art Center Kern Valley

Advertising and Distributors

Poetry Flash on-going monthly book ad.

Email and postage mail to 100-200 bookstores and others nationwide regularly.

Regular posts on Facebook with boosts.

Posts on LinkedIn.

Michael Mcure

I read the lines "capitalism will not help, socialism will not help, communism will not help." A week later, I was giving a reading with a fellow poet to raise money to give to the Salvadoran guerillas for medical supplies. So, I don't believe that because one takes a deeper approach to reality…one can avoid politics. I go on making political gestures that are necessary, that are important. I don't back away from them. I do not exist in an ivory tower because I believe that biology is the only meaningful area of change.…The problems are not the wars and the starvation and the chaos that's going on. The problems are what's causing the wars and the starvation and the chaos. Those are biological…I really don't think that there are solutions in the sense that people speak of solutions. When I speak of a long-term solution I mean a new path…You see the new poetry I'm speaking of is a poetry about experience, it's a poetry about consciousness, it's a poetry about the senses. Language is used in a way which is in revolt against a previous language, and it's a mutational divergence from the previous common use of language. It's in this change that we open the possibilities for a new ground upon which people may think and act. That's our duty as artists. We are not eco-politicians. We are not eco-philosophers. We are not eco-metaphysicians. We're artists.
(from Lighting the Corners, University of New Mexico Press, 1993, pages 5-8)