Robert recently described our friendship and connection as a “karmic dance”. I agree: we have much in common, as we are both passionate about the arts. Still, as my focus of artistic expression has always been through my photography which leans toward impressionism, Robert's creative juices are clearly manifested within the myriad of genres that have inspired him, as well as by the influences from the array of towns, cities, and countries he has explored.
Bisbee, Arizona, was the breeding ground for the creation of his abstract oil paintings, enhanced by a process of applying fire to enrich the visual effects; he has featured them in his publications to partner with his poetry. And during those Bisbee years, Robert also evolved into a skilled silversmith and stone cutter, which by the 1980s morphed into creating original designs of sculptural jewelry. These stunningly unique and wearable art pieces eventually found their way to stores like Saks Fifth Avenue, and were also featured in Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. Suffice it to say, I have never known Robert Feldman to do anything on a small scale!
This brings me to his lifelong love affair with the written word. Robert's countless literary influences include Kenneth Patchen, along with Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and other prominent writers of the "Beat Generation”. These literary giants, along with sourcing his musical inspirations from Bob Dylan, Laura Nyro, and Paul Simon among others prior and subsequent, have impacted Robert’s multifarious philosophies of imagery and rhythms throughout his distinctive poetry.
In his latest collection, "Sunflowers, Sutras, Wheatfields and other ArtPoems”, Robert offers a "playlist" of transcendent painters and musical masters for the reader to experience in his distinctive “Feldmanesque” way. As a visual artist, I find myself riveted by the painterly impressionistic word photos in his poems. As you read through each poem, his exquisitely descriptive word palette flows effortlessly from scene to scene. Unmistakably, his background as a painter, musician, and writer combine to invite you into the poem to linger for a while.
A writer from the New York Times commenting on Kerouac remarked: "If you don't read poetry, you'll never have your heart broken by language”. The poetry in this edition and the prodigious style of this poet have the power to both inspire and touch your heart.
So if you haven't experienced the rhythm and passion of Robert Feldman's poetry in the past, my suggestion is to carve out some quiet time, or invite a friend, pour some wine, and slowly savor the lyrical production that was created by this poet to guide you along into new dimensions. Enjoy your travels!
Mary Ann Appell
Impressionist Photographer
Boca Raton, Florida
I first met Bob Feldman in the early 1970’s, in a time and place where young artists were feeling emboldened to stretch their personal boundaries, to take artistic liberties, to experiment, to explore unknown territory, and to discover more of themselves in the process. I remember thinking what an exuberant bohemian, free spirit, and progressive thinker he was. It was the beginning of a lifelong relationship, an artistic brotherhood. We’ve now spent many years delving into each other’s art and that has resulted in many mutually beneficial and beautiful results.
I knew he was a living link to those who preceded him from the “Paterson School”. We discussed William Carlos Williams, Louis and Allen Ginsberg to great lengths. In recent years, I couldn’t help thinking of him when watching the actor Adam Driver in the movie “Paterson”, delivering the lines of Kenneth Patchen, a mentor for him. Like those before him, Bob was a seeker, an adventurer of the mind, an artistic risk-taker, a literary explorer whose understanding and appreciation of the Beats lived within him. I have always thought he represents the ongoing embodiment of that literary generation. Of course, his experiences, his inspirations, and his writing reflects the highly personal. And he expresses all this as only he can. His life is intertwined with his artistic interests and his poetry reflects this. His poems share the visual complexity of his paintings. You hear be-bop jazz in his writing cadences. He is enveloped by and transmits his own personal modern mythology. I better understand compassion, hope, awe and wonderment in reading what he writes. His writing, and his life, demonstrate his carrying this Paterson tradition into the present.
I introduced “Feldy” (an affectionate nickname, much like Corso referring to his mentor as “Ginsy”) to Lawrence Ferlinghetti in 1979 and asked him to host Ferlinghetti for several days while the San Francisco poet was in residence for the Bisbee Poetry Festival. It was an exceptional experience for the both of them, I soon found out. Ferlinghetti later told me he thought Bob was the young poet who could naturally assume the role of “keeping the spirit alive”. And, this has proven true. Over the long haul of a lifetime of years, Bob’s poetry has grown and matured. He’s been writing in own voice since those early years and I have never been surprised to discover the newness and the freshness of his expansive mind and imagination. His growth as an artist has always been on track, his experiences reflect that trajectory, and his words enable the reader to traverse that territory – much like following the leader’s footsteps in knee-deep snow. His vision accurately translates the colors, sounds, forms, and the sensations of the physicality of the environment that surrounds him. He captures the sense of the ephemeral thinking that many artists come to understand as spirituality, like watching clouds evolve and dissipate – leaving us with shared memories of similar experiences. The impact of the artist is readily apparent for all those willing to have new experiences. Bob’s poetry accomplishes this as easily as a veteran tour guide explains the connections between the past and present, allowing the reader to discover meanings that may lie just beyond what we have known and experienced. In this respect, he reminds me of Kandinsky and the Dada poets who also explored the darkness, emerging with a light that guides us on our own voyage of discoveries.
So, dear reader, I encourage you to read this book of recent poems, Hineni, differently than you read most other collections. First, read them, without pause, silently to yourself, as if reading a newspaper. Then, read them again, aloud, as if you were reading them to someone else, listening to your own voice to gain a little extra understanding. Lastly, read them a third time, pausing frequently to envision each word, each phrase, each image that enters your mind. Then, I believe, you will gain a better understanding of what each poem fully communicates. All further readings of the poems will convey significantly more information that enables the reader to “see” more than mere words on the page. Bob’s poetry has brought me much joy and, seemingly, the ability to appreciate much that would otherwise have gone unnoticed. I have long admired and respected his unique ability to communicate to me many new thoughts, ideas, and visions. I hope your experiences with his work will be as rewarding as mine have been.
Jon Friedman
Founding Director
Bisbee Poetry Festival
I met Robert in 1989 at the Liberty Adult Learning Center in Tucson, AZ. I was a new English as a Second Language instructor and was told by my supervisor to observe a master in action. I remember watching Robert work his Silent Way* magic, as he facilitated learning with animated gestures and humor, ensuring that students were the ones uttering English, not the teacher. I soon discovered that not only was he an exceptional teacher, but a prolific poet, painter, athlete, and musician. I am both fortunate and thankful that our friendship has lasted over these 30 plus years.
After Robert left Tucson, we maintained contact through a few phone calls and sporadic visits, but his personality is such that, no matter how much time has passed, one feels like it was just yesterday that you had that stimulating conversation about the arts and life. So, when I heard that he had relocated to Tucson a little over a year ago, I was elated. During this past year I have been inspired by his unceasing energy and the generous enthusiasm that he brings to our friendship. Whatever it is he loves, he is compelled to share it, be it pickle-ball, (which I now play because of his encouragement and teaching) music, visual arts, or poetry. We have even formed a small music ensemble thanks to his persuasion, if not assertion. This man, without a doubt, continues to exude the same creative lust for life today as he did when I first met him. That being said, it truly has been an honor and a joy to read his latest volume of poetry.
These poems confirm what I always feel when I’m in Robert’s presence: you can take the man out of New York, but you can’t take the New York out of the man. As you journey through the stanzas, prepare to get jostled in the backseat of a cab, lured by echoes of Charlie Parker, and led down the wet, dark alleyways of the greatest city in the world. Whether you miss the pace and hum of the city, or are glad you left that life behind, this latest volume will evoke a personal nostalgia for the hustle and bustle of the Big Apple.
Kathy Budway, Tucson, AZ, June, 2023