P oetry is first a matter of breath. The words ride on the blessings of inspiration and suspiration. There's plenty of passion in the pages of Guru Punk by Louise Landes Levi.
Poets build on the efforts of other poets.
Levi pays homage in Guru Punk not only to Mirabai but to the French poet Henri Michaux, the American surrealist Phillip Lamantia, Allen Ginsberg, Lynne Tillman, the female warriors of the Warsaw Ghetto, and most importantly, her Indian and Tibetan spiritual masters. She was born in New York City, lived in North India for three years, studied Indian music in Bombay, and taught at Bard College, Naropa, and the American College in Paris. In these poems Levi describes her quest for a lover, spiritual or physical, and her travels, in search of that illusory being. The word 'Guru' is a 4 letter word . . . If you're not aware of that other world, try carrying Guru Punk next to your heart.