Author Archives: Køt Biehl

GOODBYE PORKPIE HAT Although Alan Ginsburg is commonly considered the best of the Beat-poets, my favorite has always been Lawrence Ferlinghetti – his writing is deft, clean, concise, and vivid: his poems are black-and-white snapshots of the 1950’s that invoke … Continue reading →

Why do I haiku? I like its limitations, leading to freedom. When I’m limited To seventeen syllables I don’t have to think Limited choices: Like a frog into a pond. Plop. My mind is clear. Freedom of no choice– Free … Continue reading →

Oh, Pi in the sky Why oh why oh why oh why? Seriously. Why? Lucy in the Pi With or without diamonds Is not a drug song Pie is delicious Whether Chicken Pot, or Moon Pi? Tastes like digits Moon … Continue reading →

Back in 1984, I gave a poetry reading at the Humanities in Medicine Conference sponsored by the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine (NEOUCOM) and the William Carlos Williams Poetry Competition. After the reading, the Yale surgeon physician-writer Richard Selzer walked up … Continue reading →

Another excerpt from the draft I am working on. My dream has triggered a sense memory of my mother’s past which has become my past. My mother was a child of the Great Depression. Her father built their house on … Continue reading →

This is an excerpt of opening lines of a draft I am working on. It’s a memory piece that takes place in a few waking minutes between dreams. An elderly woman is shuffling towards me shouting, “I want to see the face … Continue reading →

This is an excerpt of a working draft of a chapter from a book-in-progress titled “Swearing by Apollo.” I presented this excerpt at Richard Selzer’s Masterclass at the 3rd Annual Yale Writers’ Conference.  Anyone interested in the entire chapter can read it here: Like … Continue reading →

 This is a vignette from age 3 that I have been working on.  ====================================================== When We Were Three I am sitting on the pink porcelain tile floor of the bathroom in my childhood home. A bottle of St Joseph’s Baby Aspirin … Continue reading →

Back in 1984, when I attended the Humanities in Medicine Conference sponsored by the William Carlos WIlliams Competition, I read this poem along with six others. After the reading, Richard Selzer walked up to me and in reference to the … Continue reading →

This is one of three poems that I submitted to the William Carlos Williams Poetry Competition back in 1983. Two of my poems were chosen for the final ten.  I ultimately placed third and was invited to attend a conference … Continue reading →