Bio

About the Author

“A Foppish, Rotund, Interminably Redundant & Pedantic Malaprop, Suffering from: Venustraphobia, A Wicked Cassandra Complex, and Messianic Delusions of Himself Being More Than Just A... 'Nother Monkey On A Rock” - Self-Proclamation

Throughout his illustrious career as an Insomniac, Jonathan has spent most of his waking hours in the Faustian pursuit of illusory answers. Particularly humanity's role in, or profound insignificance in, the universal structure of Time & Space. .....despite how species-centric, self-referential, and undeniably convoluted it may be.

He was born in Bogota Colombia, spent his childhood & adolescent years in New Jersey, lived in New Orleans for 5 Years, then New York City for 5 More. He was a member of the San Francisco / Bay Area writing & arts community for a little over 10 years, and then left to spend some time in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado this past winter. Rumor has it... he was attempting to find "normalcy", whatever that is. Sadly, yet unsurprisingly, it didn't take! He now wanders the globe in his irreversible "human suit" pretending to fit in.

"For as long as I can remember I’ve always been on a search for the greater idea/concept of "HOME". Some kind of feeling of belonging/arrival. I’ve always felt awkward, and out of step with humanity. Like a foreigner to Life itself. Out of place in this country, the many towns I’ve lived, with friends & family, in my own skin, my body, my gender; my very consciousness, itself, feels congested with contrastive perspectives, the multitudes all arguing with endless conviction. I’ve become, throughout the years, more of a spectator, an impartial observer, so to speak; a witness & interpreter to Life, rather than a participant 'of'. "

"Consider me: An Apolitical & Socially Phobic Revolutionist? An Anarchist Of The Heart & Mind? Cartographer Of The Soul? A Hopeless & Hapless Romantic? A Self-Possessed Writer? Out Of Work Actor? Part-Time Therapist? Full-Time Blowhard? That Guy Who Built That Place, Once? Hack Philosopher? Failed Newlywed? De Facto Hermit? Some Schmo From New Jersey? Or whatever taxonomical device others wish to employ towards my character? Meh!!! There is a much larger story than categories & titles.... I'm Just Here Gathering."

“ We Are All
ONE SOUL
Healing One Person, One Moment
At A Time
And To Injure Another…
Is To Cause Re-injury
To The Self ”

"LOVE is what brought me to poetry, and it is in LOVE I continue to find my greatest cause to write. However, I am a science obsessed individual, viewing LIFE more as a puzzle, whose completion, I feel, is not only worthy of pursuit, but quite possibly, through enough collective dedication & constant reinvention of perspective, the 'unlocking of' may just occur.
Many Self-Appointed Critics (like myself *wink-wink*) may call me me out, claiming "bullshit" to the high heavens, but I refuse to accept The Human Condition as a 'shrugged shoulder', as just some random experience inextricably linked to time and the corporeal realm of pleasure & pain. I suppose I’m far too willing to sacrifice my participation, in order to gain a greater communion with truth, but this unrelenting dilemma of Artist/Scientist, who must kill the subject he dissects, has bitten down on my heart and has refused to let go.
I cannot deny... this process certainly has its fair share of drawbacks… spiritual rabbit holes, dangerous mental fissures, and a myriad of emotional deaths & rebirths--but I proceed with smile despite, and to spite the tears.

I take Biology, Biochemistry, Evolutionary Biology, Cosmology, Geology, Physical & Cultural Anthropology, Archeology, Ethno-Botany, Zoology, Astrophysics, Archaeoastronomy, Paleontology, Psychology, Parapsychology, Mathematics & Theoretical Physics and blend them with Comparative Religious Theory, Linguistics, Personal Metaphysical Experiences (Psychonautics), & Global Philosophical Analysis
By the way…. Did I Mention LOVE?

Writing is the only way I know best to converse with myself and others. I was shy most of my life, barely speaking among my peers until my later years. Hiding in corners & shadows to avoid the questioning thoughts of others. Still am to a degree, probably more paranoid than ever, but working on it. I choose writing, I suppose… because it chose me. The chicken & the egg thing.
The role of 'The Poet' is a tenuous one; a slight of hand trick. Out of a lifetime of hard work & inspired craft, you might get remembered for a maximum of two lines, arbitrarily regurgitated by some recently inaugurated Politician, at a lucite podium.
That being said... the Expressive Being: the Musician, the Writer, the Painter, the Sculptor, the Interpreter, the 'Artiste'--is needed, must be listened to, holds rank high above kings & queens, because Metaphor IS our Best Teacher."

"How much does the fame of human actions depend upon the station of those who perform them! The very same conduct shall either be applauded to the skies or entirely overlooked, just as it may happen to proceed from a person of conspicuous or obscure rank."

Pliny The Younger 61 AD – 121 AD

Each chapter contains groupings of works that play off theme. The pieces are arranged in sequential & descending order per section, and encouraged to be viewed so, but... you're gonna do what you're gonna do.

NEWER WRITINGS

Keep Repeating

The Greatest Love Of All

My Fellow Meek

A Message From Shiva

Sacrilege In The Sacred Valley?

Game Theory

A Teleological Spiral Of Opposites: Black Holes

OK, You're Right

It's All About Communication

A Response To A Friend's Work Of Writing

from

"NIGHT BRIDGES"

self-published in 2000

Schizophrenia & The Supreme Being

Big Business, Government, Yeah-Yeah-Yeah

What Are You Waiting For?

New Orleans

The Forbidden Fruit Is The Ambrosia Of The Gods

Divine Insomnia & The Phospholipid Bilayer

20 Questions of Life

Over-The-Counter KNOWLEDGE

Checkers

Camelot

Conversational Elizabethan

We Met Outside In The Rain

Destined To Touch

One More Night, Awake With You

It's Too Easy To Laugh

The Morning Sail

Transitory Reflections

Has Already Been Written

“…each of us is something of a schizophrenic personality. We’re split up and divided against ourselves.”

- Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

From the “Loving Your Enemies” sermon, delivered on November 17, 1957 in Montgomery, Alabama, at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.

Do click the link above and listen to, or read the entire sermon. And if you're already familiar with it... just... read it again. Believe me... it requires return visits.

After reading my work, you'll know that I have absolutely no allegiance to Christianity, nor any other religion, for that matter, ...that I only believe in the various echoes of LOVE found in all scriptures. But with that being said... Dr. King's words, in this sermon, are Fucking Spot On! And speak to our time with the same urgency, as it did in 1957. And my words here on this site... are merely just contemporary echoes of the same theory.

It's a rather long speech, and, in my personal opinion, there's a lot of needless religiosity interlacing & book-ending his beautiful philosophical analysis (being that the concept of "Loving Your Enemies" is more adherent to the category of Common Sense, than some sudden & 'wholly original' revelation, by some guy who was, supposedly, born 2000 years ago...), but... that's a whole 'nother argument.

My over-arching theory about all of this, is that if we shed the divisive constructs plaguing our society, the Common Sense, will more readily reveal itself. I don't think it's a complicated story. I think we've just all been taught, to believe it is. And, sadly, some of us... To Reinforce It.

FEATURED POET PERFORMANCES:

2007 Juneteenth Festival

2007 Laurel World Music Festival

2009 Marin Poetry Festival

2010 New Underground Poets

2009 Call Of Camelot

2009 May Day Special

2008 Unity Through The Arts

2009 Turning Negative Into Positive

2010 Quiet Lightning Neighborhood Heroes

2011 LitQuake XII (Corner Poets)

2009 Cat’s Pajamas

2008 Brother Antoninus Induction

2007 Pablo Neruda B-Day Tribute

2008 Love Poems In July

2009 Pablo Neruda Tribute

2010 American Street Showcase

2011 Mouth Off

2009 Benefit For The Gaza Strip

2014 Bacchanalia Fest

2014 Word Performances

2014 Green Lion with Word Performances

2008 Sparring with Beatnik Ghosts Round I

2009 Sparring w/Beatnik Ghosts Round 3

2011 Sparring w/Beatnik Ghosts Round 24

2014 Friday Night Out Showcase

2007 Poetry Mondays

2008 Poetry Mondays

2009 Red Light Reading Series

2015 Twisted (with Megan Keely)

2008 Sunset Poetry By The Bay

2009 Venom & The Anecdote

2012 Specious Species Release Party 5

2009 16th Mission Showcase

2008 16th & Mission Review

2013 Poeti della Notte

2008 Poetry Night

2013 Poetry Wednesday

2009 The Poetry Stage

2009 Word Dancing

2009 Ed Bowers Mid Summer Nights Dream

2013 Justine Lucas CD Release

2013 Zoe Boekbinder (interstitial poetry set)

2008 Plasticity Exhibit

2000 Saturn Series

Other Performances in the Bay Area

City Hall of San Francisco

Club Deluxe

Starry Plough

Grand Lake Coffee House

Priya

Dalva

21 Club

Sadie’s Flying Elephant

Javalencia Café

Park Branch Library

Gallery Café

Café Melt

Jack Kerouac Alley

The Octopus Literary Salon

Ceasar Chavez Park - San Jose

MacArthur Boulevard - Oakland

Marin Visitors Center - Sausalito

Mechanics Institute Library - SF

Throckmorton Theatre – Mill Valley

Geoffrey’s Inner Circle - Oakland

Jerry Garcia Amphitheatre - SF

111 Minna Gallery - SF

Muddy Waters Cafe - SF

The Make Out Room - SF

The Beat Museum - SF

The Red Poppy Art House - SF

Cafe Royale - SF

Air Lounge - Oakland

Station 40 -SF

Emerald Tablet - SF

The Lost Church - SF

The Great Star Theatre - Chinatown SF

Li Po Lounge - Chinatown SF

Bird & Becket - SF

The Beat Museum - SF

Imagine Affairs Art Lounge - Oakland

Brain Wash Café - SF

Amnesia - SF

Viracocha - SF

North Point Coffee Co. - Sausalito

The Greenhouse - SF

Viracocha - SF

The Stud Bar - SF

Blue Six -SF

Pizzaiolo (Patio Series)- Oakland

Café Trieste - Sausalito

Sacred Grounds Cafe - SF

Café Roma - Sausalito

It’s A Grind Coffee House - SF

Dalva - SF

Viracocha - SF

1870 Art Center – Belmont CA

Revival Bar - NYC

“Poems Under The Dome 2 & 3” - SF

“Word Party” - SF

“Berkeley Slam” - Berkeley

“Word Village” - Oakland

“Poetry Express” - Berkeley

“Poetry Mission" - SF

“Poetry @ the 21 Club” - SF

“K’vetch” - SF

“Spoken 3rd” - SF

"On the Page, Off the Page" - SF

Oakland

Bio

About the Author

Ironing The Pants Of Time

Antithetical Personas & Fairy Tales

Filling My Palms With Ghosts

Becoming The Ink

In Absence Of Humility

It's Always Been A Love Story

Forgiving Silence

Each chapter contains groupings of works that play off theme. The pieces are arranged in sequential & descending order per section, and encouraged to be viewed so, but... you're gonna do what you're gonna do.

NEWER WRITINGS

"NIGHT BRIDGES"

“…each of us is something of a schizophrenic personality. We’re split up and divided against ourselves.”

- Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

FEATURED POET PERFORMANCES:

Other Performances in the Bay Area

— FORGIVING SILENCE —