On the Liberation of Iraq
The Virtual Total Information Awareness Office: After Sting and Santa Clau
XMAS__2002 The Inner Child
The Big Black Sucking Hole
*Hiroshima - 40th Anniversary
35th Reunion of Table Mountain Ranch Commune
Revenge and the Emptiness Bombings of Bus and UN - Aug.19, 2003
The Bruce Latimore Show -Tribute to A Magical Isle After 600 Shows
The World Is A Butterfly's Wing
*The Vision Thing
The Decline & Fall of San Francisco
Haight Street- 1998
Three Lives and Some Hippie Truths
*The Vagabond Poet
Richard Brautigan - A Remembrance
The Funeral of Bob Kaufman 1986
Reflections On The Nature Of Mind
The American Muse
Return to the Woods-1974
Moon Eclipse - 1975
*The Chinese Chamber of Possibilities (1981)
The Love That Stretches Us
Barefoot
*The Radiant White Dove A Rap for the Spirit
*The Cole Street Saint
*At the Blues Festival - Golden Gate Park Band Shell, May 29, 2000
Instead Of Selling Pretzels
The Day Chet Helms Died, written on Jan. 17, 2000
*Spring Mobilization April 19th, 1985 San Francisco
Falling -In Memory of JFK jr., July 21, 1999
Chain Reaction
The Reagan Cult (1991)
ALLEN COHEN BOOKS
Like A Radiant White Dove
Selected poems by Allen Cohen
illustrations by Ann Cohen
"Allen's poetic line is "so natural and real (to use one of his phrases) that you feel he's talking to with a lilt in Golden Gate Park. And when you read his title poem "The Radiant White Dove" you feel you could at most be persuaded that God exists."
~ Lawrence Ferlinghetti ~
"Look, one of the most meaningful voices of the Counter Culture also leaves behind him poems of beauty and soaring consciousness." ~ Michael McClure ~
Book of Hats:
Selected Poems
by Allen Cohen
illustrations by Ann Cohen.
The poems in the Book of Hats were written while the author was working at the Shlock Shop on Grant Avenue.
"poems of truest compassion for endlessly bedeviled humanity rendered in the crisp bell tones of a tenor horn" . . Gerald Nicosia.
Hear Allen Cohen reciting from the 'Book of Hats'
The Boxer The Jazz Musician
The Topless Dancer The Lovers
The
San Francisco Oracle by Allen Cohen, Editor
The fantastic graphics of the Oracle, many wrapped around pages or double spreads
of text, were mostly printed in black and white, but many glowed in deep reds,
fuchsias, blues, oranges and yellows produced in a printing process now extinct.
Rare and Out of Print.
The San Francisco Oracle Set of four portfolios"
The most beautiful newspaper ever seen on the streets of this planet."- Abbie Hoffman
The San Francisco Oracle / The Psychedelic Newspaper of the Haight Ashbury (Digital Re-Creation) The S.F. Oracle, published straight outta Haight Ashbury from 1966 to 1968, was one of the most unique and beautiful publications of the '60s. It will be remembered for its extraordinary graphic design (by major S.F. artists), its groundbreaking printing techniques, and for capturing the cultural explorations that would define the 60's through articles, interviews and poetry. Now, all 12 issues are available again, on cd-rom, with restored brilliance! View every page exactly as they appeared back in the day, then print 'em out and read it on the bus if you choose. And you're either on the bus or off the bus. Also included is a 30 minute DVD interview with publisher Allen Cohen
An Eye For An Eye Makes The Whole World Blind: Poets on 9/11
edited by: Allen Cohen & Clive Matson
This anthology features poems by over 100 poets from all over America, including the former Poet Laureate of the United States. This important book creates an alternative poetic response to the din of collective madness that has characterized our national dialogue since 9/11/2001
Other Books by Allen Cohen
The Reagan Poems (1991) out of print.
The Reagan Cult from 'The Reagan Poems'
Childbirth Is Ecstasy (1970) out of print.
Haight-Ashbury in the Sixties: A 2-disc CD-ROM set that included video clips, images and words from the Haight-Ashbury and the San Francisco Oracle psychedelic newspaper. (out of print since 2002)
photograph @ Sean O'Donnell
ALLEN COHEN LINKS
Read the excellent bio by his good friend J.C.Flyer
Allen Cohen photos shared by his friend Jeff Sheppard
*Visit Ann Cohen's website for Allen
The New Millennium
Elegy for Jerry Garcia 8/ 9/95
Poets Pilgrimage - 2004 with Kush
How I met Allen Cohen By Alan Moore
Citizen 32 magazine featured Allen Cohen in their 1st issue, War and Peace.
LI PO IN THE BURBS and An Email From Terra featured in PoetryMagazine.com
1989 benefit @ The Great American Music Hall to help w/cost of publishing San Francisco Oracle facsimile edition
Re: Heads, Freaks, Timothy Leary and politics. 12/1/98
Moment (s) poems by Allen Cohen
A History of North Beach Readings by Allen Cohen
San Francisco Oracle History
Love Pageant Rally 10/-66 - The Day They Made Acid Illegal
Summer of Love By Allen Cohen
Excerpt from a taped interview with Allen Cohen by Edmund O. Ward
Trailer movie at rockument.com for the original Haight-Ashbury CDROM that Allen Cohen and Tony Bove authored in 1995 (out of print)
Elizabeth shares experience of the original Human Be-In
THE LAST DAYS OF PEACE
It is too complex for a poem -
the last days of peace
and the wars to follow.
It is not the puff of cloud alone
in the blue sky like a lost lamb.
It is not the eyes of the beautiful woman
watching me as I read poems at the library.
It is not dinner with friends
or a walk on the beach
dogs running through the surf.
It is not even my fragile body
fighting for its life
with the dragon within.
It is not the taste of a crisp sweet apple
or a memory of childhood
popping into the mind with a smile.
It is not watching River being born
his head appearing in this world
cutting the cord and burying
the placenta beneath an apple tree.
It is not sitting in the Cafe Reggio
with Elmer for the first time in 35 years
and throwing snowballs
in the narrow streets of Greenwich Village.
It is not the sounds of a jazz band
xylophone, sax and rhythm section
playing outside the Catalyst in Santa Cruz
on a spring day while having
breakfast with fellow poets.
It is not the first time
making love with Ann
looking at her blue eyes
and cascading long silver hair
and feeling that I must have died
and gone to heaven.
It is too complex for a poem -
the last days of peace
and the wars to follow.
Allen Cohen (June, 2003)
This poem is included in Allen Cohen's new book, "Like A Radiant Dove".
Published (2005) by Regent Press.
ALLEN COHEN BIOGRAPHY
Allen Cohen was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1941. His search for his lifes true motive led him to San Francisco in the early 60s.,where in 1966, he founded and edited the legendary "San Francisco Oracle," a psychedelic, rainbow-hued underground newspaper published in the Haight-Ashbury. the first issue of San Francisco Oracle was released Sept. 9, 1966 by Allen who at that time was working at the Psychedelic Shop, co-owned by Ron Thelin.
Allen also helped originate rites of passage like the Human-Be-In in San Francisco. View the original poster.
With his gifts of a visionary mind, a compassionate heart and the sincere belief that Peace, Love and Justice could be achieved through organized non violent effort rather than violent confrontation and armed only with his pen and his words, Allen Cohen inspired his generation.
From 1968-75 he lived on a rural commune, learned midwifery, and in 1970 wrote the first of the new wave of books on natural childbirth, "Childbirth Is Ecstasy." He returned to San Francisco in 1975 and worked in the peace movement on the steering committee of the Peace and Environmental Coalition. In 1981 he wrote "The Reagan Poems," prophesying thepersonal and social effects of the Reagan years.
In 1986 he was chosen by the San Francisco Art Commission to help organize and jury its first SF Art Festival Poetry Day. From 1981- 1987 he served on the Board of Directors of Imagine Nine Inc., a non-profit organization that produced concerts to raise money for charities.
From 1988-1991 he worked with Regent Press in Oakland, Ca. to publish a commemorative "Facsimile Edition" of the complete "San Francisco Oracle" in order to preserve its fading glory for posterity. In 1991 he guest edited an issue of "The City" magazine, a monthly San Francisco urban magazine, as a 25th Anniversary Oracle with new works by many of the writers and artists who were in the original Oracle.
Since the early 80s he presented his multi-image slide show "The Rise and Fall of the Haight-Ashbury in the 60s" in theaters and universities. In 1995 he authored a CD-Rom, "The Haight Ashbury in the 60s." In 1997 he was asked to be a judge for the Bay Guardian Poetry Contest. Allen was also a director - editor of www.beatmuseum.org" as well as a Board member of Musicians and Fine Artists for World Peace.
All the while, continually performing his poetry at music concerts, colleges, museums and coffeehouses. In 2002, he co-edited an award-winning anthology of poetry inspired by the 9/11 tragedy, "An Eye For An Eye, Poets on 9/11".
Although very ill at the time, he still managed to complete and publish his delightful "Book of Hats" in 2003. He died in 2004, leaving behind many poems written during his life that are still to be published. The latest book published since his death is "Like A Radiant White Dove" -Selected poems by Allen Cohen, published Oct. 2005 by Regent Press.
Jerry Rubin
Gary Snyder
Allen Cohen
Human Be-In Press Conference
Allen Cohen was an elderstatesmen of the psychedelic era and a true spirit of the counterculture. A humble man who lived very simply, he had wonderful sense of humor and a truly dazzling smile. Some even say he was the inspiration for the song " If You're Going to San Francisco ", an early Hippie anthem. He was a kind and brilliant human being who cared very deeply about his friends and the world at large. Wavy Gravy said Allen Cohen was "tie-dyed to the bone." And indeed he was.The photos in bio above are
1.young Allen Cohen in College.
2.Allen Cohen in 1967
3.Gary Synder, Jerry RubIn and Allen Cohen at the Human Be-In Press Conference by Photograper Gene Anthony
The Allen Cohen Fund was created by his friends at Arts and Education Media Inc When Allen was no longer able to work and needed money for living expenses as he fought against Hepatitis C and then Liver Cancer.
His friends produced an outstanding benefit Dance Concert "The Hep Cats Ball " at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco featuring Phil Lesh from the Grateful Dead, Don't Push the Clown, Wavy Gravy and Ram Dass.
Allen Cohen w/ his teepee on the commune 1965-1975
