Journal Issue
The 1969 issue of Beyond Baroque brings its writers together without asking them to sound alike. It contains 24 named pieces or sections, beginning with OF AN INSIGNIFICANT GROUND HOG'S DEATH by Edgar L. Biamonte, Pallid Mary by Lee Byron Jennings, and The Miracle Man by Lee Byron Jennings. That opening offers a direct path through the issue, but it is not the only one. A reader can follow the printed order, pause over a familiar contributor, or start with a title that catches the eye. No special background is needed. The magazine explains itself gradually through the choices it makes and through the company each piece keeps.
OF AN INSIGNIFICANT GROUND HOG'S DEATH by Edgar L. Biamonte establishes this number’s particular register. Named forms such as SONNET FOR TIME sit beside looser lyrics, so the issue’s variety comes through line, stanza, and rhythm rather than editorial display. The movement toward SONNET FOR TIME gives the number a clear closing direction while leaving its voices distinct. Across 24 poems, formal interest lies in the changes of scale: short, image-driven pieces give way to longer fields of syntax, and each new opening resets the relation between line, breath, and page. The variety reflects the Venice workshop culture around the publication, where experimental practice was less a house style than a shared willingness to let voice, spacing, and sequence determine form.
The contents page also works like a small map. Early entries establish the issue’s first set of voices; around the middle, WOLF TRAP by Michael Dalberg changes the view; the closing stretch reaches SONNET FOR TIME by Aron Tager. The works differ in length, subject, and manner, yet their placement creates connections that a simple list of names cannot show. The pleasure comes from those changes. A short piece can clear the air after a longer one, a new voice can redirect the mood, and an unexpected title can make an earlier page look different when the reader thinks back to it.
The contributor list includes Edgar L. Biamonte, Lee Byron Jennings, Harry Drinkwater, Greg Druit, Stephen T. Butterfield, Gaston Pelletier, Djelloul Mabrouk, and Kip Palmer, along with 6 additional contributors. Some readers will arrive looking for a particular name; others will meet these contributors here for the first time. Either approach works. The publication details add useful context: the issue was edited by George Drury Smith, published by Beyond Baroque Enterprises, and issued from Venice, California. A journal is also a made object, assembled by people deciding what to print, how to order it, and which voices should share a number. Reading from beginning to end lets those choices appear naturally.
The catalog subjects—Los Angeles poetry, Venice, California, Experimental poetry, Little magazines, and Love—are useful starting points, especially for searching, but they do not set limits on what a reader may find. For a first visit, begin with OF AN INSIGNIFICANT GROUND HOG'S DEATH by Edgar L. Biamonte, turn next to WOLF TRAP by Michael Dalberg, and finish with SONNET FOR TIME by Aron Tager. The clean reading edition is designed for that kind of movement. Original scan: 70 PDF pages. Reader’s edition: 36 PDF pages. It keeps the contents in a stable, legible form and makes names and titles easier to find. A source facsimile remains part of the project’s private editorial record, but it is not included in the public upload. What appears here is the reading copy: a practical way to spend time with the issue and discover which pieces invite a return.
Contributors
- Edgar L. Biamonte — Poet
- Lee Byron Jennings — Poet
- Harry Drinkwater — Poet
- Greg Druit — Poet
- Stephen T. Butterfield — Poet
- Gaston Pelletier — Poet
- Djelloul Mabrouk — Poet
- Kip Palmer — Poet
- Michael Dalberg — Poet
- John Tagliabue — Poet
- Jascha Kessler — Poet
- David deBus — Poet
- Arthur Phillip Boze — Poet
- Aron Tager — Poet
Publication details
Full contents
- OF AN INSIGNIFICANT GROUND HOG'S DEATH — Edgar L. Biamonte [Poem]
- Pallid Mary — Lee Byron Jennings [Poem]
- The Miracle Man — Lee Byron Jennings [Poem]
- MORNINGS IN VENICE — Harry Drinkwater [Poem]
- I.-E. 692 — Greg Druit [Poem]
- WITHERED BIRTH — Stephen T. Butterfield [Poem]
- AN OEDIPAL TALE — Gaston Pelletier [Poem]
- The Priest in the Burning Boat — Djelloul Mabrouk [Poem]
- Gently, Jack — Djelloul Mabrouk [Poem]
- The Sinking of the Ludilon — Djelloul Mabrouk [Poem]
- THE CAPTAIN'S CONVERSION — Kip Palmer [Poem]
- LOVEBOMBER — Kip Palmer [Poem]
- WOLF TRAP — Michael Dalberg [Poem]
- MANCHURIANS SELECT GOD IN A YURT — Michael Dalberg [Poem]
- CONTEMPLATION — John Tagliabue [Poem]
- A State of a Union — John Tagliabue [Poem]
- CLARITY — John Tagliabue [Poem]
- Paintings that can Fly — John Tagliabue [Poem]
- ALDAI: PARIS NIGHT — John Tagliabue [Poem]
- HOMEKEEPING — Jascha Kessler [Poem]
- SHE — Jascha Kessler [Poem]
- We dug — David deBus [Poem]
- PUT DOWN — Arthur Phillip Boze [Poem]
- SONNET FOR TIME — Aron Tager [Poem]
Rights and citation
Copyright remains with the respective authors, artists, publisher, or successors.
Copyright Status Unresolved
Rights in the individual contributions and the periodical compilation have not been fully resolved.
*Beyond Baroque*, vol. 1, no. 2, 1969. Text/Tech Journals, reader’s edition.