Journal Issue
Published in December 1968, no. 1 of Beyond Baroque gives readers several clear ways into the magazine. It contains 31 named pieces or sections, beginning with AIR by Jan Pallister, TAKE ME AS REED by Jan Pallister, and GOING AND COMING CARSONG by Jan Pallister. 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.
The issue takes its first formal cue from AIR by Jan Pallister. Named forms such as Love Song Number 26 sit beside looser lyrics, so the issue’s variety comes through line, stanza, and rhythm rather than editorial display. The movement toward TRANS-TIME gives the number a clear closing direction while leaving its voices distinct. Across 31 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, I AM ON THE BRIDGE OF CORPSES by Brown Miller changes the view; the closing stretch reaches TRANS-TIME by Christopher W. Grala. 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 Jan Pallister, Kenneth Lillquist, Douglas Blazek, Louis D'Amico, Marjorie Culver, J. Luckey Jr, George D. Chesbro, and Brown Miller, along with 12 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 AIR by Jan Pallister, turn next to I AM ON THE BRIDGE OF CORPSES by Brown Miller, and finish with TRANS-TIME by Christopher W. Grala. The clean reading edition is designed for that kind of movement. Original scan: 68 PDF pages. Reader’s edition: 42 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
- Jan Pallister — Poet
- Kenneth Lillquist — Poet
- Douglas Blazek — Poet
- Louis D'Amico — Poet
- Marjorie Culver — Poet
- J. Luckey Jr — Poet
- George D. Chesbro — Poet
- Brown Miller — Poet
- Gary Von Tersch — Poet
- James Hoggard — Poet
- Jim Bridge — Poet
- Greg Martin — Poet
- Hugh Fox — Poet
- D. r. Wagner — Poet
- Lee Byron Jennings — Poet
- Nathaniel Ralph Savage — Poet
- Jim Baloian — Poet
- Michael R. Brown — Poet
- Jacob Kisner — Poet
- Christopher W. Grala — Poet
Publication details
Full contents
- AIR — Jan Pallister [Poem]
- TAKE ME AS REED — Jan Pallister [Poem]
- GOING AND COMING CARSONG — Jan Pallister [Poem]
- STATIONS — Jan Pallister [Poem]
- SONNETS FOR A DARK GALLERY — Kenneth Lillquist [Poem]
- TRUTH HEALING TRUTH — Douglas Blazek [Poem]
- DRY QUACKS — Douglas Blazek [Poem]
- WHILE I GO MAD — Louis D'Amico [Poem]
- ALMOST — Louis D'Amico [Poem]
- THE DORMOUSE — Marjorie Culver [Poem]
- GAME OF PAIN — J. Luckey Jr [Poem]
- LIFES REPETITION — J. Luckey Jr [Poem]
- AH TEENS THOUGHT — J. Luckey Jr [Poem]
- THE BACK DOORS OF MY MIND — George D. Chesbro [Poem]
- STAR-FLIGHT — George D. Chesbro [Poem]
- I AM ON THE BRIDGE OF CORPSES — Brown Miller [Poem]
- Number Forty-Four — Gary Von Tersch [Poem]
- BREAKING AN INDELICATE STATUE — James Hoggard [Poem]
- Love Song Number 26 — Jim Bridge [Poem]
- THE OLD WOMAN BEHIND THE GLASS — Jim Bridge [Poem]
- eclipse - 11.iv.1968 — Greg Martin [Poem]
- loon trip — Greg Martin [Poem]
- touch and feel — Greg Martin [Poem]
- AFFLUENCE-GAP GAPPENING — Hugh Fox [Poem]
- THE CHILD WHO ATE THE SKY — D. r. Wagner [Poem]
- ASSASSINATION — Lee Byron Jennings [Poem]
- Story of Bucth Mother — Nathaniel Ralph Savage [Poem]
- THE VOYAGE ii — Jim Baloian [Poem]
- MAGIC — Michael R. Brown [Poem]
- DON JUAN OF THE WALL — Jacob Kisner [Poem]
- TRANS-TIME — Christopher W. Grala [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. 1, December 1968. Text/Tech Journals, reader’s edition.