Continuing the documentation of “The Flower of Popular Victories” Tour, I’m sharing photos (below poem) by Patty Brady aka Patty Ramona. I was stoked to meet a lot of good people at my opening, see old friends, and share my new pieces with my public in Rome at Mondo Bizzarro Gallery.

I was delighted to meet poet Alessandra Bava, to whom I was introduced by Alan Kaufman, President of The Free University of San Francisco. Alessandra Bava works closely with San Francisco Poet Laureate Jack Hirschman, and she is a member of Rome’s Revolutionary Poets Brigade. She and I exchanged gifts; she gave me her great book of poems called, Guerrilla Blues, and I gave her a Patti Smith poster in return. Later Alessandra Bava sent me a beautiful poem written to my art piece “Thalia” (many heartfelt thanks!):

My Muse or, Chuck Sperry’s Thalia

My muse is so art nouveau, yet popular.
My muse is so Rauschenberg and Mucha.
My muse hangs on a roman wall
crowned with a halo of flowers of rage.

Her eyes are closed. Her arms spread
wide open. She stamps her feet to the
ground and shakes her fists to the world.
The most ardent ink melts in her veins.

She sings all kinds of injustice that I see
and write down in form of mute golden
prayers. She demands I wrap my
leaves of paper in liquid poppy fire.