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See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Judging the Chicago Seven” (for the beginning of the trial against the Chicago Seven) and “Because of Fire” (for the 10/8/1871 start of the Great Chicago Fire, that lasted 2 days) from the cc&d 10/20 v302 book “Wildflowers” live 9/29/20 during the Spoken Word Paris/Online (Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr).

See a Facebook live video stream of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Judging the Chicago Seven” and “Because of Fire” from the cc&d 10/20 v302 book “Wildflowers” live 9/29/20 during the Spoken Word Paris / Spoken Word Online (streamed w/ a Samsung S9 camera).

See a YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her haiku “guard” (written 9/26, on and for National Situational Awareness Day), then her poems “Vampires and Blood-Sucking Mosquitos Alike” (written 10/6, on and for Garlic Lover’s Day), “From Orpheus to Nuking the Moon” (for mid-October’s Astronomy Day), “Kill with Impunity” (written 10/7, on and for the 1900 birthday of Heinrich Himmler), “Octopi and Brains” and “Octopi Target McDonald’s” (for 10/8, World Octopus Day), “Because of Fire” (written 10/8, on and for the start of the 1871 Great Chicago Fire, that lasted 2 days), “Judging the Chicago Seven” (written 10/9, on and for the day of the beginning of the 1969 trial against the Chicago Seven), and “‘the Robot Zombie Witch Girl’ revisited” (for 10/10, National Zombie Day) from the Janet Kuypers poetry book “Every Event of the Year (Volume Two: July-December)” for The Café Gallery 10/6/20 Book Reading in The Café Gallery 2020 book reading series (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr).

See a Facebook live video stream of Janet Kuypers reading her haiku “guard”, then her poems “Vampires and Blood-Sucking Mosquitos Alike”, “From Orpheus to Nuking the Moon”, “Kill with Impunity”, “Octopi and Brains” and “Octopi Target McDonald’s”, “Because of Fire”, “Judging the Chicago Seven”, and “‘the Robot Zombie Witch Girl’ revisited” from the Janet Kuypers poetry book “Every Event of the Year (Volume Two: July-December)” for The Café Gallery 10/6/20 Book Reading in The Café Gallery 2020 book reading series (filmed and streamed live from a Samsung S9 camera).

See a YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Judging the Chicago Seven”, “Kept Religion out of Politics”, “Oscar the Grouch and the Recycle Nazi”, and “Because of Fire” from the Scars Publications cc&d 9-12 2020 issue collection book anthology “Roll the Bones” for “The Café Gallery 3/2/21 Book Reading” in The Café Gallery Book Reading series (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera, and posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr).  #janetkuypers   #janetkuyperspoetry   #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuypersthecafegallery

See a Facebook live video stream of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Judging the Chicago Seven”, “Kept Religion out of Politics”, “Oscar the Grouch and the Recycle Nazi”, and “Because of Fire” as her closing poems from the “Wildflowers” section of the Scars Publications cc&d 9-12 2020 issue collection book anthology “Roll the Bones” for “The Café Gallery 3/2/21 Book Reading” in The Café Gallery Book Reading series 2020+ (this video was filmed and streamed from a Samsung S9 camera).   #janetkuypers   #janetkuyperspoetry   #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuypersthecafegallery

Judging the Chicago Seven Janet Kuypers 10/9/19, on the day of the beginning of the 1969 trial against the Chicago Seven When things seem to go terribly wrong, protests and marches don’t change the world. Don’t take it from me, take it from Abbie Hoffman, during his post-1968 Democratic Convention trial: “I didn’t particularly think that politics in America could be changed by marches and rallies” So what did they do? All they wanted was to hold rallies, away from the convention, march, and camp in Lincoln Park, all of which the City of Chicago wouldn’t allow. “what we were presenting was an alternative life style... people of Chicago would mingle in Lincoln Park and see what we were about.” Yes, people were against President Johnson, and limited rally space led to the violent riots between Chicago police and protestors, and it took until the next President, Nixon, for a trial to start against the select seven. (Well, it was eight, but Bobby Seale so protested that he was bound and gagged in court, chained to a chair “like a medieval torture chamber” before he was separated from the seven.) But wait a minute, I’m tired of playing the role of a reporter for the Chicago Tribune and telling you all the facts. The only facts you need to know are that Abbie Hoffman, with Jerry Rubin and the rest of the gang, they decided that if this trial seemed like such a joke, then they would treat it accordingly. After Judge Hoffman first said Abbie Hoffman’s name, the judge said, “he is not my son.” Which is when Abbie said aloud, “Dad, dad, have you forsaken me?!” Hoffman and Rubin went to trial wearing judge robes; to give the world insight into their opinions on the trial. When they were told to remove the robes, they did — to reveal cop uniforms underneath. The defense brought up musicians (who weren’t allowed the play their guitar), but when poet Allen Ginsberg, when on the stand was asked about a harmonium, the judge tried to stop the madness, but not before Ginsberg managed to hit a few bars before he was stopped. So, back to my reporting, from The Daily Chronicle DeKalb newspaper, Ginsberg, in an effort to bring some peace back to the trial, started chanting his “Mantra of Preservation”: Hare hare Hare rama Rama rama Rama Kristna doesn’t understand which is where judge Hoffman stopped the poet while the courtroom was still laughing... “The language of the U.S district court is English. I don’t know what language that is we just heard,” Judge Hoffman said of the song, which is when Ginsberg told him, “It’s Sanskrit.” And to this the judge actually responded, “When you offer testimony in a foreign language, you must have an interpreter.” And no, Ginsberg couldn’t interpret himself. Okay, I’m reporting again, this isn’t fair... but I think the point of how this trial played out may be this. People can protest things when a government goes bad — even if the actions of the protestors end up becoming bad — and sometimes, after a while, you have to laugh at the whole system, which reveals itself to be ludicrous, because at times that insanity seems the only feasible alternative. I mean, look at your choices. Sane or not, which option will help you through the madness?

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