This Planet is Doomed
/This Planet is Doomed by Sun Ra (2011) I bought a copy of this book the last time (I think) I was in New York, at a small bookstore—and it just really cheered me up—it's the kind of book that's nice to have—“the science fiction poetry” of Sun Ra, who I was, and still am, a big fan of. I saw him and his “Arkestra” play in Columbus, Ohio, at a fairly small club, sometime in the 80s, I think, and it was pretty inspiring. He recorded a lot of music over the years, some of it pretty out there, but when I'm in the mood for it, there's nothing better. Like most poetry books, I didn't read through this from cover to cover—I pick it up now and then and try to find something that connects with me. It's nice to let the words wash over you, or if you're feeling up to it, read one really closely. Sun Ra claimed to have visited Saturn, and even though that's a pretty outrageous story, I more or less believe him.