Join us for a poetry reading and book release celebration for Dougie Padilla's new book of poetry, 40 Feet Down.

Long ago and far away I was a young poet, a Minnesota poet. I wrote constantly. Then came the Vietnam war and all the protests. And then came San Francisco and psychedelics and communes around the country. Zen masters and Indian swamis came. A psychotic break came. Heart failure came. And ashrams and organic farming with horses came. Then time with mi familia in Mexico came as did years working with the great American poet Robert Bly. Eventually, there were kids and houses and marriage and businesses and a long, long career in the visual arts. And even grandkids…

Fifty years later and out of the blue poetry returned quick and sure. I'd moved my art studio to rural Wisconsin to beat rising rents in the city, to concentrate on my painting, to meditate, be in nature, to face my loneliness. Once there, I started working on my memoirs. Instead, poems begin pouring out. Now, another ten years and seven books later they continue to pour out.

What a blessing.

- Dougie Padilla