Cover Art © Pamela
Silin-Palmer, 1978, 2000
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While following a
snuffling herd of swine on a truffle hunt near
Perigord, P. Silin, the well-known Bay Are
muralist, discovered a dirt-covered metal box under
the excited nose of a snorting sow....It was only
that evening, after the truffles had been
counted...that the box was examined and the
marvelous oeuvre of Honniker Winkley first
unveiled. Within were almost two hundred cahiers
d'exercise in which had been meticulously
penned the thoughts of the most unknown of the
world's great poets. Over fifty cahiers were filled
with the original draft of Winkley's great missive
to Alfred Jarry, in which he passionately
articulated his sophisticated "Esthétique
du Porc", a statement on poetics which, had
fate not so cruelly swept it from us, would no
doubt stand today alongside the works of Longinus
and Northrop Frye as a pillar of literary
criticism. Others were filled with sketches and
poems, and were neatly divided into four
categories: 'Earth', 'Wind', 'Fire', and 'Love'.
Silin enthusiastically undertook the laborious task
of recopying the material, for the paper had become
waterstained and mildewed through exposure.
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Then, on the evening of
July 16, 1976, while the rest of the party was
still out truffling, fate struck as Silin worked
alone in the yard. A pack of deranged wild boars,
evidently driven into a rage by the herd of trained
and pampered trufflers invading theri territory,
launched a counterattack, savagely shredding the
wooden fence, and treeing Silin in a fortuitously
nearby chestnut. The life's work of the recluse
bard was lost to angry hooves and
snouts.
But fate was not so cruel
as to rob us entirely of this unsung lyricist.
Fortunately the 'Love' poems had already been
copied, and Silin was able to reconstruct from
memory many details of Winkley's life which he had
revealed in his epistle to Jarry. Then noted artist
Karen Kariya was called upon to recreate the spirit
of Winkely's sketches. Silin, the only living human
being to have had the opportunity to scrutinize
Winkley's artwork, made this comparison of their
work: "Kariya's line is smoother, surer, of course.
But as for the essential spirit -- it's truly
amazing!"
Here, drawings and poems
side by side, as the poet no doubt would have
wished, are published for the first time THE LOVE
POEMS OF HONNIKER WINKLEY.
--From the back
of the book
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