Poetry of American Politics and Social Issues

Nightmareica is the sometimes anguished, frequently sarcastic, often ironic, response to America’s political and social absurdities by Michael Baldwin, a former professor of American Government, civil rights activist, and concerned citizen. His critical and satirical poetry powerfully illuminates how American government has been usurped by Big Business and the ultra-wealthy to serve their own interests rather than the common good. Meanwhile the average citizen is distracted from considering real political and economic issues by addictive but frivolous technologies, by fabricated social problems that divide us into opposing factions, and by cynical wars that are required to keep us uber-patriotic and our weapons industries humming. Like the frog contentedly allowing itself to be boiled alive, Americans continue to work, drug, drive, and gun themselves to death, while telling themselves and being told by their billionaire masters that they are the freest and most privileged people in history. This is a wake-up call presented not in a dry factual essay or statistical charts, but in poetry that finds your mind like a sharp knife.

This is a short (32 page), easy to read, manual on how to write and perform slam poetry and how to produce a poetry slam. A Slam Poetry Manual was written because there were no How-To manuals on slam poetry at the time (2003). As an older slam poet and producer of numerous poetry slams, I wanted to encourage young people to become interested in writing and performing slam poetry. I also wanted to make it easier for them to produce poetry slams themselves. A Slam Poetry Manual defines a poetry slam, describes the history of poetry slams, provides the rules for a slam, and even a sample score sheet. The manual also provides guidance on how to write and perform slam poems so as to score well in slams. Please note that this book is no longer in publication and has thus become a collector’s item. There are only a limited number of copies (less than 100). Thus it lists on Amazon used for over $400 by other sellers. I purchased all remaining copies from ALA when they ceased publication. I now offer the few new copies remaining for $100 thru this website and will autograph those purchased here.

Poetry of the Entanglement of Science, Philosophy, and Spirit

This extraordinary collection of poems was born from a lifelong fascination with man’s spiritual nature as well as with several areas of scientific inquiry that led to an awareness of the entanglements that exist among science, philosophy, and spirit. Poet Michael Baldwin dares to ask “Who are we?” and “What is our purpose?” and “What about God?” (Includes ten full-color illustrations by California artist Andrew Ostrovsky.)

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Poems Informed by Science

Counting Backward From Infinity, Poems Informed By Science, won the Morris Memorial Chapbook Award, 2012, from the Alabama Poetry Society. This is a 29-page chapbook containing 8 poems based on science.

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Asian Art Prints & Poems

This is a book of 50 short poems in the Asian style by award-winning poet, Michael Baldwin. Each poem is based on a fine art print in the public domain. The prints are displayed on one page, the poem on the facing page. As indicated in his introduction, Mr. Baldwin has attempted to capture the spiritual quality of the images, using the Japanese concepts of aware (a sensitivity to the transience of things, which induces a gentle sadness) and yũgen (connoting a beauty that is deep, mysterious, and becomes one with the perceiver). However, a few of the poems are humorous and three are homages to the poets Basho, Wallace Stevens, and William Carlos Williams. This is a book of visual, emotional, and intellectual richness.

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Asian Art Prints & Poems

This is a book of 62 short poems in the Asian style by award-winning poet, Michael Baldwin. Each poem is based on a fine art print in the public domain. The prints are displayed on one page, the poem on the facing page. As indicated in his introduction, Mr. Baldwin has attempted to capture the spiritual quality of the images, using the Japanese concepts of aware (a sensitivity to the transience of things, which induces a gentle sadness) and yũgen (connoting a beauty that is deep, mysterious, and becomes one with the perceiver). However, a few of the poems are humorous and three are homages to the poets Basho, Wallace Stevens, and William Carlos Williams. This is a book of visual, emotional, and intellectual richness. This 2nd edition contains 12 new poems and is published in a larger 6×9 format so the images are larger than in the first edition.

Landscapes, Mindscapes, Heartscapes, Soulscapes

Scapes was the winner of the Edward Eakin Poetry Book Award, 2011, from the Poetry Society of Texas. It is an 85-page book containing 56 poems grouped in 4 categories: Landscapes, Mindscapes, Heartscapes, and Soulscapes. Scapes contains 4 double-page illustrations by artist Johnny Bowen, who also provided the cover illustration.

Poetry Inspired By Classical Music

Words In Concert is an anthology of poems inspired by classical music. It was edited and published by Michael for the Fort Worth Poetry Society. It contains 48 poems by 36 wonderful poets, including three Texas Poets Laureate and many highly-acclaimed, award-winning poets from the U.S. and internationally. It also contains six large illustrations on musical themes. Please note that all profits from the sale of this anthology will benefit the musicians of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.n

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A collaboration between two longtime friends who found they both appreciated each other’s creative work: one a painter, the other a poet. Michael Baldwin, an award-winning poet, has, in the past, written poems for artist Johnny Bowen and his family for various occasions. In 2009 Bowen asked Baldwin to write poems for several of his paintings that were to be in an upcoming show at the Arts Center of the Ozarks, Springdale, Arkansas. The project became a labor of love as Baldwin saw the high quality and inspired vision in Bowen’s paintings. In 2020 Baldwin decided it was time to publish a book dedicated entirely to Bowen’s art and Baldwin’s poems. The Sublime Landscape and Beyond is the result of many years of rewarding collaboration.

Paperback (Amazon) Paperback

Lone Star Heart: Poems of a life in Texas, is a 120-page softcover 8 x 10 inch book, containing 55 poems about Texas. The book is divided into 4 sections: Texas weather, Texas places, Texas critters, and Texas folks. It also contains 15 full-color paintings by artist Johnny Bowen. Lone Star Heart was nominated for poetry book of the year for the Texas Institute of Letters.   From the Introduction:

Twelve Short Strange Plays

A collection of nine one act flash plays and one short three-act play. All can be produced with one to four characters and little or no scenery or props. Each play can be done in five to twenty minutes. These flash plays all involve science-fiction or supernatural themes that comment on current social issues in society. Vampires, werewolves, angels, talking animals, and aliens abound. But these are not horror stories, they use strange characters to challenge current ideas and beliefs. These are plays for people who enjoy using their brains.

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Murder Music is a mystery-thriller for anyone who enjoys mayhem, music, and romance. Join Missy McKean, beautiful teen virtuoso who plays a haunted violin; Missy’s genius jazz mentor, Tiger Blakely; a demonic drug kingpin who wants Tiger very dead; Tiger’s dog, Bix, a canine Einstein; a mysterious red-haired Indian from outer space; and a bevy of craven killers on a crazy cross country jazz road trip that can only end in death and disaster. Due to its popularity, Murder Music has been expanded and improved in this second edition.

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Some Short Tall Tales of a Texas Rancher

The stories in this book chronicle some of the misadventures of my long-time friend, Frank, a rancher on the dry plains of North Texas. Frank is one of the most intelligent people of my acquaintance, but he is also one of the most gently outrageous characters I’ve had the privilege of knowing.

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Would you recognize a real Neanderthal who is living among us? They may be out there!

A halfling boy and his Neanderthal uncle are the only survivors from their strange, prehistoric culture. Now they are struggling to survive in modern society, with often violent, sometimes humorous, and always exciting results. Follow their exploits from the steppes of Siberia to exotic Kashmir, India, amid the clash of armies, religions, and criminal gangs. The half-Neanderthal boy matures into dangerous adulthood relying on his Neanderthal strengths and on the warrior philosophy of the Bhagavad-Gita. Mystery, mayhem, and romance abound in one of the most extraordinary stories you will ever read.

In Neanderthal Gita by Michael Baldwin, is a novel of high adventure, in which you will experience what it was like to live as a Neanderthal hunter—a hunter of both wild animals and men.

Atmosphere Press Kindle Paperback