While new books are published by the thousands every day, it is rare that readers are allowed to witness the birth of a new literary genre. Although poetry about the road, about travelling, about those people and problems, adventures and adversities that one might encounter on the 21st century version of the archetypal Heroic Journey is nothing new, these poets have managed to come together under the editorship of Cape Cod’s José Gouveia (author of “Ginsberg is Dead;” editor of “Dancing on Water”) to condense millions of miles into a compact, concise volume suitable for backpack or saddlebag.

Featuring the work of more than 40 poets from across the country and around the world, including South Africa, the Netherlands, Canada, Singapore and the former Soviet Union, this collection captures the spirituality, the camaraderie and the humor of living a life in high-speed balance.  

This Reporter (a former Professor of English) knows a bit about the language, and, in this tome, there lies no repose, no sedate contemplative or confessional pieces, no trite and clichéd “wind in my hair” doggerel; this is poetry at its most dynamic. From the short “Baiku,” (the “biker” form of “haiku”) to the epic confrontation between law and outlaw in “Ballad of California Slim and Nightstick Jim,” to the lyrical, bawdy “Six-Legged Moose,” this volume is replete with the literary essence of life on the road.

Although many of these poets have 20, 30 or even more than 40 years “behind the bars,” longevity is not a requirement (editor Gouveia has been riding a scant six years), although passion and perception are, and this tome is rich with those images, situations and interactions which are invisible to the drivers and passengers in the air-conditioned insularity of their automobiles and further demonstrates the universality of these passions across the obstacles of oceans and languages.

For those who would try to explain this “outsider” genre to their more scholarly friends, let it be said many of the works echo the more traditional and formal work of Kipling and Robert Service, while others lean more toward E.E. Cummings and Allen Ginsberg, who is actually included in the collection. Deeply rooted in the oral tradition, while reading one can almost hear a dusty, gravelly voice recounting these legendary exploits and mystical experiences around a roadside campfire amidst other fellow travelers.

According to one reviewer, “Two groups for whom this book would make an excellent gift; all one’s biker friends, who could do with an introduction to truly thrilling poetry, and all one’s more timid poet friends, who don’t understand why anyone would want to do anything as crazy as ride.”

All in all, “Rubber Side Down” is a gem of a collection, each facet provided through the bug-spattered goggles of another meandering lunatic genius, each less concerned with their ultimate destination than they are with the joy of the journey.

Rubber Side Down: The Biker Poet Anthology

José “JoeGo” Gouveia and K. Peddlar Bridges, Editors

Santa Maria, California: Archer Books

Poetry with photographs

6x9. Paperback, 196 pages, $16.00

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