are you willing to be called crazy?

by Ron Whitehead

I have been asked so many times, "What do I need to do

to take it to the next level, to be great, to be the best?"

And my response is, "Why do you want to be the best?

For money? For fame? Or is it a calling? How determined

are you? Are you willing to fail and fail and fail and to

pick yourself back up out of the muddy ditch and crawl

back onto the road and head to the lighthouse time

and time again? Are you willing to stare death in the eyes

and say 'No I Will Not Go With You Yet, My Work is Not Done!'

Are you willing to let go of everything but your poetry, your

writing? Are you willing to be called crazy, to face closed doors

everywhere you turn? Are you willing to go hungry, to live

without a home, without anyone to turn to in your hour of

darkness? Can you do all those things?

Have you read and studied the lives and works of great

poets and artists who devoted their entire lives to their work,

regardless of fortune or fame?

Have you studied the lives and works of Vincent van Gogh

and William Blake? How many works did van Gogh sell?

How did the writing community receive the poems of Blake?

Are you willing to sacrifice everything, to give yourself

completely, to give your life blood, your fire, your heart

and soul to your calling?

Are you willing to study and work until you grow blind

and deaf, until there is nothing left of you but the pure

essence of poetry?

If so, then I am with you, then do it. And don't look back.

Keep working. Do the work you have been called to do.

And when your time comes to die then go with peace

in your heart and a smile on your face."

Photo of Ron Whitehead

BIO: Poet, writer, editor, publisher, professor, scholar, activist, U.S. National Lifetime Beat Poet Laureate Ron Whitehead, who grew up on a farm in Kentucky, is the author of over 40 books and more than 40 albums.

A UNESCO Europe Writer-in-Residence, his work has been translated into 20 languages. Winner of the Kentucky Poetry Society’s World Peace Prize for Poetry (Judge Lisel Mueller), the Kentucky Poetry Prize, the Yeats Club of Oxford’s Prize for Poetry, the City of Louisville presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his work in The Arts, and many other awards and honors, including being nominated for the Pulitzer and the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Ron's poetry has been published around the world in a diverse range of print and online publications from TRIQUARTERLY (Northwestern University/Illinois) to ARTFORUM (Czech Republic) to BLUE BEAT JACKET (Japan) to BEAT SCENE (England) to SOUTHERN REVIEW (Louisiana) to TRIBE magazine (NYC) to AMERICANS & OTHERS (Italy), and thousands of others.

He produced thousands of music and poetry events, festivals, and Insomniacathons across Europe and the USA. Although he recently retired from producing events, at 74, he continues to perform and record with his Storm Generation Band and many others.

His new book, TAPPING MY OWN PHONE, was released, September 2024, by the National & International Beat Poetry Foundation. His new album, THE WAY of THE HEART: OLD AGE SUITE was just released by sonaBLAST! Records.

He just returned from Newfoundland where he was the first Writer-in-Residence for the historic Woody Point Heritage Theatre’s Sonic Harvest Sessions. A new video, filmed in Newfoundland, was released February 2025.

His new book CROW and OUTLAW was released January 18, 2025 by Keeping the Flame Alive Press. A new Published in Heaven Poster of his “A Poet’s Path” poem was released on the same day. A new music spoken word video of A PRAYER for AMERICA/This Land is Your Land by Ron Whitehead (with Woody Guthrie) & The Storm Generation Band was released by sonaBLAST! Records in February 2025.

He will Feature at PoetFest in April 2025 at historic Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida.

He will present The Keynote State of Gonzo Address at GonzoFest New Orleans in May 2025, where he will also perform with legendary composer and multi-instrumentalist David Amram plus with the band ZU ZU YA YA.

His newest book, On A Feather of Light: New & Selected Poems, was just released by Pennington Press in hardbound, paperback, and e-book editions. And an audiobook will soon be released.

OUTLAW POET: The Legend of Ron Whitehead, a feature length documentary on Ron's life and work, is now available for streaming on Amazon Prime Films Documentaries.

 Ron Whitehead’s official website is tappingmyownphone.net