#ari king

Leigh Lucas

Wiley Birkhofer—dancer, lover, singer, poet—was a man as much of the body as of the mind. He lived poetry with his body and stuck parts of it to the page. Without his body, we look to his pages more keenly than before, see them more vividly. Wiley's poetry is as gorgeous as he was—layered, unpredictable, striking, and wild. It's the kind of poetry that startles you awake and leaves you gasping for air asking yourself, am I crying? No no, I'm laughing. His art lives. He left us with so much and so much wild poetry.

Matthew Rohrer

One of the things I loved about Wiley was how voracious he was with poetry. If I showed him something or suggested something, he’d be back in a day or two having read everything by that person. Having incorporated it like a white blood cell just swarming all over it and making it a part of him.

And he just kept growing and growing.

As an example of his industriousness and his focus, I’m thinking of a reading Joshua Beckman gave at the writer’s house. In typical Beckman style, rather than read from his new book, he unveiled an insanely complicated and unusual new form he’d just invented, and asked people from the audience to come up to the podium to read these new poems. Wiley volunteered right away, and then about halfway through the reading he raised his hand and asked Joshua if he could share one that he’d just written, during the reading.

Wiley brought this voraciousness and total commitment to any project, especially to his thesis, especially right at the end. He wrote poems that looked like upside down trees, or plant roots, or corporate flow charts. That was one poem.  You had to answer a question yes or no and go to the stanza that followed. His energy in person was infectious, and his energy on the page is still there, fresh as he was.

Holly Coddington

Wiley Birkhofer: their penis manly hanley ramirez took a fastball to the cock no longer shaves his forehead with a sponge (8:18 AM)

Holly Coddington: he shaves his sponge with a forehead picked off a penis tree (8:19 AM) Wiley Birkhofer: NICE! you know exactly what i want turds marinated in corn bleach from dad's old shin squeegie (8:20 AM) Holly Coddington: The moon is half-cocked on pubic rope don't call me dad (8:21 AM) Wiley Birkhofer: moons are always good in poems the ocean birds (8:25 AM) Holly Coddington: moons over my hammy oceans are for drowning pianos in birds are for flying into windows. (8:28 AM) Wiley Birkhofer: moons are super birds are basically oceans okay i gotta go (8:29 AM) Holly Coddington: bye bye (8:29 AM) Wiley Birkhofer: you're very funny and imaginative dirty nasty (8:29 AM) Holly Coddington: haha and you are weird and sweet and wearing an ego suit (8:30 AM) Wiley Birkhofer: in workshop, rachel told me "you have a very interesting relationship to ego, wiley" (8:30 AM) Holly Coddington: which you unzip and flash us unzip your ego suit and put your dick on your forehead (8:31 AM) Wiley Birkhofer: i think your analogy is spot on (8:32 AM) Friday, March 21, 2014 9:54 AM Wiley Birkhofer: i love you you're an amazing person really funny CGHAT 4 LIFE (9:54 AM)

Ari King

Ari King: What are you not good at?

Wiley Birkhofer: I’m not good at - this is going to be very psychological - feeling good about myself because of who I am as opposed to which other people like me and things they tell me I’m good at. You know...like I know because my friends are laughing that I am funny not I know that I’m funny because I know that I am funny and I think that I am funny. (Snaps fingers) That's a really good example!