Unlikely Stories Presents

Paul E. Sexton 3: The Final Dimension (I had to say it)

To the Unlikely Stories home pagePaul gets ready for his strip-teaseWild, boisterous and delightfully humorous, the poems of Paul E. Sexton 3 are sometimes light and sometimes very heavy-hearted, but always infused with a vicious, high-octane humor. Whether he's talking about cockroaches or random violence, he'll thrill you with his unexpected metaphors and descriptions.

Paul Sexton is a poet who lives in Oak Cliff, a suburb of Dallas, Texas. During the first half of the last decade he was a Market Research project manager. During the second he lived as a Performance Poet, beloved open mic host (most notably as host of Zombies Coffee House) and part time pizza manager. In this century Paul finds himself a father of a brilliant 2-year-old boy Anando and married to Thais, a LOVELY woman who has inspired many poems. They are expecting a new child (a boy) very soon. He now works full time at Earthlink, where he sits in a cubical all day dreaming about the light of the sun.

Four feature articles were writen on Paul, in 1996-1997. They appeared in The Arlington Morning News (2), The UTA Shorhorn, and The DFW Source. In the summer of 2001 two articles in the Dallas Morning News have also highlighted Paul's hosting. A feature about the Poets Corner event at Barnes & Noble, and a feature about several of the more lasting poetry events in Dallas, detailing both Poet's Corner and The Oak Cliff Circle Of Poets.

Paul's Work has appeared in print in The Word, Venue, Happy Kitty and Arts DFW. Online credits include: Thunder Sandwich, AegisEgyptus.com, FreeZone Quarterly, Deblo.com, Siennas Poetry Suite, The Poetry Cafe, The Crowley Cats Page, Heart Cafe, and Tongue, a Literary/Visual Arts Magazine. Paul also has 2 pieces included in a national poetry anthology In Our Own Words: A Generation Defining Itself. This was released the first quarter of 2001.

Paul has published 5 chapbooks with Genuine Lizard Press, an underground press out of Fort Worth, Texas. They are The Lost Man, This Sweetchild Madness, Deep Ellum Sunrise, Poems Written While Spinning The Wheel Of Dharma, and Smiling At the Rubicon. A 6th book Cul-De-Sac at the End Of The World is currently in the process of publishing and should be released very soon. Also, a 7th book culling poems from the first 5 (poems from the 1990's) will soon follow.

In addition to hosting the weekly open mic at Zombies in Arlington, Paul also hosted for 2 years (96-97) on the 4th Monday at Deep Ellum's Darkroom. Paul has also guest hosted at Fort Worth's Wreck Room and Dogstar Cafe, Arlington's and Irving's Barnes and Noble Stores, Club Clearview's Poetry Slam, and The Generation Expo Festival in Dallas. Paul has also been featured at readings at numerous festivals, Coffee houses, bars, galleries and bookstores.

Paul now reads his poetry each Saturday night with the Oak Cliff Circle of Poets, a group that he co-founded in 1998. Paul has also host (along with Metta' Jon Maslow) of the 4th Monday Poets Corner open mic and feature reading at Barnes & Noble on Preston and Beltline in North Dallas.

Paul says, "I believe that although Poetry is not currently my life, that my life is poetry. By going through life and experiencing it, every bit of it, (families, children, jobs etc.) that is the fuel that the artist must have to create. Poetry is a living breathing art form which is more vital and important in today's age than ever before. Despite certain elements in the artistic community, to box in poetry, to over define it and make it an art form that stopped growing a hundred years ago, there will always be those with the courage to take the art form and grow it, to breathe the very substance of life into it, and make it exciting. Poetry springs from life, taking everyday experience and raising it to the level of the sublime! Despite anachronistic critical assertions to the contrary, modern poetry is a singularly difficult undertaking. In the past throwing lines together that had a certain rhyme or structure made one a poet. Today we are so inundated with words and ideas, that it takes a lot more to move us than a few platitudes and a rhyme. Today’s poet must be bold, and whatever words they place upon the page will be judged severely in a world of many poets and little great poetry. Today’s poem must find it's way to the page then stand or fall for what it is, and that is the way it should be." Paul created and maintains the online poetry venue Spinning the Wheel of Dharma. Drop him a line at mahakaruna@sbcglobal.net.

Paul's works here at Unlikely Stories are:

2002:
Samsara Afternoon
Had Burned Bright
The Reckoning
Dhammkitty
High Rent, Three Rings
Waiting by the Watershed
The Novelist
Sticks and Stones
More Stupid
Mythic Journey

2001:
An Oak Cliff Tale
Dead Legs 2
JIMBO
Freaky Head
New Release
Jett Black