I made a little name and fame for myself by publishing two books of poetry with City Lights Books in San Francisco, one in 1964 (Dawn Visions) and one in 1972 (Burnt Heart: An Ode to the War Dead), and by creating and directing The Floating Lotus Magic Opera Company, ritual drama theater whose sole purpose was to raise consciousness and exorcise the Vietnam War from the planet. The theater was an extension of my poetry and pictorial work, Antonin Artaud-inspired, Tibetan ritual based, and had an orchestra of exotic instruments such as Borneo gongs and toy pianos, and a chanting cast of painted psychedelic beings who embodied cosmic principles and archetypes warring in timelessness to effect changes in time. We had a healthy following in North Berkeley performing at the John Hinkle outdoor amphitheater for three years, and in San Francisco the two times we performed there. We carried on from 1966 to 1968, and disbanded, each going their separate way, leaving few traces.
In 1969 I took what I considered the next step in personal and social revolution, becoming a Muslim/Sufi, traveling and living in such places as England, Spain, Nigeria, Morocco and Algeria, pilgrimmaging to Mecca in 1972, but writing little for about 10 years, as spiritual discipline. In 1982 I moved with wife and two children to California, began poetry writing, publishing and public readings again, organized Santa Barbara Arts Festival poetry events, then moved to Philadelphia in 1990. I am busy writing new poems, publishing in magazines and self-produced pamphlets, editing books of poetry for publication, and working my way back into ritual theater, at the gorgeous ripe age of 54.
Daniel Moore
6470 Morris Park Road
Philadelphia, PA 19151-2403
(215) 477-8927
Born Oakland, California, July 30, 1940.
Two Books of poetry published by City Lights Books of San Francisco, DAWN VISIONS, 1964, BURNT HEART, 1971.
Created ritual theatre, wrote and directed productions, The Floating Lotus Magic Opera Company, Berkeley, California, 1966-1969.
Three books of poetry, under the name Abd al-Hayy Moore, Zilzal Press, Santa Barbara, California: The Desert Is The Only Way Out, 1985, Halley's Comet, 1986, The Chronicles of Akhira, 1986.
Magazines in which poems have appeared include: The Nation, Zyzzyva, City Lights Review, San Francisco Review.
Wrote text for commissioned oratorio with American Composer, Henry Brant: RAINFOREST, 1989
Two commissions with Running Press of Philadelphia, Mr. Moore's present home, 1992: THE ZEN ROCK GARDEN (pub. Nov. 1992) WARRIOR WISDOM (due Fall, 1993)
