Description
Kenneth Patchen defied categorization, merging poetry and painting into his own visionary form. Born in 1911, he spent much of his life challenging war, conformity, and poetic convention with a voice that was equal parts protest and play. After a spinal injury left him largely bedridden, Patchen turned inward and poured his creative energy into hand-painted books and what he called “picture-poems.” These vivid pieces fused text and image to express a world at once full of injustice and beauty, sorrow and joy. His work became a lifeline — not just for himself, but for the counterculture that embraced him.
This striking card features one of Patchen’s most direct appeals: “Peace or Perish”. Surrounded by stark black lettering — “All men are doomed,” “extinction of every form of life on this planet” — the piece carries a powerful ecological and antiwar urgency. Along the border: “Mercy, Truth, Freedom,” “Flowers, Birds, Animals, Trees”. The image evokes both folk art and apocalypse, anchored by a face with expressive eyes and a swirling chest. Originally issued in 1968 by Leslie Tobin Imports, this is card #28 in a now very scarce series.
A vivid call to conscience from the poet who refused silence.
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