Sinclair Beiles, Rotterdam, 1972

Photos: Gerard Bellaart

Blind Yourself, by Sinclair Beiles

Poem card published by Cold Turkey Press, France 2012.

Portrait of Sinclair Beiles, 1977

Drawing of Sinclair Beiles, 1977, place unknown and unable to recognise signature. Courtesy of George Dillion Slater.

a sunday walk in rode, by Sinclair Beiles

Published by Cold Turkey Press, France, 2014

Sinclair Beiles in Rode, Somerset, England, 1975

Photos: Gerard Bellaart

The only time, by Sinclair Beiles

They might have been twins.
they looked exactly like each other
and they sat facing each other
in the underground.
Each of them was hesitant to speak
to the other.
But when one got off, the other
followed him and saw him disappear
into the side entrance of a bank.
He obviously worked in a bank
like the man who had taken the trouble
to follow him. That was the only time
they saw each other.

(Published in The Idiot's Voice, Cold Turkey Press, France, 2012)

Cut up! An anthology inspired by the cut-up method of William S. Burroughs and Brion Gysin

Coming soon from Oneiros Books, UK. Contains a cut-up letter by Sinclair Beiles. Read more here

MIT Exhibit Reveals How A Beat Poet Conquered Space Before Yuri Gagarin

The first man in space was Sinclair Beiles. A beatnik living in Paris, Beiles was recruited by a young Greek artist named Vassilakis Takis, who coaxed him to strap on a helmet and hover for several minutes, suspended electromagnetically, while reciting poetry. Beiles made his voyage in the Fall of 1960, and although he later said that the magnetism scrambled his brain, Takis proudly asserted that his expedition anticipated Yuri Gagarin’s space launch by six months...Read more here 

Karoo Bathtime, by Sinclair Beiles

In the Karoo we had a bath.
If you wanted warm water
You had to take The Farmer's Weekly
To the bath with you
And when you read it the water got warm.
You had to be sure it was the latest copy.
O yes the Karoo is full of miracles.
Take the Spring for instance.
In the Spring the desert is a myriad of flowers
And if you fill your bath with desert flowers
And get in with The Farmer's Weekly
You turn into a faun
And you can get a job with the ballet in Cape Town.

(From Dowsings, Victor Sega, Johannesburg, 1979) 

Loss of face, by Sinclair Beiles

the time came for the bridegroom
to kiss the bride.
when they pulled apart
the bridegroom was munching
and the bride was seen to have no face.

(published in 20 Poems, privately printed, 1980)

Richard Wright, haiku and Sinclair Beiles

"In 1959, he (Richard Wright) was introduced to haiku by Sinclair Beiles , a young South African poet who loved its form. Beiles was living in Paris and associating with other poets of the 'Beat generation' such as Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs and Gary Snyder. Beiles's and the Beat poets' interest in Zen led Wright to the knowledge of haiku. Because the Beat Hotel was in the Latin Quarter and Wright lived very close to the hotel, Wright often frequented the hotel bar....Wright borrowed, from Sinclair Beiles,  RH Blyth's four volumes on the art and history of the haiku and its relationship to Zen philosophy and settled down to rediscover his old dream of oneness with life..."

(from The Richard Wright Encyclopedia,  Jerry W Ward, Robert J Butler)