the poet as the letter P

last night i rewatched a little bit of two movies: the 1985 documentary about l.a. punk band x, x: the unheard music, and the documentary about punk rock and fatherhood, the other f word [2011].  i also reread the epilogue of richard hell's memoir i dreamed i was a very clean tramp [ecco; 2013], where hell recounts a recent street encounter with his long-time friend, and frenemy, tom verlaine as verlaine was sifting thru bins of books at a used bookstore in manhattan.  and i realize, oh boy, punk has had a profound effect on my life, my writing, and my thinking.  the discovery of punk rock on this working class california kid was a total revelation.  punk has its drawbacks -- what, who, doesn't? -- but punk gave me a kind of strength to be unashamed of my own limitations.  if punk encourages kids who can't play an instrument to simply, in the words of frank o'hara, go on your nerve and play it loud punk also said you can pick up a book, you can pick up a pen, you can read and you can write.  just go on your nerve.

punk has had a deep influence on music and fashion but i think too on politics, art, writing, design and even buddhism.  so i have a question for you: what has punk meant to you?

you can answer in the comments section here; or you can publish your responses on your own blogs and/or twitter accounts and/or facebook; or you can be totally punk and not answer at all.

what has punk meant to you?