At 89 years of age WHENTHEN is my fourth collection of published poems, following Fragments (2002), Afterimage (1965) and First Poems and Others (1952). In 1996, the Regional Oral History office of the Bancroft Library, University of California, published Gerd Stern, From Beat Scene Poet to Psychedelic Multimedia Artist in San Francisco and Beyond, 1948-1978. Many additional publications have featured my work and that of USCO, 'The Company of US, ' the collaborative artist commune of which I was a principal, along with Michael Callahan and Stephen Durkee, from the 1960s onward. From those ago days, I still treasure my poem mantra 'Take the NO out of NOW, Then Take the OW out of NOW, Then Take the THEN out of NOW.'--Gerd Stern
