Le Morte Della Con Tutti Frutti

Turn into stone


then I'll be damned
he said
as he turned and walked
away...

the women all turn into
statues
as do the men in their
own way,
Understand me...
its all a lot of misery
but then you see one day
the sea...

try to grab a cloud
hold on to a dream
no conflagration
burns forever
in the slipstream.
------

words/birds

Not in love with words,
not in winged flight
like the birds
or the stars
in their flight
over the midnight
obsidian; void
the empty nothingness
and that which lies beyond
they shoot like needles
into the tar-like
surface of the
universe...

Not in Love with Fear

Whether the glass is half empty
or whether it's half full,
I'm still drowning in the
waters of this vessel that
I'm in...its funny,
mystery and romance,
topical depressions,
watching dead can dance
in the near light
of this waning candle
I hold my hand aloft one more time
and I wonder....

------

If you give me a rope
I promise not to hang
myself with it
as long as I can hold on
to it instead.

New portrait

reistat

Leave without saying
goodbye.
Make everyone else
try harder
but don't try.
take a long long
look at the fingers
pointing back
and ask why.

Too angry to wonder
or even ponder
semantic differences
or emotional inferences
all caught up in the maelstrom
of you.

Of You
in an emotional
minefield.
booby traps
and inconsideration
laid out for all to see.
secrets kept
though lost in thought
and the voices of many men
who've lost the plot.

it feels like the asking
and the waiting for
the response
is haunting me while
the hours pass
in dimly lit restaurants.

I never wanted
to be grim
or affronted
but I keep on asking
for the light
and the time.
to see it all through.

you just can't work it out

No its love,
like a curl of smoke
that fades
no smiles
or passion
in the remains

You drag your hands
through the ash and
with two fingers,
indicate the war paint
on your cold and
sullen face.

No, its love.
like a blast of steam,
the build of pressure
and the initial scream.
hot dares, no cares,
dissolved in air.

It can move mountains
be pushed aside
by the wave of
a careless hand
and yet beside
the silence
at the end of the
phone that buzzes
when you hang up first

its love
and can we take anymore?
I try to work it out
to work it out...

A rustle in the branches(distracted by momentary thoughts of suicide)

look out the window; daydreaming
nothing but ever whitening skies,
blazing away in the afternoon.
ego crumbling
by sheets of glass
singing to no one
just me and the trees
clapping like a million
sets of eyes
they see me, waiting
but a step away
a single step
is all it
takes.

The World is Made of Clay

mixed words
or intentions
that seem unclear
words that need
to be said
but no one says
I want but not
what you want
distraught and
taught to lose
you shield you
from abuse soon
no can even really
get that close
the door slams
the lights go out
the welcome mat
is pulled from
beneath your feet
caked in clay
soil shoes you
feel buried in blues.

Its all evaporating like a distant dream....

Will the water
of your loneliness
wash all the scars away
when time has passed?
swirling like a gas
the crimson flow
evaporates
in the stillness
of the empty glass.

Michael Jackson

Well, I watched the memorial concert/funeral and probably like most people I found it both incredibly moving and sad. Moving because it was so nice to see people speak so genuinely from their hearts and without judgment and sad because it took Michael's death to finally give him his due, so very long overdue.
The singing was wonderful(most specifically Jermaine and Stevie Wonder) and seeing what a wide range of people he touched. Certainly his passing and the unprecedented amount of coverage and sheer mass of information that has passed regarding his death and tributes both personal and professional are hard to ignore. the numbers alone are pretty staggering.

Not sure why you'd leave in summer but its a bummer michael, and so very very sad...

Something Special

I look out the window
Haven't seen you in a while
the last time we kissed,
the last time you smiled
like I kept your heart in my pocket
to tear it out would be
like ripping an arm out
of its socket...
short of
a locket
its the only thing
sometimes I feel like
there is left to hold on to.
when the black rabbits come again
and they're calling my name
and dancing...
I'm trying to work
out something special
in a void where I'm
left wandering and lost
but the quiver of my arrows
seems to be somewhere else and
the clear vantage point I once had
has all but faded from my view.

I'm a little blind now.

I know I'm facing in the right direction
even with my seemingly mixed bag of intentions.
trying to make some more beautiful rainbows
less of living in black and white.
don't always know my
wrong from right.
don't want to fight
fade
out...

See you

Her hair and his
were entwined
and astray.
The car
and the red
leather interior
beyond skill
and love
stolen
lot, keys
and the dust
and the alchohol
and the pills
and the sleeping
while the engine
ran
and ran
ran away
with the time
and their lives
and the memory of
love in the depths
at the end of time...

Holy Cow, Angela Landsbury wins a Tony!

I'll never forget your face
the same after 80 winters
your long hair
and september valentines
Hard to believe
you'll always be mine
Back in history
and before the war
You thought of me
calling from Japan
on business
the gaze I saw reflected
in chance moments
and your kiss
hit the nail upon the head
catch the

I never knew
like some fiend
that girls were cruel
you were 17
you bucked up
faced the truth
learned to shoot pool
and broke away
from the shame
changed your face
and then your name
account closed
no more withdrawls
after September
the winds will have gone
from whence they came

UP

The new Disney/Pixar movie really surprised me. The first 20 minutes are probably some of the most sublime and sad moments I have ever seen in a cartoon or animated movie. I could not stop crying! Even though the film has elements which are obviously fantastical, there is so much grounding the film emotionally, you barely realize how strange the circumstances of the plot are(Balloons tied to a house that happens to float all the way to South America overnight?) yet that alone is not enough to stop me liking this film.

It works on a lot of levels, even though there were times when I thought the pace was a little slow. Of course the visuals are spectacular-even animated they are spectacular. I saw the film in 3D but honestly, other than the title blocks and the some of the (talking) dog chase scenes, I didn't really get that much added to the film. It was really not necessary but it got me to fork over another three bucks to the Castro Street Theatre where I saw the film. And I love supporting local movie houses in the heart of the gayest neighborhood on the planet.

Go see the film-its aimed at kids obviously but there is a wonderful film for adults in there as well, something for everyone. If you have recently lost a loved one or a spouse this film may be hard to watch but essential to healing one's heart. I highly recommend it.

Kiss of the Cockatoos

sweat beads on my hands
and behind the eyes
stars are lingering
lids closed
deep black pools
with mercury glissening
under-surfaces
and the rain
like a hundred thousand bullets
of light
will the ideas ev'r end?
Are there any thoughts
left to send
in space?

Dancing Past Pop's Surface

It has been 25 years since the Pet Shop Boys made their first stab at making pop records. One thing that no amount of style changes have managed to do, which is to make the duo sound like anybody BUT themselves. While America seems to have ignored the boys for the past 15 years they've consistently made well-crafted, hook-filled records, loads of hit singles and written a ton of great music for others. Rarely have they made a false step.

Many have pointed to their 1993 album, "Very" as the boy's pop peak. Though their albums since then have been equally regarded, "Very" seems to hold a particular piece of nostalgia and appreciation. Equally hailed by critics as well as reflected in chart sales, like a greatest hits collection of entirely new material, very was "pop" that connected by expressing universal ideas about love.

That their new album "Yes" harkens back to this time in their career is in no small way due to their decision to work with the production team Xenomania, hit makers for pop sensations like Girl's Aloud. Love them or hate them, they have buckets full of hits-and as "serious" sounding as the pet shop boys may occasionally be they are still trading as a pop band. Good thing too as "Yes" is about as "pop" as these two have sounded in ages and I have to say it suits them well. They still sound like the pet shop boys. Neil still sounds arch and witty as hell and Chris still hides behind his shades and hats, twiddling the knobs somewhere several feet away. Oops, double entendre.

The first tracks from the new album that hit me were “Did you see me coming?” "More than a dream" and "The way it used to be." Each of them upbeat dance tunes, done like they should be. You can't HELP but tap your feet and shake your hips to this album, unless they're broken. Its not all dance music however, ranging from four on the floor thump thumps like Pandemonium (sure to be a single) and lead off single Love etc. to the wistfully reflective, almost tender King of Rome.

Other than closing the album with the maudlin “Legacy”-which, while pretty would have been better suited between “More than a dream” and “Building a wall”, this album is really well paced. I always loved the way the Bilingual album closes with the amazingly upbeat “Saturday night forever.” The new album is so pop it would have worked a little better to have it end with the great “The way it used to be” or “This used to be the future” with Human League's Phillip Oakey, for some reason marooned on the 2nd disc of the limited edition version. C'mon you two, what's with the tease?

Happily the summer looms, where singles like “Did you see me coming?” should be pumping out of fan’s car stereos everywhere. This, their tenth album finds the boys stepping forward with a few old friends (Johnny Marr!) and some new ones, creating what is arguably their best album this decade. Yes, it’s incredibly pop.

Outrage

Went to see this film this evening at the Embarcedero Cinema and boy did it get me angry. Rarely have I wanted to throw things at the movie screen as I did during this documentary. There are of course always problems with documentaries in general and this is not totally free of those, but it hits home pretty hard.
I am always leary of outting people based on the fact that some random guy claims he's had sex with them. However there are enough corroborated stories in this film that cancel out the need for proof in many cases. There are just so many damning facts its hard to ignore them.
Probably the things that enraged me so much was seeing how many gay people actually helped these homophobes in the process of selling us down the river. What total bastards! Well done and worth seeing if you've got a few extra bob.

Will You Sleep Downstairs tonight?

Its always winter
somewhere, but it comes too late
to you.
In your chair
you've been sitting there
drawing up your letters
like a blanket of ink
will it wash away
all the pain
that I remember?
Will it wash away
the stains on my heart?
Or will they show up
as the beauty in my art?
or will it be just so tragic
it comes as a surprise
to anyone.
You will keep them at a distance
far enough away
to keep them all from
sticking holes in your heart.

Pet Shop Boys

Dear god I can't stop playing the new single "Did You See Me Coming?" Its just so damn catchy and has "feel good hit of the summer" written all over it. It is with some delight that I come of the realization that I have been listening to them for nearly their entire career in music(and as an aging Smash Hits reader, even earlier in Neil's former one as a music journalist). While I wasn't surprised to find out they were gay, I am rather proud of saying that I like their music. They set the bar incredibly high in asking their audience to be intelligent, witty pop and dance music fans. When so much of dance music is vapid, meaningless trash, the Pet Shop Boys were referencing Wittgenstein, making great dance-pop wrapped in great sleeves. Their work as a whole is pretty substantial for what is "throw away" music. They have rarely misfired and other than the fact that the video for the new single sux, I can live with the fact that they are still making great music and that I am still tapping my feet to their music, sitting here at nearly 37. Go Neil and Chris. Whew!

Foxx

was waiting,
Waiting, savage
gazing out of random skyscraper windows
electric valleys
blanketed in matrix fog
engendering
my sex
in digital
urban outlines blindfolded
separated from
car-crash reality
and the grit of
the overpass,
two hands
and the spark
at the beginning of time
like faded film
fading