Fast Day 87 January 30 2009 {The Loud New Neighbors}

The Loud New Neighbors

On Hearing through the Bedroom Wall

The midnight river of our ebb and flow,
meanders to the bedroom as we creep
to Hypnos' estuary where we sleep,
not seen by man 'til cock does crow.

Our dreamy ships with fare undreamed of,
we watch with eager eye of sleeping soul;
until the brazen bell of voice does toll,
of neighb'ring emnity or neighb'ring love!

We hear the threshing on Love's harvest floor!
or hear the yelling of demonic fight!
We wake from somnolence interrupted,
and wipe the sleep from dreams disrupted,
to hear symbolic coital acts at night
that drape the bed: lascivious decor!

River of Dreams

picture: George Grie

Fast Day 86 January 23 2009 {Voyage to the Islands of Cake}

Voyage to the Islands of Cake

Macedoine and Madeleine
cakes with fruits and jelly
like a tower in Dubay

filled with creamy meringuay
or a singapore delight
of tipsy cake and chocolate cream.
two cupfuls of sugar,
one of milk and one of butter
and four cups flour...
cinnamon and clove and

strange spices from the east,
brought by clipper ships
by trade winds blown;
a fist of currants,
a pound of citron
an dram of vanilla extract
from the bean growing
on the eastern side of
Boulanji east of Bali,
harvested by girls not quite of age...
blanc mange a la vanille
et bougainville
la reine charlotte et

le roi georges
l'arc, bonnet, et l'oiseau
sous les marquises de mendoze:
la terre de feu,

divisee en plusieurs isles

par differens canaux,

et une parallelisme hideux
des deux cotes et climats.

Fast Day 85 January 16 2009 (Detroit, Michigan In Winter}

DETROIT, MICHIGAN IN WINTER

Th'Encyclopedia of Wine and Spirits
leaps easily to hand, in as much as
I did seek the Oxford English Dic-
tionary, it will do for now.
A nonce desire, hardly formed, has
come into my head, and I withdraw
from you a while and put my
tranquil mind to bed.
Farewell, the undisturbed sleep
from whose duvet no one returns!
Havoc is cried once too much
and it is my job to obey
and clean up after hounds.

I went to the Panera coffee shop
with Tiresias and Cassandra;
he bought a USA Today, mumbling about
what's new, so I gave him a funny look.
Like he should know what's new.
He was munching a biscotti
and I wondered if biscotti was
singular or plural, and Cassie
read my mind and slapped me
saying stop it! stop thinking of her
naked as her birthday, so I laughed.

It snowed.
It always snows.
We long for the sun and heat of the plains of Troy,
beneath the towering walls of Ilium
beneath the boardwalk called broad
where we looked up a thousand slips!
Drunk as a bagel, following seas and
deserts laid out like scripts written
by genius writers of the day:
This is no country for old men;
The young scarce catch their breath
and frozen gasps of unbelief
bedeck once festive malls
like spears and arrows of outrageous holly.

Fast Day 84: January 9 2009 {Sunset Boulevard}

Sunset Boulevard

They're screening Sunset Boulevard again.
The faintest smile passes between the two,
a glimpse of catastrophic languor;

Bill Holden floating fully clothed, I the
director's eye beneath the algae covered pool;
and flipping channels back and forth is too
bizarre for words like Kato, pool boy,

and O.J. comes like a Chevy Volt
right at us as we drive to the restaurant
and salute the maitre d'
and eat our appetizers and pick our Caesar salads...
Strike the entrees. Send home the crew.
The food will sing and dance...No More!
The salad broods within its dressing room

like food noir, like mystery, spare and dark;
it cuts right to the bone. Mystery of lettuce,

and the Enigma of the Salad!
Go home and look at the magazine memorials
where Food was Busby Berkley,
dancing, driving up the spiral,
tapping on the top hat,
snapping to the cane.
They're screening Sunset Boulevard again
and our close-up is at hand!

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notes

Detroit will have its revival.... in the meantime, there are various small "renaissances" which remind me of Gloria Swanson's "comeback" in Sunset Boulevard.

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