obituary for a gay landmark

 I first stayd at Canyon Club in 2013. on a visit the following year I found a black Bike jockstrap there. I'm wearing it now.

I'm wearing it because the gay clothing optional resort a block away from the Poet's Bench is closing. word is that the new owners will refurbish it but also degay it. this follows the shutting down of so many gay places of fable & merriment. soon young gays won't know what clothing optional resorts were. maybe gay bars too. thank you internet.

yes the physical quality of the place was in decline but it has many stories to tell.

my dear friend Bob took a great photo there of 2 naked men walking side by side toward the maze. not so long after a smidgen of his ashes were scatterd in that maze. & a sprig of the shrub above those ashes is now in my piece "box of little bags." when I did my piece "Bob Loves Lucy" I put one of the stamps in a locker one passes to get to the maze.

Canyon Club makes several appearances in Alex in Movieland. & this jockstrap shows up in several poems. one of them I read (with the jock hanging beside me) in Steven Reigns' "Subversive Ink" video in 2020.  I also made a little film of me reading a poem abt the maze while walking in the maze (available on You Tube).

in my last Santa Fe photo shoot JC Gonzo shot me both in & out of the jockstrap. also a circle of cord from the resort now rests in my piece "Billy's Chest."

strangely while writing this I sippd coffee from a random mug. as if it were meant to happen I realizd I unknowingly reachd for a mug I bought at another gay clothing optional resort -- Elysium in Fort Lauderdale. out of curiosity I goggld it & shockingly discoverd that it too recently shutterd.

so as the doors of Canyon Club close I present this as a way of keeping its memory alive for future generations. & tonite I'll slip out of this jockstrap hoping it still has some adventures ahead.

                                                    

                                    still from "Subversive Ink" (2020)

    

                        my favorite of the photos I took at Canyon Club

                         from "Billy's Chest."  see above photo for reference.

                           cover of my coloring book. orange building on the left is Canyon Club.                

Thxgiving

 it's no secret that I enjoy time on the patio chatting with birds & lizards. but today was special. I was sitting in the last of the day's sun when a rabbit poked out of the big bush which birds live in. he stoppd when he saw me. I began to speak quietly & slowly. his ears twitchd but he stayd in place. he didn't engage but finally felt comfortable enuf to sniff around for fallen berries. I tried to be cheerful. he appeard to not really care what I was saying. & finally he skippd by right in front of me.

it felt good to have met a potential new friend.

my Sherwood Anderson sonnet

 

                                                       Toucan (Winter 1968)         

a milestone addition

 near the entrance to Budman Studio is a vessel full of marbles. Jim invites visitors to take one. I see that as an art piece.

of course I was eager to have one. I chose a small one knowing immediately that I'd put it in "box of little bags." that piece began in 2018 when I found a penny in the sauna at my gym. as I baggd & labeld the Budman marble I realizd it's the 100th item in my work.

I love when art overlaps.

letters

 they've always been important to me. & the archivist in me developd at an early age because I saved them.

in my collection at Kent State the first letter in that vast holding was from the children's writer Lois Lenski. she was responding to a fan letter I wrote to her at age 10.

unfortunately a downside of technology is our group abandonment of letter writing. it's all quick e-mails. & yes I'm guilty too. so when I got a real letter yesterday I was thrilld. & its content elevatd my excitement.

I consider my gift of nearly 40 pieces from my art collection to the Allen Museum on the campus of Oberlin College to be one of the good things I've done in life. I will always cherish the memory of my first visits there. my first exposure to real art. to know that from time to time a piece that once adornd my walls is now on view for many makes me feel good.

I hope you don't find it immodest of me to share this letter but I'm feeling rather proud.

over the years

 I've had ideas for books that still rattle in my head but rarely leave that place.

one mite be calld "Witness to History." I envision a group of chapters each focusing on the life of someone who accidentally saw something everyone remembers. & how being a footnote to history effectd the rest of that person's life. the impetus came from Mary Ann Vecchio. she was 14 years old when her image became iconic. she was "the girl in the photo" when she was on the Kent State campus at the moment of the murders.

the second person whose life I wantd to consider was Betty Bersinger. she was the one who discoverd the body of Elizabeth Short. if you know my work you know I've had an enduring fascination with the Black Dahlia case.

just tonite I learnd that Bersinger died 2 years ago at the age of 103. although she gave some interviews during her life she was reportd to have spent periods when she tried to avoid any connection to the famous case.

I know that book will never be written by me but I'd love to read it. & I gladly give the idea to anyone who wishes to do the research.

sorry

 for my absence.

I'm not sure why I've been away from here. I cd blame it on the discomfort I feel living in a country going down the toilet. but I still post regularly on social media. if you really miss me you can check in on FB & IG.

I don't know how to catch up. perhaps a glance back at this past weekend. it was our annual Pride on the Page. a chance to hear & connect with LGBT writers. & there was a poetry reading. I remember when they were such an important part of my life. now less frequent. this reading had a half dozen poets. for me the most powerful was Steven Reigns who did a selection from his new book Outliving Michael.