"Reading the world as a Carolyn Jones movie"

rabbit on bike trail
beside apartments
where someone was murderd

road where
a president passd
train a poet rode

is this language
or history
theory or philosophy?

strain of tomes
too fat
to take on vacation

hares on back
of neck
end up in stew

puffy boudoir lamp
softens
fuzzy pink camisole

"Just say you
love me. You
don't have to mean it."

Phoebe Snow (1952-2011)

little by little

our past disappears.

I remember feeling sad when on a return visit to Kent State University I saw my dorm -- Stopher Hall -- a pile of rubble. more recently Jerry's Diner disappeard. now word arrives of the coming demolition of the Robin Hood.

when I began studies at Kent this was a charming upscale restaurant where I'd brunch when my parents came to visit. years later it turnd into a bar that servd mean New England ice teas.

in 1986 I took this picture of Joe Walsh in the Homecoming parade. the building behind his Cadillac is the Robin Hood.

I've always

been a Judy fan but don't consider myself a Judy fanatic (there's a difference).

however when I think abt it I suspect I've seen "The Wizard of Oz" more than any other film & listend to "Judy at Carnegie Hall" more than any other album.

50th anniversary

murderd brothers

"Dateline" tonite told the story of the Kissel brothers who were separately murderd. this material had alredy been presentd in a telefilm as well as books.

it got me to wondering why similar attention hasn't come to the Rodriquez brothers of Santa Fe. in 1996 teacher Noah Rodriguez was murderd by a young gang member. less than 2 years later his brother Herman was murderd in a case which has never been fully told.

I servd on the board of our local AIDS organization with Herman who had been a Santa Fe County Commisioner (appointd by Gov. Gary Johnson who yesterday announcd he was running for president).

this is the only picture I have with Herman. the quality is lacking because it's copied from the Santa Fe Cares newsletter which I editd. that's Herman (with glasses & tie) on the left & me on the right.



I still think someone cd write a hell of a book abt these tragedies.

don't know who

makes up this stuff but I read in the morning paper that april is "national stress awareness month." really? & do I need to be made aware of living with stress?

a while ago I postd a cover of one of my books which artist Craig Lucas "doctord" -- adding color lines to a batch of covers.

the other day I found this in a book catalog. it's one of the covers Mary Ann Begland did for my 1976 chapbook Swimming. she paintd some 190 covers by hand. that must be some kind of record.

pierogies for lunch

next year is the centennial of Cleveland's West Side Market. a book is being editd for the event. looking for material to submit I made a tasty discovery. in Ohio Triangle I have a poem calld "West Side Market." it mentions pierogies. my WSM entries for both "The Century Dimes" & "The Book of Java" mention pierogies. I found this 1999 photo of me at the market:



I'm buying pierogies.

so of course I had to fix some for lunch.

behind the thumb

is Bruce Hornsby
& in the white shirt his guitarist Doug Derryberry
(also famous as a producer)
at the Lensic

Michael Sarrazin (1940-2011)

memories of Craig

while it's sad to take in the death of a friend I was happy to find this site. here are both a stream of wonderful pictures of Craig Lucas which I'd never seen as well as loving tribute from his colleagues & students.

wanna feel old?

Peter Billingsley turns 40 today

Paul Kirby (1941-2011)

every tuesday nite for almost 5 years I've gone out to dinner with a group of guys. altho the cast changes from time to time some have been regulars from even before I joind.

Paul was one of the group when I came on board. I met him on my first visit to Ten Thousand Waves -- the Japanese spa just outside town. he told me he'd been an actor/model in another life & even had a short tenure as the Marlboro Man.



the last time I saw Paul was at the grocery store across the arroyo maybe 2 months ago. he carried an oxygen tank.

pruning

did some
before
winds got fierce

"Akran"

found this little clip from Richard Myers' 1968 film. it goes by so fast I'm not sure I'm in any of this footage. I do remember being in the bus sequence & I think a section done at one of the seedier Kent bars.

Cleveland China

some years ago Mom bought these at a neighbor's garage sale.



I'd never heard of the company but like all things Cleveland so brought them home. my initial research yields little. apparently a Clevelander by the name of George H. Bowman was an exporter of porcelain who sold to department stores between 1890 & 1930. Cleveland China items sell on ebay from time to time.

Smitty's

John Burroughs took this of me at the Elyria landmark after we had perch dinners.

back

from visiting mom in Ohio.

we had a great time together but boy do I loathe the transportation part of travel. on landing at Cleveland Hpkins I experiencd my first near miss. this morning the flight to Houston was thru storm country. serious bumpage. the next leg of the trip was a wee plane in high winds with a passenger who coughd more than Camille.

even tho they're slow & expensive maybe it's time to return to trains.

happy hundred

cinemaddicts remember Gordon Jones as the first Green Hornet of film. I don't recall ever seeing that serial which also featurd the great Keye Luke as Kato.

but when I was young I was enthralld with a sitcom calld "So This is Hollywood" which only lastd a single season. I've written before abt my affection for that show & its star Mitzi Green. her boy friend on the series was playd by Gordon Jones. he had a good career as a character actor with an abundance of credits considering he was only 52 when he died.

I hope someone puts a flower on his star on this his centennial day.

world's best cinnamon roll

at Counter Culture yesterday Michael Thomas took this with his phone. up in the corner my fingers wait to begin the devouring.

Mamie Deschillie (1920-2010)

I was taking friends around town this morning & stoppd in at Rainbow Man where I always show guests the work of my favorite Native American folk artist Mamie Deschillie.



while chatting I askd one of the people who work there how old Mamie was & learnd that she died 4 months ago.

altho I only met her once I have 2 wonderful pieces of hers (both are cowboys on horses). she had a playful eye.

a Lucas cover

in 1981 Catcher Press brought out Skins   a chapbook of my found text poems   in an edition of abt 250 copies. Craig did the cover but wasn't happy with the quality of the printing. so he handpaintd a number of covers. I don't know how many he did by hand but this appears to be the only one of those I still have.

Craig Lucas (1941-2011)

when I moved into my house on Morris Rd in 1980 Craig gave me this graphite & pastel piece as a housewarming present. today it's in my livingroom.

O.K. OK

along the Verdigris River
in Oklahoma
597 people
live in a town
calld Okay