26 July 2020

"box of little bags"




box:

wooden box originally containing Walker Shortbread Cookies. since I didn’t write on the box when I got it I’ve forgotten its details. I suspect it was a distant Xmas gift from either Nancy & Paul Metcalf or Billy Berger. when I chose it for this piece it was full of ribbons & twine & hidden in Charlie Carrillo’s candle box on top of my refrigerator.


contents:

1.   “the sauna penny” found at World Gym. Palm Springs 29 nov 2018.
2.   miniature gingerbread man which was in hand of a larger gingerbread man. Ron Oliver’s Xmas open house. Palm Springs 2018.
3.   “Laughlin nickel.” rec’d as change from breakfast at Duet in Aquarius Resort. 5 feb 2019.
4.   fleck fallen off Superflex’s Desert X installation “Dive-In.”  Palm Desert 7 mar 2019.
5.   piece fallen off Kathleen Ryan’s Desert X installation “Ghost Palm.” Desert Hot Springs 9 mar 2019.
6.   bit of “Into the Sea” cake from my Galleria Marconi reading. Palm Springs 24 apr 2019.
7.   snippet of gold braid worn for Terry Hastings’ shoot for “The Planets.” Cathedral City 8 may 2019.
8.   bark from tree on Ernie Maxwell Trail. Idyllwild 2 aug 2019.
9.   sliver of R.B. Sprague oil painting discarded by artist.
10.                 turf from Santiago Resort. Palm Springs 30 aug 2019.
11.                 item 3 from CinemaScent card for “Steam Room Stories.”  Cinema Diverse. Palm Springs 21 sept 2019.
12.                 fairy dust from “Peter Pan” at Palm Canyon Theater. Palm Springs 27 sept 2019.
13.                 piece of “that shirt.” 13 oct 2019.
14.                 strands from pink wig worn to Todd Hughes & P. David Ebersole’s glam rock party at King’s Point.  Palm Springs 20 dec 2019.
15.                 daisy taken from table centerpiece at Palm Springs International Film Festival awards gala & worn to after parties at The Parker & Georgio’s. Palm Springs 2 jan 2020.
16.                 palm frond debris. San Andreas Springs Oasis 25 jan 2020.
17.                 thread from shorts tailord for me by Cesar Julio. Palm Springs 4 mar 2020.
18.                 piece of stem of flower placed between my teeth which was inspiration for poem “Pandemic Rose” & then used in “Pandemic Rose Collage.” Palm Springs 21 mar 2020.
19.                 peel from tangerine pickd in Billie Dove’s front yard. Palm Springs 24 mar 2020.
20.                 Sherman’s sticker from box holding a double fudge cake given to me by Estee Huff for my 77th birthday. Palm Springs 25 apr 2020.
21.                 scrap of spine that fell off as I was reading Gary Snyder in my tatterd batterd copy of The New American Poetry 1945-1960 on his 90th birthday.  Palm Springs 8 may 2020.
22.                 Aneka Brown sticker from packaging for her anti-racism tee-shirt.  Palm Springs 16 june 2020.
23.                 leaf removed from pool during morning swim.  Palm Springs 24 july 2020.




20 July 2020

"Kim Novak at 87"




for Richard Lopez

she's a decade
older than me

when I first
saw her on screen
I was 12
& she was old enuf
to make love 
to Guy Madison
& a year later
to Bill Holden

we were both
too young
to contemplate
outliving our leading men

today
she releases
an image
for our times

hard to tell
if it's a photo
softend with filters
or one of the paintings
that kept her sane

all in reds
except for the mask
in her favorite lavender

she still has
movie star hair
& o those eyes

& then this message:
"I feel like staying around
on this earth
for a while longer.
so please
wear a mask
if not for YOU
then for ME."

one more time
Kim becomes
the face
of an era
& I'm 12 again
watching the sparkles
in her hair
rime with the jewels
on her shoulder strap


"Five Against the House"