Trio

 3 is my favorite number.

while looking in a drawer for something (as so often happens) I found something else. 3 little mesh bags. I no longer remember their source. but obviously I put them aside knowing I'd some day use them for art. & that day arr'd.

over a 3 day period I found other saved items to put into them.

here are the contents:

tokens from 150th anniversary of Elyria OH (1967)

John Steinbeck 15 cent stamp (1979)

marbles written abt in my poem "Washing Marbles" which is collectd in On the Blue Swing (1998)

Santa Fe Trails senior daily bus pass (2010)

The Poet's Bench   Poems-for-All (2020)

bangels from "Bowl of Bangels" -- source for my "Circles" series   (2021)

pennies found on Mission St in Carmel on my 80th birthday (2023)

Anna May Wong Quarters in Chinese Coin Purse

 

Anna May Wong was the greatest Asian actress in Hollywood history when the US Mint issued a quarter with her face on it (24 oct 2022). it was the 5th in its American Women Quarters series.

I long admired the actress when I was able to meet her in the summer of 1960. she died early the following year. see my entry of 18 may 2014 for the story of our meeting.  over the years my admiration continued. I dedicatd the poem "The Constantinople Death Express" (in New Notes) to her. more recently (& personally) is the poem "Postcard from Cleveland" (see my entry for 12 nov 2025).

on learning of the quarter I began checking my change. to date I have 17. they were in a little baggie but I knew they needed to be elevatd to the status of an art piece. today I rememberd a small silk Chinese coin purse my friend & library colleague Wendy Ma gave me (circa 1980). that is their permanent home. although I wd never subtract from their number it's possible to add one.  however I no longer see them in my change.

as the piece is now it cd've been in either (or both) of 2 of my collections.  Current Seas appeard online at beatsupernova.com in 2011. it brought together "The Century Dimes" & other pieces in which I use money.  Filling Boxes & other spaces was a book from Toucan Press in 2024.

3 shelves: a visual list

 

Richard Harrison (1936-2026)

 in my poem "In the 50s" I recall that I discoverd him in physique magazines when I was 13. that means he's been a force in my life for 70 years.

he appears in both my writing & my art.

we never met but spoke on the phone once (which is documented in one of the lists in my current book). & he contributd to my piece "my first movie."

Cinema Diverse

 just got thru the first weekend of our gay film festival -- now in its 19th year.

so far the best entry I've seen was "Madfabulous."

    with San Francisco theater legend Matthew Martin following screening of "Lady Champagne"

summer of the gnat

I try not to complain abt Nature. it's such a complex balance. when something unpleasant happens -- like the slaughter of my doves by our resident hawk -- I attempt to understand it as part of the cycle of life.

between climate change & the destruction of democracy by an insane president it feels like everything is askew. so why am I botherd by tiny flying nuisances.

I begin my day with exercises in the pool area. before the swimming ritual I'm in the jacuzzi doing a self-inventd routine of stretches & kicks & pushups. & lately I've been joind by clouds of gnats. they seems to seek out my nose & ears. more than once a member of their community has dive-bombed into my eyes. 

perhaps my growing distress with these creatures is the impatience that seems to accompany aging. certainly the tragedy in Nepal & the fear of troops in the streets at the midterm election are much more serious matters needful of contemplation. I guess the enormity of all that makes me feel small. & I become distressd at being provokd by something even smaller.

so now I'm off to the pool. if the gnats greet me I'll grumble & swat. but I'll try to think that they're mistaking me for an orchid. & I'll go forth into my day full of blossom.

"Who Introduced Me To Whom"

 that's the title of a list I began last nite. one of the entries is "Stanley Krippner to Diane Varsi." he is the parapsychologist. she is best known as an actress. because her career was short I fear she's not well known today. especially by the young who tend to know nothing that happend more than 20 years before their births.

Varsi was Oscar-nominated at 20 for "Peyton Place." her abrupt leaving of Hollywood to pursue a creative life on her own terms has become legend. she found her way to Bennington where she studied poetry with Ben Belitt (at around the time my dear friend Roberta Elzey did as well). sadly I've been unable to find any of her poems online. she settled in San Francisco where she did stage work as actress & director. she is sometimes dumped into the Beat barrel -- perhaps because of working with ruth weiss.

Stan introduced me to her in San Francisco in 1978. she was wearing a silk Chinese jacket & lookd beautiful. a year later I was back in her city & calld her. she was unable to meet me but we had what a remember was a long chat abt poetry. unfortunately I took no notes & time has erased all detail.

of all the people who are in this new list she was the one who jumpd out of it & swirls around my head this morning.