Farewell G. Murray Thomas

From my Facebook page (slightly amended):

If I hadn’t discovered a copy of NEXT magazine (and its invaluable calendar of readings) at a used record store on the Balboa Peninsula in the spring of 1998, I wouldn’t have become aware of the depth and breadth of the poetry community which existed them. Giving thanks to G. Murray Thomas for his stewardship in that regard.

Now, a few more words:

I wasn’t fortunate enough to experience the Murray Thomas that the poetry community is currently mourning, but I respected him as a poet, poetry host and person even when we couldn’t find common ground in our e-mails discussing the community and its changing standards. 

His work managed to be accessible without being impenetrable; hopefully people will choose to read his books—particularly the recent memoir about being a caregiver to parents with dementia.

And that’s all I have to say.

Revised Poem WHY I HAVEN’T SEEN THEM IN YEARS

 

Didn’t want to be single at 50

Complaining all the time about change

Didn’t want to be around people

Pronouncing the word “multicultural”

As an obscenity that begins with the word “mother”

Didn’t want to hear the phrase

“violating the natural order of things”

If I objected to bigotry and transphobia 

Didn’t want to hear further justifications 

For Donald Trump’s vulgar greedy warmongering 

Didn’t want to be hushed up

If I said I liked certain new movies

Just as much as Old Hollywood classics

Didn’t want to hear discussions at Bob’s Big Boy Burbank

About Alan Ladd being superior to Leo DiCaprio

Didn't want to remain single at 60

And have women steer clear of me

Because of spending decades

In the company of aging men

Who preferred to remain boys

Mike Love with The Beach Boys: The Final Shows (Video)

From last night, where a clearly ill, barely sentient Mike Love sits center stage and is bathed in memories of better days via the current touring Beach Boys and a video screen showing, on occasion, Mike’s past as an active frontman from previous decades.

After Fun Fun Fun ends, John Stamos and another band member help Mike to his feet.

The soundboard plays Bill Conti’s theme from ROCKY over the venue PA.

https://youtu.be/DvMHEH807aw?is=732lTFhsIvjcrtG2

New Poem: STUCK INSIDE OF MOBILE WITH THE TRUMP BLUES

 they erected the Plexiglass dome

 herded the diminishing faithful inside

 talked about America and lied lied lied

 not realizing that many people outside 

 are sick of high prices and unasked-for war

 as the gaslighting and denial lights up the dome

 where the faithful regard Donald Trump and Tommy Tuberville

 as Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great

 

New Poem: THE PEOPLE IN THE AI BUBBLE

 don’t cry babies don’t cry

 we’ll be idiots if we walk away from big big money

 stop moaning about the water that must be consumed 

 take our word that it’s only the amount four houses would use

 look at all the jobs, though temporary, for transient workers 

 we’ll use/discard your towns and cities by co-opting governments

 big big money is at stake

 and all you great unwashed conservatives and NPR liberals 

 can’t stop us, so please be quiet now

 as we spin fantasy yarns about how AI titans can self-regulate 

 

 if the machines take over our planet,

 we’ll have made our big big money 

 and will hide in underground bunkers

 with creature comforts and robotic servants

 that will have kill switches we won’t provide

 to those up above who somehow survive 

New Poem: TRUMP OFFERS $5,000 FOR YOUR SOUL

 the proposal he thinks is so grand

 he mentions it two nights in a row 

 on night two, he gets out brass tacks:

 support me or go straight to Hell

 Hell may now be filled with Democrats

 and a lot more Republicans than expected 

From Alex Gibney VANITY FAIR interview re his Elon Musk documentary

 “If Musk makes it to Mars and begins his colony, is the damage that he’s caused on Earth all worth it?

No. He is exploding the planet. Putting Donald Trump in the presidency is exploding the planet. He’s put a completely reckless sociopath in charge of the most powerful country on earth. Yeah. And he’s intentionally destroying the planet for financial profit. And this whole idea of making us a multi-planetary civilization is fine. I was watching Apollo 11 on the plane on the way here. It was such an interesting watch because it was such a sort of innocent time compared to now, even though the president, of course, was Nixon. But even Nixon, as corrupt as he was, had this larger sense of national and human possibilities.

So no, I don’t think it’s worth it, but also it’s phony. It’s funny. It’s bullshit. There’s no way he’s going to Mars. It’s just bullshit.”

Excerpt From

“Elon Musk, Elizabeth Holmes, and Donald Trump Are All Alike, Says 'Musk' Filmmaker Alex Gibney”

Chris Murphy

Vanity Fair

https://apple.news/AY24hyNGkSKCzdh99xMUCJg

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New Poem: HOW IT BEGAN

 there was this movie I worked on

 I was in terror, had resulting competency issues,

 received various variants of verbal abuse

 and I hung on until the official wrap

 plus the two days of additional shooting 

 told myself I wouldn’t allow myself to

 be helpless in the face of wrath ever again 

 so I engaged in decompression therapy 

 by writing an outline for a roman a clef novel

 about a fake blockbuster titled ALIENS OVER HOLLYWOOD 

 the venting process was entertaining 

 and took place over a few off-work days 

 at the Fairfax Farmers Market 

 where I would write on a legal pad

 and consume a small bag of raisins 

 and discover I was no Hemingway

 so, at the end of one creative session,

 I wrote a short mock-epic poem on jaywalking 

 it wasn’t good, but it made me consider 

 learning the craft of compact stylistic creation

 my early poems were monologues 

 and then I learned to be concise

 using both narrative and metaphor 

 and I kept writing despite 

 algorithms, changing tastes, 

 refusing to be on the “good side”

 of certain disagreeable crème de la crème 

a few poems of mine were anthologized

maybe someone will read them after I’m gone