New Poem: TRYING TO AVOID THE FIRE

 for the time being,

 they will take comfort in believing 

 he won’t come for them—

 instead it will be criminals.

 pregnant women daring to defy men,

 so-called deviants trapped in misgendered bodies

 >

 they hold themselves tight

 saying we break no laws

 we mind our business 

 no need to break in our houses

 enter our workplaces

 pull us over on freeways

 >

 the government who doesn’t care

 will close their eyes 

 and make their arrests

 no matter your situation 

 no matter your circumstances 

 no matter what you believe

 to be innocence

I remember Victor Infante all too well.

 He’s back!  He has a new book he’s reading from tonight at a venue in Westchester (West L.A. suburb near LAX) with wife and chosen colleague friends.  And if you’re an emerging poet who tries to gain his favor, perhaps he’ll take a genuine interest in you and your work.

Or, if you try to gain his favor by giving him your chapbook for feedback and hear nothing and call him on it (a general no-no in the literary aspirant community), you might get a reply like this one: 

First off, I'm sorry I called you a jerk. I was out of line, and for that, I genuinely apologize. On the other hand, I'm not going to apologize for not paying more attention to you, and it's glaringly obvious that's what this little tantrum has been about. [prominent poet, now MIA from the scene] didn't pay attention to you. I didn't pay attention to you. Wah, wah, wah.Grow up, Terry. If you've got problems with the poetry scene, do something about it. Start your own readings, start a festival. Publish a journal or Web zine. Whatever, but stop acting like a baby because you don't get the attention you deserve and others do. You're right, it's not a level playing field, and you don't get points for just being there. You've actually got to do something well. Writing well would be a start. I DO remember your chapbook. I still have it, in the piles of several hundred that I dutifully carried with me cross-country when I moved. Terry, it was dull. Very dull. Not bad, but there was little of interest going on there. I don't recall if I had read it yet when I saw you in Redondo, but even if I had, I doubt I would have said much. What was I supposed to say? "Sorry, it bored me to tears." But as I recall, it took me awhile to get around to it, because, even now, I get a ton of chapbooks very month. I've not thrown one away, and I try to read them all, but no, I can't review them, and I really had nothing consequential to say about it, for good or bad. As to my "wisdom would be something of value," Whatever. I don't recall volunteering to be your mentor, and while I've taught poetry in high schools and colleges, I don't recall you being in any of my classes. The sad fact is, Terry, I thought you were a nice guy,and always tried to be friendly to you, but no, I didn't care much for your writing. Would you have preferred that I said that? I can't see what good that would have done. It's not like I walked out of the room when you were on the microphone. Maybe you've gotten better, I don't know.You can have whatever opinions you want, Terry, and you can have whatever opinions you want about me, but the fact is, you're not the one out there doing the work, and if you've made any serious effort to BE the one out there doing the work, I'm sorry, but I don't recall it.

Shawn McCreesh heralds THE NEW YORK TIMES alignment with Trump 2.0

 Get a load of this fawning:

But there is no doubt about one thing: Mr. Trump was a ferociously effective campaigner.

To watch him up close on this third run for president was to see him blend comedy, fury, optimism, darkness and cynicism like never before.

New Poem: MEL AND JACK AND DANICA

 Mel Gibson Jack Ford Danica Patrick

 they build personal walls as high as the Babel Tower

 they probably say variations of F The Common People

 thinking they are advancing America by dragging 

 the gutter talking rambling carcass of Donald John Trump

 towards a finish line that isn’t what they imagine

 not the climax of a rancid second term in office

 to enable them to Keep What’s Theirs

 instead they’re pulling Trump towards what he dreads

 denials, delays, clang of prison door, silence

Peter Baker reminds morally deaf voters of Donald Trump perfidy

 Here’s Peter Baker pushing THE NEW YORK TIMES reporter analysis envelope: 

Sometimes lost amid all the shouting of a high-octane campaign heading into its final couple of weeks is that simple if mind-bending fact. America for the first time in its history may send a criminal to the Oval Office and entrust him with the nuclear codes. What would once have been automatically disqualifying barely seems to slow Mr. Trump down in his comeback march for a second term that he says will be devoted to “retribution.”

New Poem AI RAMBLE

 let your Artificial Intelligence do your thinking and deciding for you plus you can put it to work making what Guillermo Del Toro called screensavers but you with little background in art appreciation will call it genius pixel painting then you can feed your AI old movies and movie star photos to create a mediocre teaming of Alan Ladd and Humphrey Bogart and dunderheadedly claim it’s better than movies made with real people and real settings and after that you can fly to a foreign country to not learn the language but speak your native linguistics into a translator app and, once you’ve returned home, yon can tell your math teacher you don’t need to waste hours proving theorems because there’s AI to save time for you and as you persist in believing your Artificial Intelligence is all the computer power you need with no more reason to read and figure and learn, then you’ll find yourself easily led and, eventually, easily enslaved

New Poem: HALF DEAD MALL

 it was a sign of the End Times 

 when the Dillards department store

 which dressed affluent women and men

 was closed justlikethat 

 and reborn as a gigantic arcade

 POSTSCRIPT:  The above poem refers to Sikes Senter shopping mall in Wichita Falls, TX.  It was built in 1966, then sat empty until October of 1974.  What remains (including a Boot Barn, a Hot Topic, a Books-a-Million and an AMC multiplex) will celebrate its 50th anniversary next month.

New Poem: CRYING INSIDE

 dead for two weeks

 I do feel something 

 although it doesn’t show

>

 all I can say is this:

 I didn’t think it would 

 be quite this soon

 and I never imagined 

 you leaving this world 

 before my mother and myself 

 >

  things I wanted to tell you outweigh 

  whatever I did manage through 

  phone calls and texts

 >

  at least we were in some kind of contact 

  not a scenario where we hadn’t spoken in years

 

New Poem MY BROTHER’S DEAD

 he died at 74

 never married

 one daughter

 one granddaughter 

 child of the keep it to yourself 50s

 came of age in generation gap 60s

 attracted to women and soft drugs

 brought to heel by the county court

 cried when he had to cut hair short 

 and present as nice boy gone bad

 >

 had a brother nine years younger

 far too young to bond with

 often separated by parents and miles

 learned how to be a salesman 

 able to get others to believe him

 as long as others weren’t mother father relatives

 >

 but he loved sports

 collected memorabilia

 graduated from University of Texas Austin 

 spent his retirement going to various sporting events 

 this took his mind off declining health

 and being denied access to granddaughter 

 by daughter who sometimes preferred him at arm’s length 

 >

 passed away a day following minor traffic accident 

 began eternal sleep in a duplex protecting him

 from Central Texas humidity outside 

 

 

New Poem: KEEP CLEANING UP AISLE USA

 turn away from sparklers waved by gotcha interrogators 

 don’t fall for lies told by the cemetery desecrators

 there’s no reason to again wallow in the Pit of Venality 

 we must be better than this

New Poem: WHEN THERE WERE GOOD ONES

 read this phrase from a living poet eulogizing a deceased poet:

 went to local poetry readings when there were good ones

 >

 I knew the deceased poet and he was kind to me

 even though I was nowhere close to his level of accomplishment 

 and I knew he wouldn’t write a sentence eulogizing someone

 with the phrase I quoted from the Eminent Living Poet

 >

 to me, all the local readings I attended were good ones

 you learn from the best, the mid-level and the worst

 and there are talks to talk and walks to walk

 even if you choose to talk and walk

 without a feverish despair for what may be fickle acceptance 

 

DONALD TRUMP’S NEW GREATEST RALLY HITS

 1.  Who Was The Best Hannibal Lecter?

 2.   Bow Unto Me, J.D.

 3.   I Demonize Migrants (Extended Version)

 4.   Should I Take My Bandage Off?

 5.   With God On Our Side (Bob Dylan cover)

 6.   My Latest Definition of Unity

 7.   I’m Scared of Debating Kamala 

 8.   Your Favorite Felon 

New Poem: WHY ONE NIGHT OF THE REPUBLICAN CONVENTION IS ENOUGH

 only so many times I can:

 be gaslighted

 listen to Lee Greenwood 

 hear Duped By the Left testimony

 watch a Teamster president believe he’s winning minds

 witness Donald Trump’s ear bandage

 tolerate Chris Wallace going gaga for Trump

 endure fake assurance that extremists aren’t extreme

 

New Poem: BLUE MAGA HAIKU

 vote blue regardless 

 vote blue you no matter who

 vote blue mindless now

New Poem: GOD TALKS TO JOE BIDEN

 don’t try to pin this on Me

 you, presenting as Samson

 proclaiming only you can beat Trump

 boasting no one can take me out 

 except the Lord Almighty 

 >

 there are billions of souls needing help and refuge

 I’m not coming to Earth to reward your vanity

 by making a case for Kamala over you

 use your common sense

 it’s what I gave you at birth

 

Joe Biden says Oh well, at least I tried if he loses existential battle for democracy

George Stephanopoulos: And if you stay in and Trump is elected and everything you're warning about comes to pass, how will you feel in January?

Joe Biden: I'll feel, as long as I gave it my all, and I did as good a job as I know I can do, that's what this is about.

That Was The Debate That Was Ramble

 CNN said no on-camera fact checking apparently because if facts were checked on-camera and one candidate had more wrong facts and/or outright lies than the other then pointing this out via on-camera chyrons would have indicated bias and CNN in the Zaslav era cannot indicate bias at all whatsoever.

And this is how democracy dies.

Revised Poem: BEHIND YOUR CURTAIN

 Behind your curtain

 was a paperback copy of MACBETH

 resting on a wooden stool

 and a black cat named Monet

 who, after minutes of contemplation,

 jumped on top of the stool

 how beautiful, I thought

 nothing like this in my hometown 

>

You used to bless me with teenage smiles

then the smiles stopped justlikethat 

and everything I did got on your nerves

so I closed my curtain 

and never again stepped out for encores

>

Over two decades later,

I visited a restored home 

in West Los Angeles

the owner had a living room curtain 

pulled open to reveal a picture window 

displaying a view of a flower garden,

a swimming pool,

and a charming guest house

>

It’s the kind of sight

you would have loved

in the year

when we were both fifteen 

Greg Sargent on Trump no longer being invincible

 From THE WASHINGTON POST:

 Trump’s aura of invincibility has never been earned. He was impeached more times than any other president in U.S. history. He presided over the worst string of GOP electoral losses in many decades. He lost reelection after only a single term, which he won only after losing the popular vote. He has never once commanded majority support in this country. He had already been losing in court already—he’s been nailed for sexually assaulting E. Jean Carroll, and his company was found to have systematically lied about its worth—even though he enjoys the priciest legal representation, funded partly by donor money that he fleeced from his own party, another privilege that pretty much no other defendant has enjoyed, ever.

And now, after Trump and his elite enablers attempted mightily to wreck the whole system to keep him beyond accountability at all costs—an effort that for a time looked like it just might succeed—a jury of ordinary Americans heroically stood up and said: No.

Donald Trump’s Greatest Felony Conviction Hits

 1. The Rule of Law Means Nothing to Me

 2. Manhattan Doesn’t Love Me Anymore 

 3. If There’s A Hell Below (Curtis Mayfield cover)

 4. 34, Count Them, 34

 5. The Final Countdown (Europe cover)

 6. Todd Blanche Not My Roy Cohn

 7.  I Secretly Respect Alvin Bragg

 8.  Keeping the Faithful in Line

 9.  Prison Bound (Social Distortion cover)

New Poem: RICHARD DREYFUSS THEN AND NOW

 recalling the 70s “cuddly wiseacre”

 who presented as a progressive Democrat

 came back from substance abuse in the 80s

 had an impressive run of films for awhile

 careers don’t stay at the peak forever

 then the movies got smaller

 a TV series was short-lived

 and the “cuddly wiseacre” began to curdle 

 engaging in transphobia and other hate rants

 climaxing with chasing New Englanders 

 away from a screening of the classic JAWS

 but enough people applauded and stayed

 to ensure more performative reputational destruction 

 at public venues for the foreseeable future 

New Poem: NIKKI HALEY HAIKU

 I move with the wind

 Wind comes from Mar-a-Lago

 Don’t blame me for this

THE NEW YORK TIMES and “balance” in coverage of RFK Jr.

 First headline:

Kerry Kennedy Leads ‘Heart-Wrenching’ Campaign Against Her Brother’s White House Bid

Second Headline::

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s preppy style plays an important role in his campaign, our fashion critic writes 

New Poem GUESTS IN THE HOUSE

fell and couldn’t get up

crawled past the bewildered cats

finally found the cellphone, dialed 911

kept on hold, then gave information 

>

somehow opened the patio door

slow crawl to the garage

somehow opened the electric door

then reverse crawl from patio to den

>

a few minutes later, paramedics arrive

one of them says, mute the Dodger game on TV

another sees the books by my chair and asks

do you ever go outside?

I say yes, when the medicines and groceries run out

>

vitals checked, prescriptions recorded

lifted to my feet, not without further knee pain

decline a ride to the emergency room

>

by myself again 

should buy a cane and a walker

though I dread reduced mobility 

>

bruises, but no breaks or fractures 

time to turn off the mute button 

Some heresy regarding the film PICNIC.

Joshua Logan’s adaptation of the William Inge play PICNIC will screen in early April at Hollywood’s Egyptian Theater (Netflix/American Cinematheque) with two people I like doing a Q and A afterwards.

But I can’t bring myself to see it again; once, two decades ago, at the pre-Tarantino Vista Theater was more than enough.

Overaged, miscast William Holden and the excruciating scene where Rosalind Russell loudly begs MARRY ME MARRY ME MARRY ME to Arthur O’Connell resonate in my memories like tornado warning sirens.

Mitigating factors are Kim Novak and young Susan Strasberg, plus the Kansas color cinematography of James Wong Howe.

But it doesn’t work for me as a definitive portrait of breaking away from small town narrowness.

Regarding Sen. Katie Britt’s SOTU Response

What I saw of the Katie Britt SOTU rebuttal (couldn’t bring myself to endure the whole thing) reminded me of fundraising appeals that either come from televangelists or hucksters preying on seniors who watch MeTV, Buzzr, etc.

Obviously, it was intended as a soft-sell version of Trump’s standard apocalyptic Hulk Smash bigotry and Bidenphobia.  But it seemed like an audition video for a local TV news anchor position—heavy on smiling while reading copy off the teleprompter.  With the occasional look this is serious face.

THE NEW YORK TIMES gives Donald Trump water wings.

Quote below is from an article by Rebecca Davis O’Brien titled WHY THE AGE ISSUE IS HURTING BIDEN SO MUCH MORE THAN TRUMP.  

“It is the perception of how you communicate,” said Carol Kinsey Goman, a speaker and coach on leadership presence. “When Trump makes those kinds of faux pas, he just brushes it off, and people don’t say, ‘Oh, he’s aging.’ He makes at least as many mistakes as Joe Biden, but because he does it with this bravado, it doesn’t seem like senility. It seems like passion.”

Yes, Best Buy said this.

Happened upon the paragraph below on the Best Buy website.  As most people know, Best Buy soon plans to murder sales of physical DVDs/Blu-rays/4K discs both in their stores and online.

Benefits of ownership.

With streaming media increasingly available, you might wonder why you'd want to own a physical copy of movies and TV shows on your Blu-ray Discs and DVDs. Well, you might want to be entertained in a part of the world without Internet access — like when you're watching TV in a remote cabin get-away or keeping the kids entertained while they're in the car. Plus, serious fans of certain TV shows like to own libraries of their favorite movies and shows for marathon watching sessions or loaning to friends.

New Poem: MASTODON FIGHT

 get ready once more

 two mastodons enter the stadium

 for more roars and tusk-butts

 >

 the media loves rematches

 even if most of the public doesn’t 

 >

 watch Donald dance away 

 from what he stirred up on 1/6/21

 heh heh, nothing to do with me

 they got overexcited on their own

 you don’t mind if I squash civil liberties next time

 >

 see Joe bark at those who

 dare to bring up Israel and Gaza

 and his failure to distance from Bibi’s slaughter 

 he says look, I cut insulin prices

 and got both parties to agree on infrastructure 

 >

 someone asks why he doesn’t tout the accomplishments 

 instead of always shouting OOGA BOOGA TRUMP

 the crowd boos the question 

 Joe resumes the stump speech 

 this is what we get

 when we don’t have big donor money

 or super PAC clout

 to push for real change

 to keep old men with outmoded methods 

 away from oval offices and nuclear footballs