New Poem: HOLLYWOOD

in 1932, she walked into Bullocks Wilshire
bought the best she could afford
then stood by the studio gates until chosen
>
days of learning how to talk, how to stand, how to diet
posing for publicity photographs
coerced into coitus by men who say you have to say yes
dress extra, bit player, supporting actress, star
marriages to leading men who wanted other stars on the side
>
even with a support system of friends and employees,
there’s constant pain, a yearning to stop this nonsense
>
then the contract runs out—make way for others
>
one day after the war,
she’s arrested for speeding down Topanga
after that, B pictures, TV series, then retirement
>
they buried her out in the back
of the church known as
Our Lady of the Cadillacs
>
in 1989, she walked into Beverly Center

New Poem: AMERICA SITS IN THE COVID CORNER

hey Joe what are you doing there
sitting with that passport in your hand
keening and wailing I can’t use it
because the authority figures left the room
and the kids turned over their desks
carved obscenities into the blackboard
pulled the clock down from the wall
smashed it into microscopic metal pieces
screaming school sucks the hell with indoors
then pushed and shoved filling every street
>
the businessmen told the government
let us reopen we’re losing all this money
bellowing in a George C. Scott voice:
Jesus Christ we’ll be ruined
and the government gave in
told the CDC adapt or be ignored
making no commands or demands
just suggestions and punting decisions downwards
>
fear is a deadly disease
even worse than the current virus
so so scared of losing political donor money
even though big business got big loans
small businesses denied, told try try again
in the midst of this no one dared to think
of how to tell the public to mask up sit tight hang on
to see a real reduction in the plague
>
so Joe sits and cries
can’t even go visit Canada this summer
just watches the passing of the shit parade:
bad president battering school districts
amusement park reopening in high plague state
musicians and comedians playing to mask-free crowds
>
hey Joe what are you doing there
feeding your passport into a shredder

Best Movies of 2020 (so far)

In no specific order:
GRETEL & HANSEL
THE INVISIBLE MAN
SHIRLEY
NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS
DA 5 BLOODS
EMMA.
THE TRIP TO GREECE
THE KING OF STATEN ISLAND
MISS JUNETEENTH
THE GIRL WITH A BRACELET
PERFECT NANNY
Honorable Mention:
THE ASSISTANT
CAPONE
HOW TO BUILD A GIRL
ONCE WERE BROTHERS: ROBBIE ROBERTSON AND THE BAND
SWALLOW
TRUE STORY OF THE KELLY GANG
THE WAY BACK
MY DARLING VIVIAN
THE GHOST OF PETER SELLERS
DRIVEWAYS
Overhyped, Underwhelming:
THE VAST OF NIGHT
TOMMASO
BACURAU

New Poem: LIGHTING FUSES

late night noise
sometimes sounds like firecrackers
other times like gunshots
don’t know if it’s meant as fun
maybe it’s audible middle finger:
we’re doing this and screw your pets
and up yours if you call the police
like a male Karen wanting this to stop
safe inside while the red lights shine
across the street with the threat of escalation
and potential death penalty still present
in spite of promises of partial change
>
go back to bed
try to sleep if you can
it will be daylight soon

Contrasting ways of dealing with racism in America

A few minutes ago, I was picking up the day’s mail near the swimming pool at the condo complex and happened to overhear a young mother talking to her children about racism and why it is a bad thing.

Last night, my YouTube homepage brought up a video from actor John Schneider— forever known as faux-Southerner Bo Duke in THE DUKES OF HAZZARD TV series which ran from the late 1970s into the 80s.

Clicked on the video and watched Schneider ruminate about one of the series’s location shoots near Lake Sherwood in Westlake Village CA.

Then, he brought up the renewed discussion of the Confederate flag-decorated General Lee car—which, after Dylann Roof’s church massacre, caused DUKES reruns to be pulled off Viacom’s TV LAND.  Cue the tantrum John Schneider threw at the time:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/dukes-hazzard-star-rips-tv-806339

But times pass and momentary lessons dissipate.  So Warner Bros. TV allowed Amazon’s IMDB channel to carry DUKES beginning two years ago.

And, at the end of the YouTube video, Schneider references the new controversy and sends out a dog whistle to people hard-wired to watch the show in a reality-free vacuum: “Don’t let anybody tell you what to think!” and inviting commenters to agree with him.

And the comments tend to be of the “Southern pride”/“if it offends you, don’t watch variety including a head-scratcher which contends that around 1980 the Conferderate Flag was recontextualized as a symbol of Southernness and country music.  Plus the usual get over it liberals insults.

The big takeaway from this: most of the older generation won’t drop their views on race, racism and continued refusal to re-evaluate dubious life lessons learned from parents, relatives, friends co-workers, clergy, etc.  They’ll watch Fox News and OANN and bathe in trash talk about black victims of police violence and cry buckets over police officers balking at more responsible, less warlike behavior.

So it’s up to the younger generations—the demonstrators and the children listening to their mother at the swimming pool— to move America forward and keep it from again becoming, as Gore Vidal once said, “the United States of Amnesia.”

New Poem: CAUGHT FLATFOOTED

when the massive death ship drops anchor again
we’ll blame the protesters and no one else
not the Las Vegas and Reno vacationers
not the overflowing pool parties in Ozarks
certainly not the federal and state leaders
and all the National/Local on-air news people
who cranked up their bullet microphones
to holler out:
OPEN UP OPEN UP
WE ARE LOSING MONEY HAND OVER FIST
GO BACK TO SHOPPING MALLS
SEE A MOVIE (PREFERABLY TENET OR MULAN)
IN A THEATER WE HOPE TO EXPAND TO 50 PERCENT
CAPACITY BECAUSE WE CARE MORE ABOUT
PROFIT MARGINS THAN YOUR HEALTH
AND IF IT WEREN’T FOR THOSE DAMN GOVERNORS
WE’D MAKE YOU GO TO CONCERTS TOO!
>
like I said above,
we’ll blame the protesters
and the National/Local news people love Both Sides
so we’ll endure the awful president being given oxygen
and lifted from the canvas before the count ends
in order to pretend much of 2020 never happened
>
so much easier to let death run wild
than learn from our lack of awareness
and our efforts to stay ahead of the flattened curve

Sharing some music in the wake of George Floyd protests.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: American Skin (41 Shots) Live:
https://youtu.be/aQMqWAiWPMs

Pearl Jam: W.M.A.: https://youtu.be/FVi345K0mQE

Living Colour w/Little Richard: Elvis Is Dead: https://youtu.be/JgRO2mk3LG0

New Poem: TIME FOR A ROUND OF GOLF

Well, what do you expect me to do
When I’m kept in the White House
Most of the time except to go on
Field trips to factories where I
Don’t wear a mask unless I
Absolutely have to make a CEO happy
>
Golf relieves stress and enables me to
Pretend there’s no virus and I can
Shake hands with other players
Always aware of telephoto lenses
Watching me hit the greatest drive ever
>
Yes, I used to criticize Obama for playing golf
But that was just politics with a side of
Dog-whistle racism to make me look
Better by comparison—to make people
Think I’d actually be a strong, decisive
President with little time for recreational
Activities once elected to the office
I actually believed Hillary would win
>
What else do you want of me
I said Deborah could do the Sunday shows
In effect saying the dog ate the homework
But we’ll turn it in on time before the
Second Wave when I’ll refuse to lockdown
And punt it back to the states once again
>
The flags were at half-staff all weekend
As the failing New York Times remembered
Some of the dead as I stay at my Country Club
Behind the fence where I don’t have to
Answer for six-figure deaths which are
Just a big regrettable number as I plan
A re-election I probably won’t win
But I’ll make sure when I do my
Outdoor rallies of the dwindling faithful
To divide and inflict  pain on you
That I’ll never ever feel myself