#Pride2012 Show @TBandtheDamned

I have to confess that though I love Pride and the community progress it stands for, I also hate Pride and the massive opportunity to be ignored by more men at one time than my ego can take. Trying to stop and take in booths is nearly impossible with so many people wanting to do the same, or with booth operators more focused on their particular, & usually much younger, demographic.

The Beautiful & The Damed at Pride2012 gave a great show under standard, but taxing circumstances – we were on at 3 p.m. during the hight of the Parade – the audience was sizeable and responsive. Taxing included the sweltering heat, the unshaded stage, and for Amoeba Starfish – electronic equipment that ‘wilted’ under that intense heat.

They opened the show with a cooling ambient piece that Lizzie Violet,s words slipped into easily. I always enjoy being reminded that chlamydia is not a flower. I followed her with Dancing and Necking, Oogie Inferno (fitting in the blazing sun) – Starfish gave me a fine driving beat to work with. I enjoy using my Kindle on stage. It doesn’t pull focus the way paper does and almost looks like I’m off book.

Next up was Philip Cairns – I’m glad I had sunglasses on to deal with his blinding bling. He did great pieces about Paris and several short wry reflections about being a hot queer. After him was David Bateman with strong, funny & emotional work that should guarantee him a place in the Farmers Almanac. Last up was DM Moore with one of her chilling & moving Lost Girls pieces. It was about now that the electronics gave up the ghost – you can’t cool down a hard drive with an ice pack.

We each had put together short sets so as not to run over our allotted 50 minutes. As it turned out we had all underestimated and got the opportunity to do a couple of more pieces each in round robin till we had earned our keep. No poet leaves the house with only a few pieces and my Kindle had lots to choose from. I did selections from the Brown Betty collection: I Kissed A Girl, Unmasked & Dad’s Pockets. Starfish came back to life just long enough for some sweet Hendrix work for Unmasked (my Hendrix piece.) I was glad to do it to give balance to Oogie – some homos like Jimi Hendrix more than they like Nona Hendryx.

It was a great but exhausting show. Philip did excellent work organizing things with the Pride people, DM Moore made sure we got to be there (right where we belong) & The Damned were Beautifully sweating.

for more pics see life with more cowbell

Unmasked

background:

Hendrix: burning the midnight lamp

soon … I wish I was a merman

foreground:

messy coffee table

open bottles wine beer Scotch

weed rolled in papers too thin to write on

yet strong enough to hold a shared dream

midground:

three of us

Del me Kathy

share this joint enterprise

laugh at a phrase I was going through

hands touch to pass

the precious opener of minds

or rather the opener of pants

as Del loudly called it

his eyes on Kathy

she gave him a look

that said ‘see you later’

then left with her cigarettes

and the remains of the wine

‘uptight bitch’ Del laughed

as the door shut

he stayed

the supply on hand

held more appeal than

the supply leaving the room

that Jimi guitar

hooked its way around our brain

led our vision across patterns

my voodoo child eyes would wander

all along the corduroy

that hugged and held Del

he invitingly pushed the coffee table away

to make room on the floor

we had become so smoke soft

only the backless floor could

hold our floating rolling bodies

till we found ourselves

naked

I could feel the crosstown traffic of my heart

the sensation of his tongue on mine

the coarse grind of pubic hair on stomach

a move for a breath of air

to refresh the disguise of liquor

thighs hands lips

trimming a midnight lamp

that still burns today

but no longer needs

a smoke-screen

the bottled mask of permission