I was a bit surprised to be asked to feature at the Art Bar, more that they willing to let me decline the initial August date offered. Surprised because I stepped back from the reading circuit some time ago – mainly because I was tired of the pressure to sell drinks on behalf of a restaurant/bar that wasn’t even paying me to be there. Being a non-drinker I wasn’t bringing enough to the table to merit being there.
I have featured at the a previous incarnation of the Art Bar in 2009 when it was at Clinton’s but not since. I may still have my set list from that show. It was the one where @soulfistikato collaborated with me on a couple of pieces. Man that was such fun. If you read this @soulfistikato – let’s do it again. https://souljahrasproductions.bandcamp.com/album/the-head-nod
I usually have my set ready a few weeks in advance of a show but this time I have nothing much planned yet, other than Arrgh Godzilla – which the universe told me to do with the death of Haruo Nakajima, the actor who occupied that suit for the first few Godzilla movies. The sort of sign I can’t deny. It’s a piece I love to perform so I may do another couple of pieces I love to perform.
But I want to focus on recent work, in particular the ones that have sprung from the 227 Rules for Monks that I have been using for prompts. Like the 48 Laws these have pushed me into thinking & writing about different things or looking at the same old things in a fresh way.
Some of the new ones might be those that I’ve posted here & have gotten good feedback about (if I received truly negative feedback I’d be even more inclined to perform them.) If anyone has any requests of pieces of mine they’d like to hear – let me know asap. So the set will probably be a mix of the very old, the more recent & some so fresh out of the oven they may be half-baked. Plus I have an amazing new shirt to debut.
Shroove Smelt http://wp.me/p1RtxU-QI
in the weeks leading up to Shroove
we village children would dress as smelt
and run through the streets
squeaking and calling for the adults
to come out to confess their sins
because it was due to those sins
that the smelt stocks were depleted
it was due to their disrespect for the scared pole
that the moose were in decline
the adult men would follow us children
moaning and beating their foreheads till they bled
we would lead them to the strip bars
to make the first of their confessions
where they wailed so loud
the loose saxes couldn’t be heard
as the women danced in the dark
on the final day of Shrove
we children would swarm up and down
the 10001 steps of the cathedral
forming dioramas from the Biblia Coochineal
to instruct the men in the ways of righteousness
the bishop would smash
a florescent lightbulb
once each diorama was complete
then we would quickly form the next one
till the story of the moose was told
till the men were longing to escape
the searing glare of our child eyes
they knew they were to blame
we boys dreaded becoming guilt ridden adults
we hoped to avoid the responsibilities
the village would assign us
when we were old enough
to shoulder the shame of being human
after the dioramas
we children would swarm the Whistling Woods
in random groups of four or five
to chase out the hungry hidden men
there was no avoiding the smart of guilt
we would find them
we would hound them
till they came barefooted
hair caked with moose blood
to the cathedral to present themselves to the bishop
to listen the choir
sing hymns of renunciation and accusation
‘vile adults in the eyes of the creator’
‘the moose has spoken’
the days after Shroove were ones of rest
we were all exhausted from the running
our smelt costumes were repaired
then stored carefully in airtight rubber bins
till next years
when the cycle of fertility and recrimination
would begin all over again
chapbooks for sale http://wp.me/P1RtxU-2f6
HotDamn! It’s A Queer Slam
Tuesday – September 19 – feature – Art Bar Poetry series – 8 p.m., Free Times Cafe, #20 College At., Toronto – $5.00
http://It’s No Accident
Hey! Now you can give me $$$ to defray blog fees & buy coffee in Washington at 2018’s capfireslam.org – sweet,eh? paypal.me/TOpoet
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TOpoet 