Psycho Zombies in the Rain
it was raining ballerinas
you know
rain so heavy
each drop created a splash tutu
as it landed
on its one toe
to join the corps du puddle
a literal rain dance
wet ragged gene mutated zombie
staggering down the street
skin stinking in the rain
crumbling for the lure of brains
grabs a light pole
flings aimless decaying arm
drops into the gutter
eyes washed but not cleaned
lightening strikes
the unlucky char
washed down the sewer drain
the rain not a sheet but a curtain
a shower curtain
lightening cuts through it
an electrified knife
stab stab after stab
screams drowned out by the rain
rain so heavy
we can’t see across the street
can’t see
through the car window
wiper blades not cutting it
smearing rain like blood
on a steamy bathroom tile
Can you name all the movies referenced in this piece? This piece is a word-association dream-logic poem that pays tribute to at least two of my favorite movies in a mash-up of those genres – Psycho and Singing In The Rain. The logic flow of ballerinas to Gene Kelly dancing in the rain seemed quite natural, to me. Thanks to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies it isn’t such a leap to zombies in the rain, is it?
‘rain dance’ leads directly to the most famous rain dance: the classic scene of Gene Kelly dancing and splashing and singing and swinging on a lamp post. I give it the full decay treatment – I love this so much I want to see this movie. Michael Jackson’s Thriller didn’t go far enough. Real rotting corpses would fall apart dancing like they do in his video. But then again Triller isn’t a documentary.
Char down the sewer drain took me directly to swirls of blood down shower drain in Psycho – a move that features Janet Lee driving through the most amazing rain to end up at that charming motel where she cleans up real good. Hitchcock doesn’t go as obvious as I do with lighting cutting the air while the knife slashes his heroine but sometimes poetry isn’t about subtlety.
I love so many things about this piece – it has no political subtext 🙂 It is full of crisp, cinematic images that flow effortless from one to other. Images that have become cliches in horror films & yet have been repurposed to create a whole new movie genre and a fun poem too.
Hey! Now you can give me $$$ to defray blog fees & buy ice-cream in Washington at 2018’s capfireslam.org – sweet,eh? paypal.me/TOpoet
