Over the past month my TOpoet.ca following blog grew to 463! The WordPress map shows my hits in February have come from 91 countries around the world. Mainly USA & Canada with South Africa in 3rd spot! Bangladesh & Malawi remain in the top 10. The most viewed (non-photo essay) was The Thieving Slut, https://topoet.ca/2021/02/15/the-thieving-slut/, with F**k Gratitude, https://topoet.ca/2021/02/11/fk-gratitude/ close behind. Both are personal faves.
My Tumblr following is at 304. Twitter 229 followers.
Picture Perfect is moving along with 56 sections, about 84,500 words, posted so far, with 101,000 words approx to be edited, then posted. This month I was at the point where I got sidetracked in the rough draft so I did major cut of about 5000 words. The cut removed a scene I didn’t need but a character I did need so re-invented him keep the flow. A fun challenge.
I watched some interesting movies including O Ébrio (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Ébrio_(film)). Out of Brazil,1946, starring popular singer Vicente Celestino – who co-wrote it with Gilda de Abreu, who was also his wife. Imagine an Elvis film set in 1946 – fame & faithless women & songs & redemption. Eye-catching costumes for the women. A fascinating look at the culture of the time. The music & lyrics are idealized romantic, religious & dripping with sincerity. Performances are good to adequate, with some sweet silent-movie nods.
Another, an even wilder musical, is the Polish film The Lure (2015) directed by Agnieszka Smoczyńska. One critic calls it “the best goth musical about man-eating mermaids ever made.” I wouldn’t call 80’s EuroDisco Goth but … the music is sublime, the visuals at times are stunning & performances good. Plotting uneven but well worth watching. I saw both of these as part of TCM series of women directors.
A couple of books I’m currently reading. Paper: Coming Out Under Fire by Allan Bérubé about gay men and women in the U.S. military between 1941 and 1945. This quote ‘ … being a homosexual, I had that constant compelling need to prove how virile I was.’ still remains one of the male gender identity struggles. The book is stunning – easy to read, easy to understand & at time heartbreaking & frustrating. Read it asap.
Kindle: Fairs’ Point: A Novel of Astreiant by Melissa Scott book 4 in the series. I read the first in this series a few years ago. It was part of a StoryBundle of 10 lgbtq fantasy/horror novels & I loved it. I’ve read the pervious in the series. Amazing world building, sweet male lovers & understated sex scenes. Set in a magic Mediaeval land. Only one more in the series after this one though 😦
in clearing out an archive of old writing in a file cabinet I found this piece from the early 80’s. It is about HIV fears but some of the lines about ‘a virus more virulent than love’ echo the current covid19 pandemic where a stranger’s breath could be deadly. Replace roses with masks & it’s ready for today
war/mist
1
i’m pressing the mirror
to my face
not looking for contact
not seeking any content
needing any slight
sign of mist
to reassure me
i’m still alive
i’m still breathing
<>
hey! it’s alright everybody
i’m still breathing
there’s nothing breeding in me
hey! you guys
don’t you hear me
I’m still breathing
2
something in the blood of lovers
has brought this war
to my attention
to my very front door
to my one & only bedroom
sullen pillow whispers
imploring an unwilling caution
for this angry end to innocence
<>
‘so, we don’t meet again’
a thought
in the corner of my eye
catching you
wandering through the throng
of sights unseen
untouched
a man missed again by me
a stranger in your mist
<>
a kiss is no longer a kiss
it’s an affront to our political awareness
it’s flirting with a virus
more virulent than love
a disease befuddled by language
leaving us
untouching
unflinching
imploding
& afraid
<>
so i’ll send you roses
yellow green black
olive drab camoflage
for our war of wait & see
our war of hide
then die
<>
a lift of the hand
a nod of the head
a thin smile of acknowledgement
i practice the arts
of indifferent recognition
so i can cast them upon
unobtainable flights of obsession
‘is this the wave of the future?
or just an unobservable mannerism
by this stranger in your mist
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