Mayor of 42nd Street

Mayor of 42^nd Street

somewhere there is a

90 minute cassette tape of

nebulous hobo poetry read

aloud from a moving 1949

Hudson Commodore Sedan

in the deepest, most tender

                & musical voice of

 a pallid & puckered hustler

                who

jumped trains across the cosmic

spread of a stained republic

thieving endless marble skies

& small towns of aching beauty

                his

was a galaxy of vilified vagrants

loose ladies & sad sailors

heroin hearts & beggars

                junk-sick surrealism

despite his disreputable pursuits

street slang and searing honesty

a boutonnière clung to his lapel

his manners

distinguished him

ecstasy was exile

illumination pithy

                drunk & happy 

the Mayor of 42^nd Street

                an exaggeration

                of beatnik blues

                midnight mouth

there are so many                      

footnotes to Howl

                songs of the damned

sound

                on 42^nd Street

this is a bad short story

about a rich bastard anti-hero

& his taxi suite counterparts

**

I came up to my writing room tonight with the best of writing intentions, I was excitedly distracted by a music conversation with my best girl. That led me to blanking on the title of a song I had a urgency to listen to. I sent a text to a friend who wasn't answering quick enough to quench that thirst so I went digging for it in a stack of old mixed CDs. I was 'supposed' to be finishing this poem but was seduced by a mountain of music I haven't heard in ages! I imported a slew into my iTunes. I soon had to discipline myself, put the books away and focus back on the page.

I haven't been sleeping well this week so I thought perhaps I'd move away from the TV and see if creativity could tire me. How silly! I'm wildly overtired and thirsty. I'm a weirdo.

One more song, maybe two. Then bed.

In propinquity,

Nic

Artistic Snafu

Artistic Snafu 

while you are in the process of

revising your bloated masterpiece

I will ponder your deliberate 

choice to avoid a dramatic ending 

you will resort to arbitrary criticism

of my delicate unabashed poetics

that have been earnestly delegated to 

piece together your splintered patience

I would happily congratulate you

on your rich fictional histories

but it is a commonplace error 

for an admirable reader to prolong

false & undeserving accolades

it is an artistic snafu

what I can accomplish in 4 or 5 sentences

takes you more than 600 long-winded pages

your melodrama is palatable

but my prose is a world of passion

you reveal yourself with great reluctance

it hinders your almost extinct sincerity 

but 

I am a bestseller & open to interpretation

you are a faunt of envy

of this

to others

I say nothing

**

Moral?  Envy, jealousy, boastfulness get you nowhere.  But, confidence, belief and hard work do.  Just my few cents worth.  This applies to any facet of life, art and work.

After finishing 'Hardscrabble' I wasn't sure anything new would materialize in the way of story ideas.  I went a few days resting my noodle, watching TV, reading a little and being otherwise casual.  I was eating dinner at a friend's house, grilled cheese and soup, when an idea formulated.  The working title, which I really like, is 'Large-Hearted'.  I've only written the first paragraph, a small paragraph mind you but it is brewing.  The only way I can really describe it, as of the idea I have now, is that it is a story within a story.  I'll know more when the characters fill me in.  

Nothing else going on in my little world right now.  I started watching S3 'Game of Thrones' last night.  I thought I'd better catch up since everyone has been going postal about the 'Red Wedding' episode.  I haven't read the books so the event won't come as a complete shock to me but I have been avoiding most of the spoilers.  Oy. 

I also watched S1 of 'Smash', the now canceled series from NBC starring Debra Messing about live theatre/Broadway in New York City.  I LOVE this show, a musical, complete with musical numbers and high drama.  S2 comes out on DVD in August.  I can't wait!  I wasn't sure I'd like it but I ended up loving it. Something light-hearted and fun and something to get me over my '30 Rock' hangover.  Excited that 'True Blood' and 'Dexter' are starting this month.  Holy cow, it's JUNE!

Happy hump day, folks.

In propinquity,

Nic