Something from long ago

 4:30 a.m.

sounds of leaves scraping across cement

sounds of electrical power and steel on steel

neighbor's tv with old movie fighting the night terrors

"Is it always going to be this way?"

Making Room for One More Thing

It is a fair week. No drama. No deep pain. Way too much to do and I am mastering the art of trying to find ways not to do half of it.

I've keep a steady pace on posting poetry videos to Twitter and by extension Facebook. I normally don't post unless I have some thing to say. This is counter to my day to day activities when I can't shut up. In case you haven't heard it is National Poetry Month.

Understandable if you didn't know. Whole lot of blovating going on.

I got slam poets and traditional reading the book poets and a cowboy poet and I can't for the life of me find enough middle age dames that read poetry on video. Young ones, old ones, black ones, Asian ones and a few I don't dare classify.

Freaking ought to let the poets take over CNN for a weekend. The book readers and the explicit ones and the ones that we bring back from old audios and videos files.

Anything to get their minds off the black box. 

I recorded this dude, eh excuse me, poet and author Christopher Merrill at the L.A. Times Festival of Books 2014.




It is dense and there is a love of language. It isn't the kind of poem you whip out during a poetry workshop. You have to be quiet to tune into it and enter that world.

Which is why most folks don't have time to take in a verse or two.

Hence, my need to post poetry videos and video poems on Twitter. Because I should be working on my EAD final. And planing my next steps for vacations and trips I want to take.

And work on de-cluttering.

And find a new audio book to listen to as I sleep. I really liked the BBC Issac Asimov Foundations Series.

And, and, and those suckers keep pileing up and I got other stuff to do as well.

It is better to have things to do than to feel like you have nothing at all. That leads to people offing themselves.

Never a good thing. Nope.

So I'm going to work on my project. It will be okay. I know basic HTML. I understand enough XML to rack the stuff up and have tutorials coming out of my skin.  I'll get right to it.

So as I finish looking up a Bukowski poem.

Dealing With My Zags

I'm a little ticked at myself. I was trying to get to the Taco Cook-off in Grand Park. There is a Grand Park in downtown Los Angeles. However, the festivities was on Grand Avenue. I was three streets below where I needed to be.


It happens when I speed plan on what I want to do and then wind up doing something else.

So I went to the Grand Central Market again and picked up a bag of just about but not quite over the hills strawberries, and avocados.  You can get a lot of veggies for a dollar but it is up to you to transform them quickly before the end time.

Next decision is to Hop Wu or not to Hop Wu. I have no self control in that restaurant. Instead, I hop a bus to Union Station where I spend time trying to see things I miss as I'm running for a train.


Besides, still grieving for those tacos.




I know I'm going to get a comment on the Tube about what the hell is it? It is an attempt at a visual haiku. It is a meditation on travel, color, seeing and not seeing.It is also an attempt to put into practice one of the things I learned in the workshop. Be still. Take time to get the shot and a bit more.

Ideally, you should hold for 10 seconds but I'm a jitterbug. I need to build up to the 10 seconds so this is a roughly 5x5 video. There is a poem or narrative but it is up to the viewer to find it.

Or not.

The Latest News - Poem by Don Kingfisher Campbell

A few years ago I recorded some of the San Gabriel Valley Poets. Wouldn't mind doing it again but life changes have dictated a re-allocation of time and resources. I have a lot of video that I can't re-post because I've lost contact with many of the poets.

I have some verbal permissions; some on video but mostly by mouth. I should have had folks sign a card or something but such is life. Live and learn.


Anyway, this is a poem by the main dude of poetry around the SGV and parts beyond. It is a poem I believe was recorded in 2012 or early part of 2013.

For more information about Don you can check out his YouTube channel or visit http://dkc1031.blogspot.com

Hmm,  I know have some CalOkie videos; need to dig them out as soon as I find the right pile of DVDs.

Going Binary - The Non-Discussion Video

I strive to understand. Then I understand and then wonder how we ever got out of the mud, the cave and the mire. I don't think we have. We live in houses. We have reasonably safer food and clothing. Yet that sex thing just makes people go cray-cray.

Sex.

Religion.

It is almost the same thing but one is a heck of a lot more pleasurable. Hard to mix and match so I am all for keeping one of them out of public discourse. Americans can't handle it. We just can't. I say put religion back in the closet where it belongs.




But that is just me.

If the premise is that women should only have sex for procreation then I supposed you wouldn't need birth control. If your believe that sex is only for married couples then I supposed those couples should not be doing the bang bang with a pill and a condom.

I beseech thee, one faith does not fit all.

I wanted to respond to the statements made by Huckabee regarding all of us loose, libido driven women. Women who plan when they want to start their families. Women who use their work insurance where they do pay into a plan to have coverage. Women who want to love, have sex, fuck and be fucked well.

Women who take birth controls pills to control their menstrual flow or other medical conditions. I wanted to respond with facts and reason and rock solid verification of the truth.

Not the space and time I live in. Sound bites. Sound bytes. 140 characters and tsk, tsk. So this video is about getting binary with the word fuck. I don't normally use it but since I'm hooked on the sugar I am a known offender.

This is my third attempt at finding ways to make a video poem. It seems that I'm getting progressively shorter in my videos. It is the times I live in; shallow and to the point with links you can't beg folks to read as opposed to skim.

Ah, well.

Financial Literacy - A Visual Poem Making Cents of It All

I was standing in a beloved retail bastion of frugality. It is one of my favorite places because it is a source of inspiration. I was checking out the new items and I turned to see this bounty of sexual products.




There were lubes, washes, rubbers and wipes. I was amazed at the number of condoms that were available. As I was standing beholding the splendor, the music in the store changed to Bobby Womack's I'm Looking for A Love.

I would have uploaded that video as is but, alas, the copybots would have had the poem yanked quick fast and in a hurry.

So I had to think of other ways to convey this message of financial literacy. For the record, I am not saying don't buy 99¢ condoms. No, I am not. These are FDA regulated medical products. They are tested. There is a limit on the permitted fail rate.

But you might want to check the expiration date on the box. Or double up on them if buying a onesie is not in your immediate future.

The reason I stopped was because in most stores the condoms are locked up or visible in a distant glass case. You have to find someone to retrieve it for you. This could discourage a sale or two but I do understand retailers do not like to replenish stolen products.

The store had enough boxes for each person that wanted one. I got to hold a box and look it over; something I haven't been able to do before in pharmacies and department stores.

It was a moment.

PS - I really don't want to cast negativity toward the manufacture of the condoms. Broke folk need love and I fully support any glove that can be used to prevent STDs. Perhaps folks can do pre-testing before going full tactile?

Passion - A Visual Poem Trying to Make Cents

I'm always fussing about not having time. Not having enough time. Running out of time. Yes, I work a day job and I take classes both on and off-line. Then there is that sleep thing that I never seem to get enough off any more. Or I need more of it. I'm not sure.

I have been blocked. I caught a dose of the writers and video block. Depression. Sadness. Feeling that I don't have anything to say or show. This is not the truth but when you get caught in that loop you are constrained.




One of the things that help to shake me out of it was finding out that someone that was really productive and creative was going through the same thing. If this guy had a creativity block then a shrub like me has every right to have one too.

He wasn't the only one who was fighting to create and carry on with the day to day living. And then you have the other end where folks are popping videos like rabbits after an orgy.

Humbling.

So I have a new project that I have a goal of at least ten videos. The name of this project is Making ¢ents of it all. We pay for what we learn and don't learn. The little things add up. A penny for a thought.

It is a little different than what I've done in the past. I want to use video to create visual types of prose poems or found poetry. Sometimes narrated but sometimes not.

I know it is healthier for me when I create or write. I do have to fight to make the time. It is a fight but planning and lowering expectations are tools in the battle.

Lowing expectation meaning I do what I can this day. I have to hold tight to the fact that I make videos but they are not going to win me a prize anytime soon. But I have things to say so that is more important than being the next Captain Whizbang of Vid-E-Oh.

I have to clear my own path; be my cheerleader and take out the trash.

So be it.

Witness to a PUA Failure - My Testimony

Dear menfolk, I like you. I do. Really. Well, some of you. A specific few. Let's just say there are positive lights in the firmament of mankind. Emphasis on the kind part.

Some of y'all are doing things that make the boogie man look honorable. A small percentage of the tribe has issues that need to be work out with a therapist or six months in the wilderness with a guru.

I understand that many of you would like female companionship. Others just want a body or access to specific female body parts. We are not like a car, Ruby on Rails or a jigsaw puzzle. We are people.

The poem below is an interpretation of an experience I had on Hollywood Boulevard. I was just an observer. This is the sanitized version.

No, not really. I tried to remember word for word what the tour barker said.



Either way, you cannot go around and cuss women out because they:

• Chooses not to talk with you.
• Is totally afraid of you, your clothes or the saliva emanating from your mouth.
• Has other things to do that do not include you.

I have to say that the actual man who inspired this poem towers over most women. He is also wide, in a muscular way. Booming voice. Bull in the China shop kind of guy.

If a woman walks away from you and she is not interested,  game over.

Done.

Let it go.

You do not need to blast your disappointment up and down the street and casting aspersions on her character where 30 seconds before you were quite interested in getting warm with her form.

In conclusion, that page in the PUA handbook that tells you to annoy women to get attention? Burn that page. Well first rip out that page, burn it and stomp the ashes.

I'd tell you to burn the book but that is something I cannot promote. But should it accidentally wind up in the barbeque pit don't bother to retrieve it.

Or replace it.

Yes, We Should UFTW Poem

I have been frigidity all day. Rather than stew in my own juices I'm trying out an experiment. I have wanted to try making video poems. There are people that are doing just that; there is a wonderful site called Moving Poems that curates the various ways a video poem can be created.







If you do check out that site you will discover that there is more than just talking head poets on video or film. There can be dance, animation, performance, text sculptures and a bunch more video poem formats than I have time to type.

I've been thinking about doing this for long time. I'm going to try to make my experiments public and use the Create Video Notebook blog to explain the tools and resources on how to create them.

This is a photo text poem. The text and the photo create the actual poem. Take away one element and it is meaningless or weak. There is no narration and it is open captioned.

Anyway, this is #1 with more to come.

Gabrielle Bouliane Poem To Help Kick Your Butt

Almost finished with VloMo 2012. Trying to find a way to re-vitalize my other blog and make it more useful and enjoyable. I still struggle with it, trying to find the right voice.

I know I need to step up and find a new path. I know good things are waiting for me once I fight the fear and the often debilitating voices of doubt.




From up on high this is a recording of Gabrielle Bouliane, reading a poem from 2009. Her message is constant and clear.

The grim reaper snagged Gabrielle in 2010.

Get a move on and do what you gotta do.

Lusting Tempos for National Poetry Month

It is National Poetry Month. I don't have to tell regular readers what May is but stock up on the lube just in case. Replace your worn out electronics and for your podcastical dilatation you might want to visit Erotica al la Carte.



It is Friday and it has been a long day. Need something to take the blah out of it. This poem is from Victoria McColley who has a blog at www.poetryauthoress.com.

I don't have anything profound to say. I have been drained by the week and I am looking forward to the L.A. Times Festival of Books so I can walk among the words and the people that carry them.

It is a pain to hike across town but it has been a nice couple of days since the heavy rains. I need to walk this yutz out of my system. It starts with a poem.

Anais Nin's Students A Celebration at Beyond Baroque

If you happen to be in the Venice or Santa Monica areas around 7:30 p.m. you might want to stop by Beyond Baroque for a Celebration by the students of Anais Nin. If your fingers haven't flipped through Delta of Venus you have got a bit of catching up to do. 

If you feel a bit of frost bite in the heart or other regions of the body you really should plunk down money for her books. That is the heathen side of me, paying more attention to the erotic work instead of her other works.

This is Nancy Shiffrin reading a work that you could say was inspired by Nin.

The participants will be Nancy Shiffrin, Leah Schweitzer and Nan Hunt.

For more info or if you are in the Los Angeles area and need a weekly dose of poetical or literary inspiration visit:

BEYOND BAROQUE
681 Venice Blvd. 
Venice, CA 90291

Or check out their Facebook page.

The Rinse Cycle by Jan McLaughlin

I know Jan McLaughlin from the Yahoo Videoblogging Group and as one of the early video folks at Vidlicious. She is a profession sound artist, engineer and creator.
 
The Rinse Cycle by soundsgoodtoo

Through the Twitterverse she has posted a poem performed with Bruce Weber.

More poetry, less pepper spray.

Hey Where Is Poetry In Plain Sight?

Well yeah, there is a story about that. The poetry readings generally happen at a branch of the Pasadena Public Library. That branch is undergoing renovations. Currently the folks are meeting at Maui Wowie, accross the street from Pasadena City College.

This is a good thing. Visually. And I like the smoothies.

But from an audio standpoint it is a mess. You can hear the blender. You can hear the radio pumping out top 6 hits. You can barely hear the poets.

There is no audio cleaner in the world that can handle that kind of background noise. The renovation continues at the library so there is no expectation of repatriation until many mid December.

Or so.  If you are a local poet who want a poetry writing workshop then check out Maui Wowie cuz Don and folks will be there.  But from an audible and copyright standpoint, I just can't record.

Poetry In Plain Sight - Sean Raymond Hill

Sean Hill has no way of knowing this. I went to school with a roomful of guys with big Afros. I'm sure one of those Afros caused me to almost flunk French.



I came back to the present because it is better in the here and now. Sean is an actor and poet who was one of the guess poets at the most recent get together. This is a poem because today, no matter what day it is, we need a poem.

Poetry In Plain Sight - Don Kingfisher Campell 2

There are all sorts of ways to say I love you, I know you are present and thank you for affirming me. Poets are always reinventing the message.

It is a one to one to many relationship. Strangers are always included. Don is the ringleader of the San Gabriel Valley Poets writing workshop and poetry readings. His poety blog helps you to keep track of all his doings in the area.



Any poem that mentions the James Mason Thunderbird commercial is okay by me.

James Mason was a fine actor, a classy guy. But he was a real person too. There are times when the money gets funny. You have to do (within moral/ethical guidelines) what is necessary support yourself and your family.



Perhaps the reputation of Thunderbird wine was much different than it is today. From the two times he says "unusual taste" I am guessing no. Mr. Mason classed up the joint but the wine has traveled downhill in an alley near you.

Nasty, wicked stuff.

Poetry In Plain Sight - Eli Goitein

It has been a while since I've posted poetry. My computer and I are trying to hold on until I get a new souped up power gizmo i5 or i7 level computer. Editing on a Dual Core CPU is no longer a joy when you are editing high definition video.

All of the new software is geared toward Windows 7 and, well, production has slowed down when it hasn't flat out choked. My CPU meter is living in the red zone.

It is a knock down drag out fight but we are now in an understanding phase. I understand that I can only have one software program open at a time and it understands that all I want is one short video to edit.



This is the first video under the current truce agreement. Eli Goitein seems to be a man that does many things. One of those things is poetry. The reading took place at the San Gabriel Valley Poetry Reading at the Santa Clarita branch of the Pasadena, CA Library.

The Never Ending Need To Be Touched

Our time seems to only validate the bad touch. The married politician looking for outside nookie. The celebrity caught with her panties off in front of paparazzi.

What if you want to be touched and no one wants to do it? Or remembers the reason why it is important? I'm trying to make time for the things I like and it seems that poetry is always taking a back seat.



This is a poem called Touch Me by Stanley Kunitz read at the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival. It shouldn't matter that he is 92 something years old. It does matter that he is speaking a universal truth.

In Memory of Mr. Gil Scott-Heron

I'm tired. I'm tired of the willful ignorance that is romping around as political discussions. On this day one of the great men of poetry and music has pass to the other side. I speak of Mr. Gil Scott-Heron.

I saw the man perform many years ago. I don't know much more to say. I did a tweet. I wrote 480 words in Facebook.

But my heart wants to write a book and nobody reads anymore, so I am told. This is a poem from the (currently) last album Where Did the Night Go?

I can tell you that one of the first things I did when I got my hands on the Internet was to look for him. No joke. He had been quiet for too long and I was trying to catch up. I wasn't alone.

Eventually the silent collective of those of us caring about GSH found out he was in England. Having some turbulence over there with the chemicals. I had to adjust that the man who made it clear to leave the stuff alone was juiced and volatile.

This is The Bottle


It took about 10 years for the BBC interview video to surface on the web. I could see he had been roughed up by his addictions. Gil was still inside but not the same. Still, the silent collective couldn't let him go. We sent invisible good wishes and petitions up on high on his behalf.

These past two years were very encouraging. I didn't care if he was doing covers of blues songs or small snips of poetry. The man was working and staying focus. As much as he could. Maybe the next album would light into the soul like a B-Movie


When folks do a tribute page they want other people to know that this person is important. You should know why we honor this conflicted but talented man. He wasn't perfect. Dang sure no angel.

Scott-Heron made it hard to be a fan.

But for a moment we gather and understood what it was and what it could be in terms of storytelling, poetry, performance and musicianship.

I'm about to crash. I need to sleep. Or be sad. Maybe both.

Javon Johnson at the USC Stage L.A. Times Festival of Books 2011

I'm walking around the festival doing some people watching when I hear a voice. I follow my instincts and discover Javon Johnson.



This is a tribute poem Javon spoke about his grandmother and needing her strength to guide him in these most interesting times.

Doing a bit of quick searching about Javon I learn that he is a Postdoctoral Fellow teaching classes at the University of Southern California. I can't find a blog or web site for him as yet.

He has appeared on Def Poetry Jam and other media projects. You can watch an interview of him at the USC Trojan Vision channel.