Easter '04, bench

Churchbells quieted. I sat, absorbing.

The backs of my ears, each a half of a globe,
Took a beating from the wind.
It all reached my toes
Where gravel sounded.

For a spell, I picked through the bits.
I took the contrasting pieces home.

Like bones, however, they are not mine to keep.
Maybe I'll put them down
On a street where no gravel was
So that someone might, on their way to church,
Sense what their life means.

The Deist & Deference, Seppuku, and Self-Loathing: A Theory

Those who bro
                    O
                     D
Are said to see God in their coffee.

It didn't do a damn thing
And I quickly torporized.

I met a member of the Q Continuum,
In the form of my mother as a monolith,

Crushing sentients to cinders save me and my cat.
I defied it determine who would be last.

But there it sat. Silent.
And surely I spoke:
       I'm something greater.
       My heart is whole.

Becoming Parasitic

Glinda the good witch asked
are you a good witch
or a bad witch
but she never asked
if Dorthy was
a sandwich.

We might be parasites.
We might be symbiotes.
And if we kill ourselves
no one will bother asking
not even the worms

Click dem heels
pull up your shorts
and sing like the Duke

~ M. Wolff

We modernize to perpetuate.
Will you play host or Hostess?

Block the Vote

In recent years, there have been a lot of alt-community efforts to thwart certain aspects of pop culture. Vote for the Worst is one example that comes to mind; its purpose is to catapult the worst singer on American Idol to stardom. But whereas that is somewhat mean spirited (and arguably as much a waste of time as voting for the best), there are other forms of sabotage that seem to serve a greater purpose.

George Clooney, a tireless advocate for celebrity's rights to privacy, recently suggested that false reports of celebrity sightings be emailed to Gawker Stalker in order to compromise the integrity of its sightings reports and effectively shut the site down.

Now, it's my impression that Georgey says this as a human being and not as a celebrity, but that's just the kind of consideration that needs to be wiped out. As a nation, we're star crazy. "We" care too much what celebrities are doing and how they're living. Who cares why Clooney suggested doing this? All that matters is that it's a good idea. It's sabotage that affirms your humanity and makes a statement, that statement being: Who gives a shit.

It's pretty sad that I feel I couldn't approach a person whose art I respect and say, "hey, I dig your work," and walk away. I can't do that because we're so far gone we need to repudiate almost all notice of achievement. Well, as my old man would say, bag that. Go send your false sighting to Gawker Stalker. Do it because you're wasting away on the internet. Do it not because you care about a celebrity's privacy, but because you don't care to have their lack of it invade your own life.

If you know of other such votes or petitions (hopefully with even more meaning than this) send them my way.

---

We've constructed much
of this world
and the grandeur about us.
Still, if a Star or Teacher
struggles with
a triple decker sandwich,
we giggle and look around.

paint map moon - no face -
feeds my dissimilar taste
but this is nature.

painted sky - no sun -
clears up haze until you're done
but this is life.