The BlueIris Semi-Nightly Break, 2/21/08

[BlueIris]

"From the Files of Agent 22"

a black banana
can make you high
bad apples can get
you wasted
the wrong kind of
grapes tore up
for days
and a rancid orange
plastered

know your spirits
before entering
strange orchards

—Ishmael Reed

[BlueIris]

1. Biographical info about Ishmael Reed:

http://www.math.buffalo.edu/~sww/reed/reed_ishmael_bio.html

[BlueIris]

2. Kick.

[Westegg]

3. "If My Enemy is a Clown," ...

...A Natural Born Clown."

"i tore down my thoughts
roped in my nightmares
remembered a thousand curses
made blasphemous vows to demons
choked on the blood of hosts
ate my hat
threw fits in the street
got up bitchy each day
told off the mailman
lost many friends
left parties in a huff
dry fucked a dozen juke boxes
made anarchist speeches in brad
the falcon’s 55 (but was never
thrown out)
drank 10 martinis a minute
until 1 day the book was finished

my unspeakable terror between the
covers, on you i said to the
enemies of the souls

well lorca, pushkin i tried
but in this place they assassinate
you with pussy or pats on
the back, lemon chiffon between
the cheeks or 2 weeks on a mile
long beach.

i have been the only negro
on the plane 10 times this year
and its only the 2nd month

i am removing my blindfold and
leaving the dock. the judge
giggles constantly and the prosecutor
invited me to dinner

no forwarding address please

i called it pin the tail on the devil
they called it avant garde
they just can't be serious
these big turkeys"

---Ishmael Reed

BlueIris: This guy is so great. I hope you don't mind my posting another Reed poem. My mother turned me on to him about 20 years ago. Now I live in NYC and collect vintage copies of the "East Village Other." To no great end. More newsprint to grow moldy (it was already yellow when I got it). I love how Reed parodies Ginsberg in the first couple stanzas of this poem. The last stanza is an example of a writer having a voice that just shoots right through you loud and clear. It does me, anyway.

[BlueIris]

4. Hee hee. No, I don't mind.

The more poetry in the Lounge, the better, I say.

[BlueIris]

5. Kick.