Can one of you folks who has a Myspace and hasn’t friended me yet please make a request? I think I’m having problems with notifications and such.

TIA

Someone want to tell me how Britney Spears flashing her hoo-ha at a party gets a higher mention on the Google News page than the crowds protesting Sean Bell’s shooting, which was relegated to the lowest “More Top Stories” section?

No, wait. Don’t bother.

For years, I’ve been somewhat skittish about the idea of combining music and poetry. I’ve always thought of poetry as containing its own music, and saw additions as unnecessary bells and whistles.

The project with Faro has changed my mind somewhat. I’m not only hearing my older poems set to music, but I’m hearing music in my newer poems — not necessarily hearing music behind them all, but definitely noticing a more musical influence on the way I stitch sounds together, rhythms, etc.

All this also means that I may make it to the Lizard Lounge soon — finally. I’ve always held out against it because I did not want to perform with the Trio. I’m less concerned about that now, and actually think it might be fun.

There’s also a guy in town — Bob Jordan — who’s been bugging me for years about doing a CD with me. Bob used to work with Eugene Chadbourne playing guitar and doing tape effects on some of his tours. I like what he does, but never took the idea of the project all that seriously. I may revisit this soon.

It’s good to take a road less travelled — especially for someone as old and snobby and set in my ways as I am. While I try to take risks in what I do and vary my style as much as is needed for the poem in question, I also recognize the limits inherent in my approach, and I haven’t been as comfortable lately in what I’ve been writing. There’s always the voice in my head saying “been there, done that — or if you haven’t, someone’s done it better.” I need to break my patterns. This is helping.

they are slaughtering them
5,000 there
22,000 there
238,000 there
slaughtering them

whole families depend on them
they must be slaughtered

they live in low places
they live in dirt
eat there
rest there
breed and shit there
they will be slaughtered

if one has it
all must
it’s viral and impossible to see
without knowing what to look for
slaughter them and save so many

no names
they are commodities
to be spent
these are the ones who will be slaughtered

they do not cry
as far as is known
they were bred for this

250,000 there
5,000 there
and there the toll is not yet counted
they must be slaughtered
for peace of mind here
for assuage of fear
for the safety of those who do not live
there