enough with trauma, enough with injustice,
enough of ecstasy and horny tales.
enough with the empty skins of these things —
limp words, deflated balloons, dead air.

don’t tell me about racism
if you can’t make me squirm
under the boot on your neck.

don’t speak of sex unless
I can learn from you how dry friction vanishes
into liquid and steam.

don’t even bother with the breakup talk
unless I understand what your lover looked like
the last time she walked away from you and
until I can smell the rug you laid upon
while you cried.

I’m eager for the death of Word these days,
hoping I get to watch it kick and strangle on itself.
if you want me to step up and put it on my shoulders
and keep it from hanging, you’ll have to make it disappear
into the things you claim to understand
simply because you know how to pronounce them.

I just saw something in passing on the Web about special ham that goes for 2100 dollars a pound and was going to write something scathing about class warfare and figurative cannibalism, but then I stopped because I realized how many people on my friends’ list are really into food and who might think I was firing shots at them.

I’m not, but I gotta say, I don’t get it. See, here’s my orientation to food:

1. Hungry? Eat something. Move on.
2. Thirsty? Drink something. Move on.
3. In a hurry? Eat something quick. Move on.
4. Got some time and want to do something nice for someone? Cook a good dinner for them. Eat it. Move on.
5. Got some spare money and want to enjoy a nice experience? Go out to a good dinner. Eat it. Move on.

Operative words being, “move on.” It’s food — here then gone. Fuel. Sustenance. That’s all.

Great meals stand out for me in my memory, of course, but that’s always more about the circumstances than the food — the millieu, the social scene, etc. Good food’s an accent for me, not a central point.

I like good food, like finding new foods, etc. But television shows about, or an entire network devoted to, food? Huh? (Bourdain I make a very occasional exception for because again, I don’t think his shows are really about food.)

Anyway…just letting you know that if you see me going off about food in the future, keep this in mind.

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN1451387120080514

I’m on record as saying that the state should stay out of this issue altogether; I think the most equitable solution is to eliminate all civil connection to and regulation of how people choose to live their lives and manage their relationships. But we’re not likely to see that anytime soon. For now, this decision would extend existing protections to same-sex relationships.

Keep your fingers crossed.

ETA: They’ve overturned the same sex marriage ban.

Ran across this list this AM while looking for something else.

http://www.newyorker.com/online/2008/05/19/080519on_onlineonly_remnick?currentPage=all

I’d quibble with some choices, of course. (It is the New Yorker, after all, so I don’t expect revolutionary thoughts.) But why is there no “Interstellar Space” from Trane? It has Keith Jarrett (admittedly, with a great album), but no Herbie Hancock as a leader? Where is Anthony Braxton and in fact, where is a better representation of the AACM in general? It’s a good basic collection though.

For my jazz fans out there — what would you add?