Dusty locks shoulder

that trail of intention leads into leaning into contact at the shoulder

at the hip, and intertwined breath leaving, entering along some parallel path

drips forming in the pockets of our bodies, turn inward on themselves

intensify and last all night, growing dreams on their shining surfaces

an orchid 2 years ago whose placement was unimaginable has burst through

time and space, its swollen stem opening my imaginative funnel

all wings curve to spiral flight, some elevations normally seperated collapse together

wax is melting, sun is hot, feathers are falling

ocean swells rise and touch my ankles

"The enlisted man stood with his head and shoulders protruding through the opening in the white canopy. His unruly red hair and freckled face gave the corporal a youthful look of an innocent schoolboy, but looks are often deceiving. Buck watched the corporal grow from a boy of seventeen into a battle-hardened veteran that, when the occasion called for it, was as tough as they come and had proved himself time and again. Some men were hard and tough, while others were dangerous; Chester Colson fell into the latter category. Like Buck, the corporal was from Texas." (from LONGHORN Book I "The Beginning" by Dusty Rhodes)

Gallivanting blouse

"In the 70s, there were three Mexican restaurants I frequented. El Coyote, La Fonda and Lucy’s El Adobe. I’d heard about Lucy’s from my friend at the time, Linda Ronstadt. I know, I’m name-dropping. Sting tells me I do that a lot.

Van Dyke Parks took me to La Fonda. He knew I’d love the music there. I did. Instruments I’d never seen before, specifically for Mariachi. The guitaron, a huge guitar, I guess you’d call it a base guitar, a tijuela, a miniature guitar with an angelic harp-like sound. And the incomparable joy of the trumpets and violins blended together for an experience of living history. Sadly, La Fonda closed just recently. El Coyote features ‘chicas’ that look more like ‘duenas’ gallivanting in peasant, off the shoulder blouses and huge skirts. The food there, although produced on a massive scale, is still quite good. And Lucy’s still makes the best Tostada in town." (from "Lean Like a Cholo" by Laraine Newman; posted on One for the Table)

last night working on the composition for dancers at the wedding in september, than diving into more cataloging of my recorded music, 300 or so songs from 30 years - a combination of home and studio work, arranged in about 20 albums, also realized that i am approaching a completed new collection of what will be called "excerpts", ranging from early 2003 up until present day, experiments, scratch versions of songs, work done in garageband. i'm also gearing up for finding the most effective placement and process to release my entire catalog online so it will be available on itunes, amazon and other music sites, making actual cd's available only on request directly from the artist, nothing else seems to make sense in this day and age, its a dream i had years ago that has come true, who knows i may even start creating videos and posting to youtube, as filmmaking has always been a passion. anyone who has ideas on this is most welcome to comment here or contact me directly.

Affluence dervish vacancy

in step by step fashion waggle consternation perish version of combat welcoming fishtank pistol dropping billions of windowsill mixups down into have or have not personhood gibble sullen groupings now that high means low and loss means win now that all numbers change games challenge reality and grind on growl in low gear thoroughly wrecking transmission burning rubber leaking oil vanishing valuable days as selfishly vision pleading for mercy come now command your troops withdraw pawns regroup unite help bring to closure each passing hour no lies for a change breathe and bloom bursting seed out into capitol steps and allowing each small voice a place in this choir these dreamings going wide amongst those of us in towns and rivers burdened with newsworthy fits of insane garbage dump it call it out onto the carpet red rolling salmon lubrication drawn thin in days of campaign waging war together now move on

"Rossetti himself seemed to conflate these two possibilities in a letter to his friend Dr Hake concerning the painting:
You ask me about Lilith — I suppose referring to the Picture-sonnet. The picture is called "Lady Lilith" by rights (only I thought this would present a difficulty in print without paint to explain it) and represents a "Modern Lilith" combing out her abundant golden hair and gazing on herself in the glass with that complete self-absorption by whose fascination such natures draw others within their circle. The idea which you indicate (viz: of the perilous principle in the world being female from the first) is about the most essential meaning of the sonnet. "

Sharpening dillweed fermentation

"My favorite pickle is not processed in a water bath. It is fermented much like sauerkraut. I make them in gallon jars. I prefer 2-3-inch size cucumbers for this pickle. First I scrub them with a vegetable brush, making sure they are free of dirt. Next I place them in a non-metal container and cover them with a brine made of 1-1/2 cups of salt and 4 quarts of water. Let them sit over night in the brine. In the meantime make a brine of 10-quarts water, 1-quart vinegar and 2-cups salt. Boil for 10-minutes. Let this brine stand over night.
The next morning I drain the cucumbers and rinse with clear water. I sterilize my jars. Then I add a few peeled cloves of garlic to the bottom of the jar. Next I add a whole head of dill weed, stalk and all. I start packing the cucumbers tightly, adding more dill between layers of cucumbers. When the gallon jar is filled to about 2-inches from the top I pour the cold brine over the cucumbers, making sure they are completely covered with brine. I put the sterile cover on and tighten well.
These will ferment in the jar for a week or more, depending on the temperature of the room. I let them sit on my counter. When they start fermenting they will get cloudy and look like something to be discarded. Just be patient, do not panic. When the fermentation process is done the pickles will clear up. At that time I move them to a cool place and leave them alone for at least 5-6 weeks. If you open them up too soon they will not be translucent, meaning they have not ripened long enough." (from "The Special Pickle Jar" by Bonita Anderson)

we have traded cards up and down the length of coast, burning candles, forwarding mail, grappling with chords, melodies, blended wines - and its asking a little too much today for me to simply wash my hands of you, especially after listening to those melancholy aires of 1997, you with fingers on the drum, your newly mounted sticks and brushes trembling and tapping through improvised sessions stealing the bloodline at times, rationalizing thick whatnots of experiment through cracking a clean whip along the spine of meter, those non-verbal nights of yesteryear, lone rangers digging into pineforest mushroom compost intriguing, effervescent, gobbling little pills of ecstasy at the working intersections in musical tribe, called over by the teacher to discuss a little problem we were having with getting assignments in on time, breaking bread with merry muffins in hipwader confidence, all harvested from dad and mom when theory calms its runty head on rooty, bloodsoaked forests of dill, oh boyish wonder, oh carnival of venus taken into account, murky leftover wishes, but never a harsh word, only that absence that continues to plaster its posters across the wailing wall of creative partnership, let it be known that all is not lost, there is more fermentation to be reckoned with, life is long, green frogs swim freely into larger ponds when moose-trodden grassybanks give in to slide, wash and disappear.

Lost key, Mayday!

"Mayday!'s self-titled debut is one of this year's pleasant surprises. The act (not to be confused with the Saddle Creek outfit of the same name) is the brainchild of producer/keyboardist Plex Luthor and MC Bernbiz. Luthor's early production work for Miami groups such as Algorithm and Spirit Agent offered simple blues beats that sounded like bedroom soliloquies. In contrast, Mayday! is vivid and colorful, with sounds that move from the hard organ crush of "Watchin' Me" to the tinkling and echoing piano keys on "The Customer Is Always Right." Meanwhile, Bernbiz's rhymes are tight and concise, especially in "Micro/Macro," where he addresses the so-called war on terrorism, and in "Angles," where he lays out his philosophy: "Cats have gotten far but not that far, dog/I see it every day -- ass, money and stardom/But everybody's gotta beg, borrow and rob/So I don't owe nobody shit, and I ain't paying for beats." In spite of the publicity that Cee-Lo's chorus on "Groundhog Day" lent them, Mayday!'s success is owed to Luthor and Bernbiz alone." (Mosi Reeves, Denver Westword, November 16, 2006)

there is a short journey from the return home last night until the return home from work for lunch to enjoy some delicious chicken curry that virginia made last night, a simple few steps up the stairs from the car, a sleep, a shower, shave and change of clothes, finding a bagel, groping for ham to take with it to work for breakfast, then onto the motorcycle, wearing that jacket, that darn jacket with the tricky pockets, and who knows, somewhere between here and there or there and here it fell, but really now is that what happened or is it simply sitting in some little shelf space, or under a scrap of paper, or in the crack between two pillows, or inside a shoe, or under the lip of a cabinet, or in the bed, hmmm that is the one place i did not look and i did lean down to kiss her goodbye, so who knows, tonight when we get back home from the may day festivities that will be the first place i look, amidst the blankets, give it all a good shake, somewhere there is a key for squashy hiding, and hooray for the first of may!