If I search the recesses of my memory
I can recall a time before childhood trauma
was all the rage and we were blissfully
ignorant of how those we looked up to
as mavericks and rebels with or without causes
who opted for the crazy life suffered genuinely
from one or another personality disorder,
a schizo-this or complex-that, and the substances
they helped romanticise were really just
non-prescription meds helping them regulate
wild emotions or sedate their inner demons.
A time when each of us felt empowered to
do as we pleased and to go our own way,
not knowing how these choices, in truth,
were the dictates of neurological damage
or that our carpe diem paths were actually
well-trodden tracks leading to reservoirs
of shame which would overwhelm our mid-
life sense of self-worth while contributing
to the freakiest nightmares and breakdowns.
Today there are more than two hundred
classified forms of mental illness – so many
you feel like if you’re not getting with the whole
credential-accumulation game with your
little Fitbit and ultra-woke attitude then
you have a responsibility both to yourself
and others to reassess your life or get used to
being told you’re in denial.
Oh, rewind me
back to the nineties, when dysfunctional
was so much better than just functional,
critics didn’t begrudge artistic catharsis
and to be an in-your-face fuck-up –
yeah, nah, that was sweet as.
Wei Ying-Wu is an ancient Chinese poet, whose poem ‘Night’ was translated into English for the Penguin Book of Chinese Verse by Robert Kotewall/Norman L. Smith:
Night
The light, where does it go?
The darkness, whence does it come?
Only do I know that of my ageing year by year
One half herein is sped.
Here’s an audio interview with Robert Hilburn, the author of the new Paul Simon biography called Paul Simon, The Life.
I found it somehow reassuring to find out that Graceland came about after a very low period in Paul’s life, after having made the decision to go it alone, which initially didn’t go well, and led to a lot of self-doubt/depression.
Also, it was interesting to find out that he’s done Ayahuasca, quite a few times, and that, while it wasn’t an addiction, it did become a problem for him, and he had to stop it. http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018648729/paul-simon-the-life-robert-hilburn
I’ve finished scanning to PDF my second handmade chapbook Manure, added an author’s note to give the title and poetry some context for the reader, and made it available to freely download from this site by going to the Media Page and clicking on the link under it’s cover image.
After re-watching my favourite original Star Trek episode “Space Seed” and its sequel, considered by most to be the best ST film, “The Wrath of Khan” I have given some thought to why Khan Noonien Singh, as played by Ricardo Montalbán is my favourite movie villain.
I googled top movie villains, and was sad to see Darth Vader, Hannibal Lecter and Tommy DeVito right up top and Khan sometimes not even in the top 50.
Darth Vader is Darth Sidius’ lieutenant, a victim of Stockholm Syndrome, who turns away from villainy before dying a depleted old man.
Hannibal Lecter is a better choice, but he’s a sole operator, and not an inspirer/leader of men.
Mobsters are alway fun but are only loyal to blood, and sometimes not even that. They are also indoctrinated from a young age, and surrounded by a culture which encourages any kind of crime if it’s for the family/Don.
Ricardo Montalbán has a very captivating gaze. As a kid I watched Fantasy Island and always considered his character, Mr Rourke, to have a special kind of wisdom where he knew what was to become of those visiting the island at the beginning of each episode.
That role asked little of him as an actor, and as we know, when a certain kind of energy, in this case emotional, is left unexpressed for too long, it will demand to be exercised.
I just love his Latin American accent and eloquence.
Khan’s first appearance in Space Seed has him beginning from a position of vulnerability,
been rescued from 200 year stasis, but it isn’t long before he sets about empowering himself and seducing his accomplice, lieutenant McGyvers. There are probably a lot of female fans who don’t like her much, finding her too submissive, but remember that she does show the courage to go against Khan, and he seems to respect this. She chooses to be exiled with him, and he refers to her, upon hearing this, as “a superior woman.”
In TWOK we discover that Ceti Alpha V turned into a living hell in which Khan’s then wife, McGyvers dies, which he blames on Kirk, and he wants to avenge her. This is a quality that not all tyrants have. Later, when his long time follower dies, the last thing Khan says to him is “I will avenge you.” And I purport that he is successful in avenging this man’s death with the death of Spock. Also, he indirectly avenges his wife’s death when Kirk’s son is killed by a Klingon on the Genesis planet that Khan created.
I can’t help but love how he has a big ego and is unashamed of constantly reminding others of is genetically engineered intelligence/strength.
His philosophy seems the same as the ancient Greco-Roman, which is interesting when you consider that as a man of high intellect, who has studied contemporary philosophy and has pondered the advantages and disadvantages of each, would opt for the path of conquest, honour and glory. We know that he’s read Moby Dick, and is aware of what happens to Captain Ahab, but believes he can rewrite the story by outsmarting Kirk. Bold, considering that he’s taken a 200 year leap ahead in time, and has spent 15? years on a barren planet without any technology other than what they were left when exiled.
The success of getting off that planet and capturing the Reliant alone would be enough for most of us, and when his crewman counsels him that this in itself is victory enough and to be happy with his lot, he simply says “He [Kirk} asks me, he tasks me, and I shall have him.”
A truly passionate Poet-Warrior.
To him, peace and contentment are a bore; better to rule in Hell than serve in Heaven, as he indicates at the end of Space Seed. A worthy adversary is truly what he wants.
“To the last, I grapple with thee.”
“From Hell’s heart, I stab at thee. For Hate’s sake, i spit my last breath at thee.”
His final act is to activate the Genesis Device, and in doing so, create a new world, albeit a disastrous one. The Enterprise achieves warp and escapes, so yes, he misses the physical target, but wounds Kirk with the death of Spock, and takes his place as one of the best things to ever happen to the Star Trek franchise.
Remember too, that he’s an old man by this stage who has led an extraordinary life, one which he would rather not have peter out.
Probably in Jim’s case the JD would be empty.
This was an assignment when I was training to be an illustrator, and we could choose who to base the illustration on. I was obsessed with The Doors, and reading Aldous Huxley’s Doors of Perception at the time (Iwas about 19 or 20).
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