Friday, October 07, 2005

dirge for bob denver

what makes the silence as he turns
or laughter we bought in cans
that cannibals and the assortment
of others who kalfka walk
in and out like it was
help you couldnt be
self obsessed enough to escape from
a giant country not a tiny
island and the lost were
there in blank pratfalls of
useless humanity
doing duality with
singleness of purpose and
double entandre until we
finally stop looking and
he walks shakily over the water
sick and tired to stay
very far from any beach

5 comments:

Russell CJ Duffy said...

There are times when the words writen are meant to be vague as though a decipher is necessary. And why should we always know exactly what the meaning of every poem really is?
I like this.
I like this in a way much art appeals to me. By gut reaction.

I like those 'Miles Davis' rythms that snake and writhe and compel (one L or two? Dunno) me to take in every syllable and every nuance
that is so subtly scribed here.
Do I want to know what it is about?
Of course but then again I have spent the last forty years trying to decipher 'Desolation Row'.
Great stuff.
More power to your elbow.

Sue hardy-Dawson said...

I felt this was saying something about the whole hippy movement and ethos streatching out but maybe I'm wrong, but I like that I get something slightly different in it each time I read it.

Sue hardy-Dawson said...

Huray it let me post

Russell Ragsdale said...

So glad you enjoyed this CJ! It's about the actor who died a few days ago. He was 70 and died of complications with cancer. He stared in a silly tv commedy in the early 70's called Gilligan's Island.

Defoe was turning over in his grave with every pratfall. But I bet he was laughing at the darkness hiding under all the sugar coating of slapstick.

The actor was like a shooting star, quick and glorious for a moment in the sky, then gone. I hadn't seen or heard of him for 35 years until I read the obit.

Thanks for your wonderful encouragement!

Russell Ragsdale said...

Hi Sue! Spot on with the time frame! I guess, in this sense, it has something to do with the thoughts and character of that whole era. Glad this is rich enough for you to be good for several reads!