marginalia
photo by Lady K
hurrying through cold rain, lady said hello to a white cat huddled in a doorway. it followed us to the bus stop, rubbed our ankles. i spoke sibilant sounds down to it as it stared up at me. it suddenly leapt to my chest, ran up my arms, and walked back and forth on my shoulders, purring.
i talk to animals a lot, some plants, a few birds. in england i told a farm cat he’d best go back and pick up the mouse he’d dropped, and he did. it’s all in tone of intent. cats and dogs listen to timbre and cadence, plants listen in vibration. birds listen to no one. must be the bird brain.
which reminds me, for a great moment in poetry, listen to Allen Ginsberg’s “Birdbrain” - a song he wrote in Yugoslavia in 1980 and recorded in 1981 with a Denver punk band called the Gluons.
here’s a taste of the lyrics Ginsberg shouts over the music . . .
Birdbrain runs the World!
Birdbrain is the ultimate product of Capitalism
Birdbrain apportions wheat to be burned, keep prices up on the world market!
Birdbrain lends money to Developing Nation police-states thru the International Monetary Fund!
Birdbrain never gets laid on his own he depends on his office to pimp for him
Birdbrain offers brain transplants in Switzerland
Birdbrain wakes up in middle of night and arranges his sheets
I am Birdbrain!
Birdbrain dictates petrochemical agriculture in Afric desert regions!
Birdbrain lowers North California’s water table sucking it up for Orange County Agribusiness Banks
Birdbrain harpoons whales and chews blubber in the tropics
Birdbrain clubs baby harp seals and wears their coats to Paris
Birdbrain runs the Pentagon his brother runs the CIA, Fatass Bucks!
Birdbrain writes and edits Time Newsweek Wall Street Journal Pravda Izvestia
Birdbrain is Pope, Premier, President, Commissar, Chairman, Senator!
Birdbrain voted Reagan President of the United States!
Birdbrain prepares Wonder Bread with refined white flour!
in europe, lady and i never saw national flags displayed. here in america, there’s flags everywhere all the time - on cars, doors, undergarments, houses, clothes, poles, uniforms, bayonets. . .
a croation gentleman told us americans don’t know history, don’t know geography.
an american poet mentioned he could get into some good conversations in other lands, but talking to people in america was like talking to ghosts.
perhaps we need less nation, more notion.
photo by Lady K
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