Updates for the Different and Indifferent

In this movie, Jeff Lynne of ELO tries to rescue Communism from Obama

Updates galore. I finished another novel. Number 28. This one is my longest. It was, in part, a form a therapy to deal with the Trump administration and the chaos and cruelty of the Republican Party. instead of having to slog through the hypernormality of the days' terrible headlines, I could escape to world full of indictments, impeachments, special elections, coups, civil wars, and revolutions. Ultimately it was an exercise in world-destroying as much as an exercise in world-building. If I had to reduce it to a simple elevator pitch: this novel asks the question, what would it take to build your perfect world, and once in it, could you truly live there?

Essentially it's Chapo Trap House meets Dr. Zhivago.

Some poetry has also been published since I last posted. Some of it was by me. Pleather Skin generously accepted several of my poems. I also had several accepted at Scarlet Leaf Review. Meanwhile there's a poem at Runcible Spoon and more up at Blood Sugar Poetry. Writing all this makes me feel like one of those comedians who host a podcast where they go through all their tour dates before getting on with the show.

Well there's no show here. This is the end of the post. Go in peace to love and serve the word.

Trump's 2020 Campaign Poster

If let's Make America Great Again could be taken from Reagan:

Then his 2020 Campaign can steal from Lyndon LaRouche:

A Lost Devo Album Cover?

Or Proto-Devo? Would that make it Evo?

The above is an advertisement from John R. Brinkley. He was the original GOAT. One of America's most notable medical quacks, he was almost elected governor of Kansas in 1930. Brinkley's main business involved implanted goat testicles in patients in order to cure them of a variety of ailments (I hope that's not what he did to this poor kid). Hounded by the authorities, he fled to Mexico where he built a radio station to sell his healthcare services. To help drum up listeners, he played country and bluegrass music. He helped boost the career of the Carter Family, among others.

A Poem in RAW That's Thoroughly Cooked

RAW Journal of the Arts has published a poem of mine in its first issue. It's about Brooklyn before I ever really knew Brooklyn, also when I was still obsessed with Ted Berrigan.

History Doesn't Repeat, It Rhymes (Unlike this Poem)

Hello one and all. One last post for the last day of February 2018. I have a poem for you all to read in Weatherbeaten Lit's President's Day issue.

Five Poems in Twenty Two Twenty Eight

Come one, come all, this time I've got a link stuffed with poems. Not twenty-eight poems in Five and Twenty-Two. Not twenty-five in in Twenty-Eight and Two. And certainly not twenty-two poems in Eighty-Five and Twenty. I have five (you can count them) in Twenty-Two Twenty-Eight, a DC and NYC based journal. 

A Poem from the FBI

When we went after the Communists, it was okay,
Because they were Communists, after all

When we went after the Socialists, it was okay,
Because they were sort of like Communists, right?

When we went after the activists, it was okay,
Because they wanted to help the Reds

And when we went after the Blacks, it was okay,
Because they were all Red underneath

When we went after the anti-War types, it was okay
Because the wars were against Communists

When we went after the terrorists, it was okay
Because they were terrorists, it’s simple

(When we went after the kids in basements
Making bombs with instructions we gave them,
It was okay because they were terrorists too)

Then we went after the Anti-War types again
Because the wars were against terrorists

But look, now the President is going after us,
Come on patriots! Why aren’t you in the streets?

Carry Me Back to Old Assyria

New poem in First Literary Review-East.

A New Year, A New Journal, A New Post

Exhibit 1: a Pangolin

A poem of mine in the first issue of the Pangolin Review. Read it and ring it the new year.

I Think the Name of this Journal Unlocks a Spell or Something...

If you look closely, it says "Anti-Bank"

...but I don't know. I never read Larry Putter and Horse Kicker's Kidney Stone. Anyway, I have two poems in Rosette Maleficarum. One uses pop-up ads as a conceit, the other uses the mysterious ways of high finance.

First Poem in First Literary Review East

A new poem, AM Variations, is in the First Literary Review East. You'll have to scroll to find it, or you can Control+F to save some time. I'll be thanking you all at Thanksgiving for reading!

The Dragon of Anapest Shall Rise!

Or is it the Dragon of Budapest shall rise?

Anyway, Anapest, an offshoot of the Paragon Journal, has published three poems written by yours truly.

Here's one

Another one

And the last poem

Happy Halloween/Happy Birthday 95 Theses Charlie Brown!

In honor of this very momentous occasion, I present my Halloween Costume.  Here's a close-up:

I'm not sure if the 47th one will shock you. This person ranked the theses, you can see if you agree. It seems pretty shocking if you've already bought an indulgence. So far, I haven't had any trouble with this costume, just trying to move, drink, and dance with it on. Luckily I haven't run into anyone dressed as Ignatius J. Reilly.

I Wrote a Spoof

To the tune of "I Pity the Poor Immigrant"

I pity the poor president

Who wishes he would've stayed home

Who uses all his power to do evil

But in the end is always left so alone

That man whose tiny fingers cheats

And who lies with every breath

Who passionately hates his wife

And likewise, loves immigrants’ death

I pity the poor president

Who does nothing but complain

Whose chief enemy is poor ratings

Whose tweets are insane

Who rules but is not satisfied

Who fears and is never free

Who goes to fight with truth itself

And breaks the law with glee

I pity the poor president

Who drags us through the mud

Who steals and golfs while laughing

And who covers other lands in blood

Whose rule in the final end

Must shatter like the glass

I pity the poor president

When our judgment comes to pass

The Real Reason Hillary Lost

Guys, pack it up. No more articles, books, or think pieces. This is the real deal:

It wasn't Comey and it wasn't Putin that stopped her. It was the ghost of Oliver Cromwell!At least I think it was Oliver and not that Cromwell.