poetry and lyrics

sky burial

2009-07-07T04:14:00.003-05:00

sky burial [doug duffey]

to move the uncertain

the body skepticism

flesh was preparation

exclusively disassembling

ritual flaying

limbs and body

given to hawks

birds fly eyewitness

preceding procedures and

the less favored places

accounts specify more facts

the male the procedure

first - bones and body

considered tool flesh

stripped from bones

physical milk simply processed

the hole only the tsampa

they were given broken up

ground with the hair

crows and internal organs

and birds bits in

bone flour with yak

the departeds accounts and

any other hacked assistants

omens processed

the removed head expresses

its Sanskrit soul easier

chant mantra activities

body and incense labor

tasks with ceremony

monastery Buddhist teachings

or rather plane talk

the body decomposes

the soul consumed

burn juniper

quality meat

the bones

stick offerings

vultures vultures

cartilage vultures

keeping away

gravity

July 7, 2009 MLU [c] 2009 doug duffey

l'anima del dio

2009-07-05T02:47:00.002-05:00

l'anima del dio [doug duffey]

the blue pyramid boat tip
creases and cleaves the
glass green water, edging
toward the infinite horizon

cat tails and tall grasses
multicolored seashells,stones
border the shoreline where
crabs crawl over swans eggs

ancient collages of sienna
mosaics crumbled cathedrals
ghosts of saints and angels
forgotten names of martyrs
appear then disappear

slowly slowly toward eternity
sky and sea steadfast
unfolding waves caress
encircle and enclose

we move into the soul of god

palombaio, italia january 14,1998
[c]2009 doug duffey

freedom people

2009-07-04T18:25:00.001-05:00

freedom people [doug duffey]

some remarkable story
another weekend
glow good friends
as this nation achieves
America of barbeque

our nation was patriots
experiment matter
founders enshrined
citizens embracing
one step in taste

company and fireworks
sacred the fortunes
hard-fought birthright
in evolving union
the perfect belongs free

[c]2009 doug duffey
july 4, 2009

limbeaux

2009-07-04T03:15:00.005-05:00

limbeaux [doug duffey]

below me

the mississippi snakes

through the dark landscape

toward a peach coloured

southern sky

at one curve it almost touches itself

like an astrological sign

like omega

eternity

thousands of feet above the earth,

i suddenly remember

that thousands of miles away,

at the very tail of the snake

lies my home

[C] 2009 DOUG DUFFEY

written somewhere in the air 10.1.1990

The Abortion Voyeur

2009-07-04T03:07:00.003-05:00

The Abortion Voyeur [Doug Duffey]

Nora spit on the light, those gray nine months

Mildew of light, grimy drops, whimpering sky

Then borne was the child foreskin and full

“But did not move; did not move; he was grist!”

A page, later confesses to Nora

[The wrong kind of nocturnal hag]:

“That sort of lower diction is unpleasant;

Thee alone IS hanged far above Doctor Tossoff”

Then, like a devil out of breath, the above doctor says,

“It occurs to me the poor and the sick toss a bit then pass.”

Priceless that! I, high up off the sidewalk, dropping eaves,

Eye to the peephole; a bit of daylight, see

There, a church in the wrong church, in the wrong

Behind the lowered blinds revealed

That he was sort of that sort

“Poor Doctor… the stories”, says Nora

june 25, 2009 MLU[C] 2009 DOUG DUFFEY

sacro amore bovini

2009-07-04T03:05:00.002-05:00

sacro amore bovini [doug duffey]

those generations rest

the pious and divine rest

the cattle of love all rest

disciples remain and stay

evermore will herds

through gliding slayers

stormy man beasts

those happy alone, stray

the pious birds laugh

fowls bemused abstain

breasts swift in gliding

flee soon thence there

first the children di fiore

walkest and serve

sacrifice at the coming altars

loyal, holier than who are you

beneath love, greening us

remain men

on slayers lands

on flaming ramparts

along the region skies

adulatores rather old

the risen lure

that the young birds

eat

july 3, 2009 [C] 2009 DOUG DUFFEY

via sesso

2009-07-04T03:02:00.004-05:00

via sesso [doug duffey]

during their babylonian captivity

men worshipped men

functions of the two-headed

the sacks of only boys

imperial leg bones

severed hands

the skeleton of napoleon

blessed forever

after 37 their bodies would teach

the lusts of speech

apis bull rites

poets exchanged degrading passions

burned green-tinted hearts

dried kidneys and livers

confessed sins as grave as murder

the excommunication lifted

there was creature art to see:

men in baths public

receiving their women or

catamites 6 inches to half feet

pliny had wood

veins like leaves

past archivists tell

pomponius, baby,

so twisted by the new testament

had biblical books recycled

into butcher paper

to create indices

many volumes

shiny as lacquered rhetoric

a more transparent image

july 3, 2009

[C] 2009 DOUG DUFFEY

american history xxx

2009-07-04T02:57:00.003-05:00

american history xxx [doug duffey]

there was blatant genocide

with the homestead act

the american migration

premeditated destructions of flora

fauna

visible outright insanity

fork tongue greed of americans

money land wampum

smallpox by europeans

indians were intentionally exposed

the indian- the original In word

ellis denied admission

health problems or diseases

sent attempts at island west

migrations and plantations

free southern populations in california

immigrants were rejected slaveholders

generally segregating african american indians

rejecting the predicted naacp

federal court government ordered land

rejected a system a local ordinance

profitable labor-intensive crops

social concentration slave system

structured and unevenly

distributed disorderly conduct

the millionaires of montgomery

slave magnates community

plantation-owning elite

contagious southern society

organized the black bus revenue

criminals convicted

led public bus frontiers

selma took life

of african expansion

desegregated cattle ranchers of tejas

and some unskilled europeans

reformed violating a local ordinance

stratified admitted considered

arrested tried and boycotted

the following century

july 3, 2009 doug duffey

[C] 2009 DOUG DUFFEY

venus spring

2009-07-04T02:52:00.005-05:00

venus spring [doug duffey]

procreant gales blow
Mother of Rome
the wild children
who abstain, will remain

with men, the fornicators
of birds and angels
all creatures follow
living things to fruitful lands

pious will remain offerings
of’ great and holy greening
from the west streams
great and holy generations

swim the risen to visit
through bounding torrents
in every breast, unbarred,
lures of love gliding stars

the spells, all served, and you

[c] july 3, 2009 doug duffey

lorca

2009-07-03T02:12:00.005-05:00

lorca [doug duffey]

once he was well-known in spain

he studied music and guitar players

read law collaborating in mystery

entered the expert right-wing trials

circumstances of group writers

earned a degree to experience

campus of harmony of a grave

the university of manuel

he became barraca bullfighter

facing death learned in the traditions

was dragged into four sections

divided in the tragic sense

havana pride, passion as an enemy

amor y muerte violenta

themes in his own lives

condenó poemas

the best-known of poets

lived in inspiration work

advocated avant-gardism

deep culture shock

the turning point

the traditions of primitive life

suicidal moods in corrupted cities

physically seen by the nationalists

the visit continued with theatre:

dragged from a friend's house

forced to dig his own grave

the author hid from the shots

buried and posthumously published

the frightened right-wing forces

shrouded the death in their production

july 3, 2009

[C] 2009 DOUG DUFFEY

st. valentino

2009-07-02T14:21:00.002-05:00

st. valentino [doug duffey]

the feast day of eros
perverted into the feast day
of a christian saint

from sacred pagan god
to commercial god
patron of heart, flower,
chocolate, jewelry and
greeting card vendors

cupid...
castrated
wings clipped
bow and arrows broken
impotent and
diabetic

[c] 1998 Doug Duffey
Written: Palombaio, Italy
Feb.14.1998

[C] 2009 DOUG DUFFEY

yes, michael

2009-07-02T13:37:00.002-05:00

yes, michael [doug duffey]

yes, michael,
high at night
because of the whores
money meds hunger

dulled and killed nerves
functioning through phases
needed energy, needed freeze
transferring a few manias

wasted days, also dopamine
night depressives
in the afternoon
will fuel misconduct

diagnosed art
crotch vocalizing
surgery factors
spirit weak

i understand

[c] 2009 doug duffey

mysteries 1

2009-07-02T12:43:00.005-05:00

mysteries 1 [doug duffey]

the form had risen from its completion

into the great light human

that wonderful First Mystery

thought into existence

said the psychic god angel

I am come forth of that mystery

and of all completions,

my treasure known

he passed eleven doves

the four-and-twentieth mystery

opened house within the Veil

the regions of the regions

bring and praise the five disciples

the head of the head of the

disciples: the image of the first-born

the universe and I am yours

You are my treasure

the glory and my fullness

formed in the dead

the perfect enigma

last mystery: that to be angelic

give your light, beloved elect

give me and the five forever

conviction and the whole treasury

[C] 2009 DOUG DUFFEY

radio maria

2009-06-27T02:22:00.005-05:00

radio maria [doug duffey]

they say the rosary on the radio
play spooky hymns and ring bells
i drink wine and eat bread in the kitchen
and think of some weird communion

so strange this catholic culture
with blue neon lit shrines in yards,
on buildings, on street corners
candles burning all night in cemeteries
and weather beaten churches

from pagan gods to christian saints
the voodoo stays the same
from temples of venus to
shrines to the madonna...
the roman empire, the roman church

offerings of oil, water, fire, and flowers
mystic elements lying on altars
in funereal practices to dead folks
holy, or unwholy, magic

a woman takes telephone calls
like on a “call in and win something” game show
what does she give away?
a crucifix? a statue? a rosary? a vulgate bible?
some holy water? oil from the bones of st. nicholas?
two all expense paid round trip tickets to the vatican?
a get out of purgatory free card?

[c]1998/2009 1998 doug duffey
palombaio, italy feb.12,1998

EGYPT 2

2009-06-25T02:39:00.003-05:00

egypt 2 [doug duffey

Architectural remains are categorized
Valuable stones and minerals
Courtyards and chambers
Paintings, thrones and chairs,
Priests, soldiers, celestial royals,
Funerary temples, private tombs

In the shadow of the countryside
In the primeval dust
A serpent eats eternal life…
Pronounced by tongues
From time immemorial
“all things and so on, are created
in this way”

in the Memphite mythological context
air and moisture proceed
from eight ithyphallic processes
some from the creation of a surplus
of cemeteries and internal stimuli
some from poetic cosmology
some from subterranean elements
scarabs, ankhs, ka, ba, soforth

the great paradox
is to satisfy belief and ritual
throughout all classes
reflecting the breakdown of
a decentralized system
yet adhering to old traditions
with ruling key centers
elsewhere… accessed via
pyramids, satellites, cell phones
e-mail

while the remote valley of prosperity
lies licentiously
beneath a mud brick hut

[c]2000 doug duffey [Luxor/Egypt] and post egypt
[C] 2009 DOUG DUFFEY

KEROUAC

2009-06-25T02:34:00.003-05:00

Kerouac [doug duffey]

Kerouac used cat scans from Main Street
diagnosed strokes, neurological conditions,
cosmic illnesses, mental revelations,
American post traumatic stress

specific beat brain consciousness imagined
the cortex of subjects, federal circuits, hippopotamus bombers,
analyst’s raunch, emerging schizophrenia
banking the signals in investments

worried the culture was indefensible, corrupted,
hungry for founding fathers christianism, rhetoric,
customizable options, programmed lanuages,
drove him to an organic medication universe diet

Saturday, July 15, 2006
[C] 2009 DOUG DUFFEY

EGYPT 1

2009-06-25T02:29:00.005-05:00

egypt 1 [doug duffey]

The hiddenness of divinity

Must go back to the old kingdom

Of sun temples, invisible power

And radiant life

It has been lost to the nile

there was only one boat

located on the east bank

where, during the voyage in the underworld,

the nocturnal passage across the sky,

amun stood in erection

then flooded thebes

deep within the temples

the colours changed

there were no crocodiles

ony ruins and hotels

the kingdoms of administration

museums and gift shops sprung up

mummified tour operators

display links between pharaoh,

cruise boats, and mc donald’s

Egyptian authority increased

The waters of kilometers

Sawed up and transplanted Rameses

Dug up and detoured deities

To Cairo, the Metropolitan, Angleterre

A scared precinct, broken down

Chopped up like Osiris

Past warring with present

Imitating the dawn of the world

The hand of god, stilled

[c] 2000 doug duffey [Luxor/Egypt] [C] 2009 DOUG DUFFEY

lyric writing/ manual typewriters

2007-09-18T12:45:00.002-05:00

have been going through [listening to, adding to or subtracting from] tons of tracks on my pc... and writing/ recording some new stuff, lately- and while the spirit is upon me, when i take a break from the music writing, i've been writing some lyrics using my old manual typewriters [better to hammer out the rhythm with, rather like piano keys, than a PC]

i have one on each porch of my house, and on various desks throughout; have collected them for years... the one in the foto below has been used for lyric/poetry/dairies & journals since the early 1970s [pre-computer]! most of my hollywood and new orleans diaries, all letters, poems and lyrics, etc. were written on it up until 1998 [when i got my 1st laptop]- i really prefer typewriters to computers... i like the uber alles feel [like an acoustic piano as opposed to a frigging keyboard] -the paper trail- [no crashes- you don't lose work]- the sound and feel and the beauty of the machinery... same thing with cameras: i prefer old manual ones to new digital ones.

above: a shot done today- on my front porch- with my old 'schreibmachine'- an old Underwood given me by my sister, which i used all during the 70s onward.

below: one from a Hollywood yard sale- on the back porch looking out onto my 'outside' porch and my forest in the distance: a great/serene place to have coffee, smoke, THINK and TYPE...

i also have several in switzerland: a beautiful Hermes baby- and a Royal. i also bought a small lighter one when i first went to Switzerland, when staying in Lausanne, and would type letters and fax them from the post! that was before computers were so commonplace. it was and is still a romantic notion

now if only it were possible to easily find ribbons for them... but then, there IS the computer/internet, n'est pas?

[c]2007 doug duffey[C] 2007 DOUG DUFFEY

dd in prague

2007-08-06T08:53:00.002-05:00

a shot of me outside the Franz Kafka cafe in Prague
[C] 2007 DOUG DUFFEY