Screen Dump 162

A fatuous day . . . A feet-on-dash kind of day . . .
smacking of meta . . . This is happening . . .
and this is happening . . . about happening . . .
And you . . . again . . . engaging and animated . . .
They flocked to the watering hole . . .
pining for the way things used to be . . .
I wanted to pontificate about something . . . about anything . . .
but there were signs all around spelling out appropriate behavior . . .
competing with signs for administering the Heimlich . . .

We interrupt this screen dump for the following PSA . . .
Of the 12,982 forensic autopsies performed . . .
between 1947 and 1988 . . .
78 cases of café coronary due to bolus impaction in the larynx . . .
(bolus death) were reported . . .
[www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1424826] . . .

You never know . . . You just never know . . .
You collected empties (not new) . . .
and compared paint chips (new) . . .
rarely returning before 4 AM . . .
to your monkishly regimented life . . . in the exurbs . . .
Few got past second base . . .
despite your prancing around the dugout . . .
in a short puffy uniform . . .
Since back then it was all about you as comptroller, yes? . . .

Peter Lindbergh

Screen Dump 161

You tweaked street signs . . . then pulled up stakes . . .
with no forwarding address . . .
And now it's your turn to shave . . .
Your turn to become an A B C D . . . F student . . .
a Playboy (Bunny) of the Western World . . .
long in the tooth . . .
mis-directing traffic . . . down one-way streets . . .
littered . . . with black and white . . .
round-screen Stromberg-Carlsons . . . from the '50s . . .
retrofitted for Netflix . . .
and Once Upon a (Prime) Time . . .
You were hyperaware of incidental music . . .
A pro in the confessional . . .
The plot may not even be fully summerizable . . .

Anka Zhuravleva

Screen Dump 160

But there's an untidiness to it . . . a seductive untidiness . . .
An untidiness that can spellbind . . .
As in green . . . the fugitive and unstable pigment . . .
If the green's good . . . it's all good . . .
all pigments . . . on copper . . . especially . . .
Taking notes . . . in invisible ink . . .
Handing in assignments . . . in invisible ink . . .
Hanging upside down . . . for extra credit . . .
demonstrating the latest . . .
in roundabouts . . . in cardiac care . . .
the dilemma continuing . . .
through railroad crossings . . . checkout counters . . .
heavy metal detectors . . .
streets of suspended sentences . . .
A three-ring circus . . . a one-ring circus . . .
a private session . . .
with you . . . bows in your hair . . .
as resident sword swallower . . .
Tracking the progress of (dis)cards . . .
The nitty-grittiness . . . and all that jazz . . .
The hills alive with sublime iterations . . .
of your (dance) routine . . .
And you . . . through the eye of a needle . . .
fingered . . . in the three R's . . .
comparing nursery rhymes . . . to-do lists . . .
Fancying ourselves special . . . if for no other reason . . .

Wendy Bevan

Screen Dump 159

I was not in the mood for visitors.
          - André Breton

Alone, I think of cloud cover . . . and the state of affairs . . .
that took possession of you late last night . . .
forcing you into a '70's mood ring . . .
trampled by the exoticism of time and place . . .
I always try to gather myself, yes? . . .
and last night was no exception . . .
You could have at least cleared the air . . .
opened up, so to speak . . .
but instead . . . you got behind the wheel . . .
and drove away . . . into a summer day . . .
while coffee tables sighed . . .
under pics of manspreads . . . and failed hustlers . . .
Playing visiting nurse . . . cold turkey . . .
wiping the hours clean . . .
your muse grabbing a ride from the party . . .
of the first part . . .
when relinquished opportunists . . .
flooded the anti-chamber . . .
bottlenecking egress . . . for visitors who wouldn't listen . . .
and drove you bananas . . . with their could care less . . .

Paolo Roversi

Screen Dump 158

The new epoch began a few minutes ago . . .
without . . . Buy One . . . Get One . . .
without fanfare figuration or abstraction . . .
(as if those elements have something to do with it!) . . .
I too have felt the persistent drama . . .
of stalemate . . .
the appropriation and embellishment . . .
of both open and closed mics . . .
though I find it hard to imagine . . .
each of us with a common core . . .
Never forget the sodium levels of lame ducks . . .
They preceded us . . . and unrecognized . . .
they could blow clear through the roof . . .
He/she is running out the door . . . in summer pants . . .
Can you believe the aimless ceremony? . . .
The disproportionate translation? . . .
The squalor . . . marvelous . . . yet form-fitting . . .
inciting a melee among those in transition? . . .

Wendy Bevan

Screen Dump 157

Your usual definition of fun jumped bail . . .
Out the window . . .
Now what? . . .
Now you're re-arranging polar opposites? . . .
Mis-labeling intentions? . . .
Insisting on misrepresentations . . . mis-translations? . . .
What about sandwich money? . . .
Entering the day . . . cold . . . then colder . . .
OK, we can do this! . . .
It's not so bad . . . Not bad at all in fact . . .
Ha! . . . once yoga class is behind us . . .
On a clear day . . .
But it's not a clear day! . . .
Just assume the position . . . and don't let on . . .

Wendy Bevan

Screen Dump 156

Flirting . . . again . . . with the outer limits . . .
With movements . . . gestures . . . monodramatics . . .
Pics . . . of you . . . 10, 20 years ago . . .
unabashedly autobiographical . . .
the too-clumsily-explicit sections excised . . .
leaving nothing but self-translations . . .
Notwithstanding . . .
Sucked in by the makeover . . .
By the that was then . . . this is now . . .
Such unironic enthusiasms . . .
Never again . . .
I have come undone! . . .
and escaped through a hidden panel in the refrigerator . . .
Beating yourself up? . . .
You were you . . . wrestling with demons . . .
who . . . out of habit . . . made the doughnuts . . .
and the parlez-vous français? . . .
and the midnight rides . . . to all the wrong places . . .
Defacing profiles with neon pink spray paint . . .
and misquotes . . . from overdue library books . . .

Sarah Moon

Screen Dump 155

Spooool!
          - Samuel Beckett, Krapp's Last Tape

Spool! . . . Spool! . . . Spooool! . . . Spool! . . . Spooool! . . .
Miles . . . Blue In Green . . .
There are no mistakes! . . .
Spool! . . .
The evidentiary moment . . .
Assemble the players . . . and the accoutrements . . .
Life as analogy . . . as oxymoron . . . mishap . . .
Spooool! . . .
Re-position the pieces . . . please! . . .
Attempt a recap . . . a remix . . .
But I want this! . . .
I am ready for this! . . .
The tutoring . . . over! . . .
The hand-holding . . . over!
The hiatus . . . over! . . .
In the starting blocks! . . .
Ready! . . . Set! . . .
Yes! . . . Yes! . . . Yes! . . .
This! . . . Now! . . .
Tweeting the hell out of insignificants . . .
Spool! . . . Spool! . . . Spooool! . . .
What . . . spool? . . .
The Age of the Mac . . . upon us! . . .
Grocery shopping . . . at best . . .
I am so into Amazon Samples! . . .
and haute cuisine . . .
There will be . . . then . . .
And you will have flashbacks . . . setbacks . . .
They will bludgeon you . . . Knock you from sleep . . .
Force you to follow . . .
No darkness . . . Spooool! . . .

Lydia Roberts

Screen Dump 154

Your inner stand-up comic insists he/she never blacked out . . .
Always delivered lines . . . impeccably . . .
I am sure about who I did what with . . .
Is that who . . . or whom? . . .
Trawling for the Big One . . . (or the almost Big One) . . .
Earth Angel Earth Angel . . . will you be mine? . . .
Sanding down the bedposts . . . again . . . trashed . . .
That we could all be so perfect . . .
Segue to you . . . texting the Greek chorus . . .
I'm unclear about one spot only, your Honor . . .
Certain follow-throughs were off-limits, of course . . .
at the funeral . . . the wedding . . . the arraignment . . .
Can't you see I'm costumed as Aphrodite? . . .
Walking in . . . delivering lines . . . cold . . .
They were marionettes . . . all of them . . .
Eager as altar boys . . . Wouldn't you be? . . .
I reversed the roles . . . set the pace . . . faster . . . slower . . .
You tell me . . . I'll tell you, yes? . . .
Eyes wide . . . cued the 12 steps . . . Ready Set Go! . . .
All episodes . . . Now streaming! . . .
Why is Popeye here? . . .
And why is he having second thoughts about Olive Oyl? . . .

Lydia Roberts

Screen Dump 153

Your sequined angularities . . . at a time like this . . .
A time when sidewalks . . . can lead you astray . . .
Can compel you to tweak your memories . . . your incidentals . . .
They make me want to re-script my dreams . . .
and join the picture-perfect crowd . . . for drinks . . .
Sometimes it's like that . . .
Quite frankly, yes? . . .
Not to be confused with the truth of the matter . . .
Now what? . . . A new view? . . . A new you? . . .
Always the gamble following the initial ice-break . . .
We'd like to blame it on the snowstorm, yes? . . .
Images . . . flooding in . . .
There's only so much your finger in the dike can hold back . . .
At this stage . . . anyway . . .
And then . . . the tabloids arrive . . . with payback time . . .
And a delivery boy/girl demanding a tip . . .

Wendy Bevan

Screen Dump 152

Fact checkers check your facts . . .
Riffling through your backpack for dark chocolate . . .
and other antioxidants . . .
Instead of the usual . . . you order the special . . .
Flipping through a Lands' End catalog . . .
You notice them at the race checking you out . . .
Lycras have a way of doing that . . .
The supermarket opens its doors . . .
with free courses for seniors . . .
Perhaps Interpersonal Dynamics of the 1200s . . .
holds the key . . .
Fictionalizing . . . but not storytelling . . .
A giant divagation, yes? . . .
Watching trailers on Netflix . . . subtitled . . .
It's always good to be packed and ready . . .

Paolo Roversi

Screen Dump 151

The cereal box opens with a soft shoe . . .
Interrogators are again trying . . . to map your profile . . .
to make sense . . . of your odyssey . . .
The syllabus for your canon . . . cryptic . . .
You highlight . . . the (pen)ultimatum . . .
in red yellow blue . . .
and get stuck on the word s-p-o-o-l . . .
as the elements of a Rough Guide . . .
skitter out of earshot . . .
Pics of players . . . squeeze into the Cloud . . .
tracked by the trance music . . .
you have come to be identified with . . .
You decide to put it all down . . . in a book . . .
inspired and intimidated . . .
by the masters of your art . . .
the masturbators of your art . . .
staring down at you from their place on the wall . . .
If only you had the wordmagic of a Patti Smith . . .

Screen Dump 150

You toggle between you and you . . . and you . . . and you . . .
Between now and then . . .
Between couch and cutting room floor . . .
Between window . . . and door . . .
The HOT button dumping reams of words . . .
Mounds of insignificance . . .
Dancing on the edge of dreams . . .
What else can one do? . . .
When all we have is language . . .
That's it . . . nothing else . . . in a bell jar, yes? . . .
The voice distant . . .
connecting . . . disconnecting . . . connecting again . . .
You . . . walking across a field . . . of ficus trees . . .
Every step . . . a new step . . .
Handlers . . . as sound designers . . .
Falling off the wagon . . . climbing back on . . .
It's crowded out here . . . in the waiting room . . .
The therapist suggests a monologue . . .
As a ficus tree . . .
Just what the PA ordered, yes? . . .
Not sure what that's all about . . .
Kind of like a call-and-response . . .
You call . . . but there's no reply . . .
Now what? . . .
Do you call again . . . or pack it in? . . .
The camera zooms in on a clock . . .
The clock's hands are trying to grab something . . .
Anything . . .
The camera pans a crowd . . .
They're waiting to see what you're going to do . . .
Bookmakers are giving odds . . .
A few hookers are giving head . . .
You decide to re-sing the lyrics . . .
to (what you hope will be) your next big hit . . .
Tweeting your whereabouts to dispassionate third parties . . .
It's all scenery . . .
No it's not! . . . He/she said it's all theater! . . .
Ah ha! . . . Please have him/her contact me! . . .

Screen Dump 149

Your uniformed erotic other conjugates verbs . . .
for flower handlers . . . and Rockaday Johnnies . . .
after hours . . . on the desktop . . .
waterlogged . . . gasping for breath . . .
thinking it cool . . . by the metric of then . . .
The streets fill with Ferraris . . . and other aspirazioni . . .
Living casually . . . long windswept arms . . .
welcome rough liaisons . . .
the clock insisting on a face . . .
You are sized-up . . . for Paris . . . or Rome . . .
or wherever . . . but instead hook up . . .
with the Goodenoughs . . .
in a trailer park outside Atlantic City . . .
harvesting cartwheels . . . for pocket change . . .
and lonesome grins . . .
your gymnastics occasioning motion sickness . . .
The weather eventually arrives . . . with a show of hands . . .
breaking off the lush . . . to explore . . .
another aspect . . . of your to-die-for glamour . . .
asleep with excitement . . .
The schoolmarm's hourglass . . . pouting with bittersweets . . .

Sarah Moon

Screen Dump 148

The season of dancing was endless.
          - Mark Strand, The Delirium Waltz

Importunity knocks . . . and you know it's him/her . . .
in Spanish boots of Spanish leather . . .
against December's passing grade . . .
As if a transit strike struck . . . bottlenecking neighborhoods . . .
Nothing to fret about . . . bad weather is bad weather . . .
Yet . . . the downhill . . .
Your professed unworthiness preempted by costume . . .
iCandy . . . for victims of Seduction Theory 101 . . .
Never far from the panopticon of theater . . .
Words receding into the artisanal urns lining the walls . . .
pinned with pics of nobodies . . .
The season of dancing begins . . .
The lights are low . . . the air warm . . .
You glide with him/her . . .
across polished wood inlaid marble light snow shallow water . . .
You want to have arrived, yes? . . .
Of course you can summon the limo at any time . . . or thereabouts . . .

Sarah Moon