Screen Dump 263

Late nights on rickety scaffolds . . . soliloquizing . . .
fractals costumed for clubbing
and something looser . . . less will in the world . . .
pumping regulars for chump change . . .
ignoring irregulars
who engage mindfulness . . . with a takeaway . . .
then sweat repercussions
while noodling entropy . . .
Alt-Shift and you're home free . . .
tapping out melodramas at 4 AM with Cinderella heels . . .
providing sanctuary
to bread truck drivers
who get more than your autograph . . .
then favorite you
while peeping through shutters . . .
You map a different route for yesterdays . . .
but your GPS sends you off-course . . . into doldrums . . .
Do you know enough now about the ins and outs
the ups and downs
the sidelong insinuations
of window-shopping
of playing hangman . . . on bridges
in the middle of snowstorms? . . .
The makeover cut to the chase, yes? . . .
with its run-through of opening scenes
players . . . teary-eyed . . .
reviewing crumpled pics . . .
You played your hand to the max
rode out your long-legged addenda with insider trades
and short-term hookups . . .
cascading schemes until further notice
from incumbents who didn't know and didn't care
as if rent-a-gargoyle was in cahoots
with the weary ghosts shuffling through the crystal castles
featured on the front page of that rag
you picked up checking out of Motel 6 . . .

Wendy Bevan

Screen Dump 262

But the lines are throwaways . . . the perspective trumped . . .
compartmentalizing your demons . . .
Act 2 Scene 2 Line 33 . . .
Wherefore art thou [insert name]? . . .
I see . . . the parched facade . . . the blemishes . . .
But don't we all? . . .
Foreshortening may work . . .
Allow you to appraise past escapades . . .
Can you deal with the attention . . .  fresh off the omnibus
on which you were held . . . per your wishes? . . .
Because why? . . .
Ah, yes, because you were engaged in developmental studies
with their Type II errors in abeyance . . .
and a loose cannon tethered to your toned calf . . .
Of course they're looking . . .
your backpack or attaché
brimming with paperwork . . . bound for glory . . .

Steven Meisel

Screen Dump 261

Doing time in the fun house . . .
the mirror reflecting your syllogistic somatotype . . .
believing the words of buskers
the slow curve to home plate
and the swings in the old neighborhood . . .
Tell me when your password expires . . .
and I will enter the magic room
where cats brew tea for associates
and wigglers wiggle . . .
What's with the latest installment in your biopic? . . .
I love the costumes . . .
Magnanimous of you . . . indeed . . .
but now he/she expects to be included in the loop . . .
like the puppy whose wet nose is pressed
against the pet store window . . .
Guaranteed to wane? . . . You bet! . . .
This posturing . . . in public no less . . .

Paolo Roversi

Screen Dump 260

Look, you have to have a little faith in people.
          - Mariel Hemingway, Manhattan

Short chapters . . . make them short! . . .
Like The DaVinci Code . . . or Utopia? . . .
Woody and Diane on a bench beneath the 59th Street Bridge . . .
They had to bring in the bench, you know . . .
I've had to bring in a bench . . . many times . . .
Because you wanted to be romantically involved? . . .
Channeling Lord Byron? . . .
Mad, bad, and dangerous to know . . .
Spoiler! . . .
Cut to The Grand Budapest Hotel . . .
Piecing together a life . . . from scraps . . .
Why are you so depressed? . . .
Not just depressed . . . but so depressed? . . .
Fair question . . .
Because of my agoraphobia? . . . my phobophobia? . . .
In your own words, please . . .
OK, I've been at this for hours . . .
for days . . . months . . . years . . .
Everything eclipses everything . . .
I shouldn't have begun . . .
I should've left the notes in the nightstand . . .
The nightstand has taken wing . . .
Angels . . . are pissing and moaning . . . as well they should . . .
Do something before it's over . . .
OK, I'm rewriting the script . . .
I'm going to ditch the multiple choice questions . . .
Multiple-choice questions? . . .
Yeah, can you imagine? . . . Multiple-choice questions? . . .
Hundreds of them . . .
Life deserves an essay question . . .
An essay question . . . with extra time . . .
and additional blue books . . .

Manhattan (1979)

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The committee convenes to determine when a work of art
cannot be fixed or restored in the traditional ways . . . and
must, instead, be replicated.
          - Ben Lerner, The Custodians

Using 3-D printing to fabricate sculptural assemblages
of body parts . . . some bodies take in the exhibits at the museum
others scrub toilets . . .
An old-timer the color of dust rides shotgun in a pickup
the color of your scrunched hair . . .
Using the remote to switch roles . . . again? . . .
Why monkeyshines? . . .
Your mother dead 15 years thinks you're out walking
your big black mutt along the eerily-elevated High Line . . .
Thinking re-purposed artifacts? . . .
A jumping-off point . . . so to speak . . .
Mystery? . . . Yes! . . .
Warning: In the current show of Internet art . . .
the complexity is not indicated in the placard
beside the sculpture . . .
Reprinting your past scripts in 3-D? . . .
The endgame cometh . . .
Wooden players adjust their digital timers . . .
I will join them after I load the boiler . . .
Insignificant treasons . . . of the heart . . .
You await the remake . . .
summoned by mockups . . . of past odysseys . . .
trailers expelling intricate engines from the Renaissance . . .
I knew you would . . .
Embracing naiveté . . . ignorance . . .
Hover . . . then drop . . .
your ultrasounds . . . off the charts . . .
Forget Into Great Silence . . .
Cage's 4' 33" . . .
There is no perfect silence . . .
Act 1 Scene 1 . . .
You are (at) your own best . . .
nose pressed to the still-visible constellations
double-blinding players
whose hand-held buzzers emit subtle patterns of the mortal . . .
the body and soul . . . one . . .
You recall their lines . . . their movements . . . their gestures . . .
the rehearsals . . . the retakes . . .
It's all good! . . .
Feral cats skim the edge of trees . . .
There are others . . . as well . . . clamoring for something . . .
avatars . . . frosted with Facebook
ready willing able for leaps of faith . . .
their marginalization duly noted . . .

Screen Dump 258

Yes, I know you saw it coming . . .
hard and fast and in-your-face
gaggles of oom-pa-pa's . . . within earshot
seeking professional words
in their curmudgeonly way
while buying time on the parking meters
of their gratification . . .
Lots of hootin' and hollerin' . . .
which was supposed to be a big surprise . . .
but that was last night . . . now . . .
with its wilted line of happy questioning . . .
and one-too-many-overnighters
from past odysseys
when enigmatic avatars held sway
and curiosity was heavy metal . . .
Come to think of it . . . arms akimbo
would have been a nice touch . . .
therapeutic . . . indeed . . .
which according to telemarketers
is guaranteed to elicit dismissive looks
from passersby . . .
who know not so much . . .
But we know better, yes? . . .
Remember the shore . . .
with words sulking between the lines . . .
on the hot sand
when out was out and in was in? . . .
Premature, perhaps? . . .
It can be reversed . . .
if you're willing to go the extra mile . . .
don a costume . . .
for the duration of the interrogation . . .
speak iteratively in phrases
clandestinely applied with a camel-hair brush . . .
Not so? . . .
Check out your carbon footprint . . .
Can you honestly say you've eliminated salt
from your past life? . . . lives? . . .
Food preparation qua reparation
an inter-ocular undertaking . . .
if ever . . .
standing half-naked in the kitchen
mutated banjos dueling in the background
stirring up trouble . . .
What better way, yes? . . .

Fabio Chizzola