Sex Pistols

When you spit on me

I keep falling in love with your

nihilism. Go ahead and lick

the scars left after the cuts. I’m

attracted to the scent of your

apathy. I just ripped my shirt for

the fuck of it. You tattoo anarchy

on my palm with permanent ink.

To know you’re flesh I watch for

you to bleed when pierced. So

you want to dominate my so what.

From 1977 (Ravenna Press)

Mr Wonderful

WHEN I CANNOT DISCERN

no arc nor halo

no narrative defined

scars from past cuts

no longer pink

they reported he took

a lot less than usual

there is only one way

this can end—

next time you ask

I’ll say “Yes”

from 1977, forthcoming from Ravenna Press

Five things about John Lydon I didn’t know and I’m embarrassed that I didn’t:

  1. He moved to L.A., first Pasadena then Malibu where Herb Alpert was his neighbor (early 1980s).
  2. As Time Zone, he collaborated with Afrika Bambaataa on “World Destruction” (1984).
  3. PiL Ltd. released four albums I never heard about: 9 (1989), That What Is Not (1992), This is PiL (2012), What The World Needs Now… (2015). (I blame the record company. See full discography.)
  4. He hosted nature shows on great white sharks and mountain gorillas (2004-05).
  5. He became a U.S. citizen (2013).

 

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Recovered the collaboration between Jed and me. Ballads Under New Regime. I wrote and read the poetry. Jed (Myers) created the music.

Written during the George W. Bush administration, we recorded the tracks at Jack Straw Studios in 2007. The ballads are transcribed in A History of Guns in the Family from Ravenna Press (2008).

Listen and download here:

Ballads Under New Regime (Bandcamp)

Ballads Under New Regime (SoundCloud)

We’re working on a Reprise incited by the new administration. Will keep you posted on progress.