8-word poem: THE WORLD CUP STORY

Stop pretending
You give a shit
About soccer.

8-word poem

When there's
Little cause
For celebration,
Celebrate anyway.

Haiku

All this useless shit
Stuffed into a shitty life
Shit shit shit shit shit.

8-word poem

I miss
This day
Now that it's
Over.

8-word poem

So funny,
These lives
We think
We deserve.

8-word poem

I know
From my lowest
Common denominators,
Alright!

8-word poem

Will I never
Mourn
At Pak Song's
Grave?

8-word poem

The rallying cry
Of the new millennium:
Yeesh!

8-word poem

If only
I had done it
Sinatra's way.

8-word poem

The heart,
Some organ:
Feels everything,
Knows nothing.

8-word poem

A shell of
A ghost of
A memory.

8-word poem

Don't you
Love it
When nothing
Ever happens?

8-word poem

How does one
Find
A dead wrestler's
Grave?

Ah, the French Canadians! Montréal diary: entry #10

Pictured at left are the Montréal Canadiens and the New Jersey Devils on the ice for the pre-game warmup of their April 8, 2006 clash. They used to have what was called "Saturday Night Fever" back when the old Montréal Forum was standing. The enthusiasm I witnessed on the Saturday night I attended this game was no less electric.

I've attended my share of New York Rangers games at Madison Square Garden, but this was an entirely different situation. Canadiens fans eat, sleep, live and die for their hockey. And, most importantly, they don't turn on their team.

The Canadiens played a strong first period, thanks in large part to the stellar play of goaltender Cristobal Huet, who was serenaded by the rabid fans throughout the game ("Ooh-ay! Ooh-ay!"). When the Devils took the lead into the final period, the crowd still cheered madly, nearly willing the home team to victory.

Down 3-2 in the waning moments, with a faceoff in the Devils defensive zone, the feeling was clear: seven seconds remaining, still time for a shot from the point, tying goal, win it in overtime, no problem.

They didn't quite make it, but it was close! And impossible to not get caught up in the fervor.

8-word poem

How surprising
To be
Under
The same roof.

8-word poem

Square peg, round hole:
Same old,
Same
Old.

8-word poem

Is the arsonist
Happy in
A dynamite shack?

8-word poem

La la
How the life
Goes on.

Bullshit.

8-word poem

The kind of oblivion
Only eternity
Can provide.

Haiku

Don't worry spiders!
My house is a mess, and I
Love the number 8.

Haiku

There's a difference:
Being good and acting good;
Where does your heart lie?

8-word poem

While you
Were sleeping
I stole
Your soul.

8-word poem

When I say
I want boundaries,
I'm serious.

8-word poem

So
What are we
Trying
To do
Here?

Ah, the French Canadians! Montréal diary: entry #9

Fully 33% of my interest in discovering Montréal was hockey (the other factors being the poetry workshop I attended and my inexplcable interest in French culture), and the lure of the legendary Canadiens. While their erstwhile home ice building - the renowned Montréal Forum - no longer stands, I was fortunate enough to attend a game at the Centre Bell.

This is your standard all-purpose arena, replete with ugly rafters and huge, sinister air conditioning ducts that wouldn't be out of place on the Nostromo. While some attempt has been made to commemorate the storied past of Les Habitants, only the Canadiens logo in the middle of the ice disntinguishes this venue from the countless others scattered across the continent. That REO Speedwagon wasn't headlining on the evening I visited is still somewhat surprising to me.

Speaking of music, Elvis is apparently alive and well and entertaining the masses in the city of Montréal, though it remains unclear if we're talking about Elvis Presley or Elvis Story (that other King). If it's the former, well that makes sense.

Montréal has perfectly good taste in music, though record stores there all feature sections devoted to Francophone artists that are utterly unknown to most Americans. I wish I had had more time to investigate some of these performers, though judging by the CD covers I scanned, many looked as though they were cut from roughly the same cloth as Yves Montand: slick, untrustworthy rogues with filterless cigarettes dangling from the same lips they threaten to kiss a truckload of their swooning fans with.

I would be remiss if I did not mention that I was able to capitalize spectacularly on my visit - and knowledge of obscure Canadian bands - by acquiring a couple of albums by The Stampeders. I first came to know of this group via Don Kirshner's Rock Concert in the early 1970s! Some 30 years later I am once again enjoying their high-octane brand of (gasp!) arena rock.

Stampeders, get ye to the Centre Bell, maintenant!

8-word poem

I need a
Story

With a
Real ending.

8-word poem

We'll always have
A tattoo
That says
Forever.

8-word poem

It's only
The first
Bad look
That kills.

8-word poem

If you think
That's bad,
Look at
This!

iTuneage - recent baker's dozen

1. "Let's Get Killed" - David Holmes
2. "Golden" - Thunderball
3. "What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 1)" - DJ Shadow
4. "Over You" - Roxy Music
5. "Metal Machine Music (Part 2)" - Lou Reed
6. "Just Like Honey" - The Jesus and Mary Chain
7. "More Than This" - Bill Murray
8. "Born to Be My Baby" - Bon Jovi
9. "Papa Won't Leave You, Henry" - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
10. "Eleanor Rigby" - The Beatles
11. "To Hell With Love" - Suzanne Rhatigan
12. "Because You're Young" - David Bowie
13. "Last of the Good Straight Girls" - Susan Werner