love disguised
pt. 37
Love is in the check-out line loaded with groceries
It’s seated on a chair at the DMV a little ornery
Love is in the heating ducts & nesting in the carpet
Love licks your face
waits by the bowl on the kitchen floor
Love is in that bowl, in the food & water
There it is—traveling thru the air ways
on each side of the cell-phone conversation–
all of them!
Love sits beside me with blue eyes light brown hair
Friends speed dialing to reach her
I’ve been living with Love for decades
It’s this keyboard
it’s guiding
the pencil Love is
the dirt under my nails holding the pencil
Love does the dishes, takes out our trash, takes our vitals,
our blood, our orders, our questions, our shit,
tears, & triumphs…
Love does all sorts of things
Love is
these words spoken & imagined here:
the blatant words the secret words in our eyes
even the words spoken in anger, frustration, disappointment
sadness…even ignorant words-
there must be some Love there too
beyond the troubling daily headlines & cell-phone pop-ups
& tweets
Love lives inside & outside doors & walls
thoughts & dreams
streaming it’s music
beyond our cars & freeways
it’s living in these freeways &
off the beaten track where we are
surprised again
it’s Love whispering
Love knocking
Love in the protesting crowd
loud & insisting
shoulder to shoulder
hearts to hearts…
even in that police line
trained to protect, stop
& kill
love is shouting thru it all
& becoming
really pissed off.
This is disturbing.
Mike Mollett’s creative life began with poetry as a teenager in Los Angeles. Since his early 20’s with his first self-published book of poetry, he has produced over 30 books of poetry & experimental book art. His poetics have shifted in & out of painting, sculpture, performance & conceptual art, Dada, Fluxus & gardening. His meeting with like-minded poets Michael Bruner, Doug Knott & S A Griffin in the mid 80’s turned his life around, becoming the performance poetry troupe The Lost Tribe. The Tribe gigged all over Los Angeles, primarily in clubs, bars, & theaters…plus they ran locally for president. Adding the amazing Scott Wannberg (RIP) to the mix a few years later, the troupe became the Carma Bums, a touring improvisational ensemble. The Bum’s Twisted Cadillac was published by Sacred Beverage Press. A feature length “on the Road” documentary on the Bums was produced with funding by Vigo Mortenson.
Possibly needing the antidote to the wildly energetic Carma Bums, Mike became leader/member of the silent, slow-moving L.A. Mudpeople, with walkabouts all over LA, from the streets to clubs & yards, & of course at least annually at the LA RIVER. National Geographic featured the L.A. Mudpeople on Sunset Bl. in the gutter at sunset. Huell Howser hung with the tribe for a popular Visiting episode. Leonardo Di Caprio mudded up twice when he was a youth. For the last 6 years or so Mike has focused more on sculpture using mostly collected linear materials, creating what he calls Time Twists, auto & biographical balls & Weaved Archeologies.
He rarely sends work out for publication, but he can also be found in the Outlaw Bible of American Poetry, & annually in Maintenant: A Journal of Contemporary DADA Writing & Art. After a writing stint in the Ozark mountains with 4/5 of the Carma Bums their latest book is OUT NOW, but not readily available. He is jumping back into the public’s ear with readings in the Los Angeles area. After a writing stint in the Ozark mountains with 4/5 of the Carma Bums their latest book, The Hideous Bible, is OUT NOW, but not readily available.
Much more on Mike Mollett can be found via his web site by clicking here…