Road Trip, Anyone?

There's a town in Vermont called Derby
but you can't wear it on your head,
a town in Maryland called Redhouse,
though not all the houses there are red.

Wisconsin has a town called Walker,
though it doesn't have a pair of legs.
If you visit Chicken, Alaska
don't expect it to lay any eggs.

You can go to Frankenstein, Missouri
but you won't find a monster there.
You are welcome to visit Bald Head, Maine
even if you have a full head of hair.

Beardstown, Illinois has over 5,000 people,
many of whom are clean shaven,
and if you hate towns with coffee shops,
Hot Coffee, Mississippi is your haven.

There's a town in Indiana called Santa Claus,
though it's a long way from the North Pole.
You are always welcome in Hell, Michigan,
whether or not you are pure of soul.

Pennsylvania has a town called State College.
You might go there to get a diploma.
Or maybe you prefer not to go anywhere,
in which case I recommend Nowhere, Oklahoma. - Jeff Barnes

Norma Desmond in Hell (photo collage by Jeff Barnes)

Dream

I had a dream that my maternal grandmother, who has been dead since 1973, came back.  Apparently they only thought she was dead and had  buried her alive, and after she had screamed for help for 44 years, someone finally heard her, and they exhumed her.  There was no explanation for how she didn't suffocate or starve in that time or how she survived being embalmed.

But she looked rather healthy and seemed in good spirits.

I have a feeling that this is one of those dreams that will stay with me for a long time.

Hidden Faces

Just before afternoon
flickers out
the sun leaves a
cranberry colored afterglow

that penetrates a filigree
of naked branches,
casts patterns that reveal
hidden faces in the snow. - Jeff Barnes

Gizmo and Eraserhead

Yesterday evening Aquarius and I watched David Lynch's surrealist masterpiece, Eraserhead. It was the first time Aquarius had seen it, and I think she found it as fascinating as I do.  The real surprise, however, was our cat Gizmo's reaction to it.  He really let out some bizarre meows that seemed to ask, What the fuck?????  It was pretty funny.  I managed to snap this photo.

Haiku Cluster for a Tedious Work Meeting

Post-It note poems --
Unless you write really small,
they should be haiku.

She drones on and on.
How sad that we are wasting
this beautiful day!

Even on hot days
she should never wear sandals.
She has ugly feet.

Self-important bitch!
Her hair looks like a helmet.
Administrator.

I'm like James Stockdale.
Who am I? Why am I here?
I want to zone out. - Jeff Barnes

The shaping of my mind

The things that shaped my mind in childhood were Batman (the 1966 TV show), The Beatles (my older sister was a huge fan, so I literally grew up with their music, assuming I grew up at all), cartoons (the classic Warner Bros. cartoons but many other as well, such as The Flintstones, Jonny Quest, Scooby Doo, The Pink Panther, The Jetsons, Gumby, Birdman, Speed Racer, and others), the classic monster movies (Universal classics and others), comic books (superheroes but also many other kinds), Peanuts (the comic strip, TV specials and movies), and The Three Stooges.  All this stuff got mixed up in my head and has stayed with me.  It was the best part of childhood, as far as I'm concerned.  I never fit in well with the other kids, but my inner life was rich!