death sucks

it is all around us. stevens wrote that death is the mother of beauty. that's probably so. it hurts and shocks us anyway. dylan thomas reminded us that after the first death there is no other. which i take to mean that death is always brand new no matter how often it occurs, and is always a shock when it happens.

today mr death liked his blue-eyed boys a lot. i just learned from geof huth that otherstream verbo/textual poet thomas lowe taylor passed away today. please read geof's memorial.

as duncan mcnaughton wrote in his poem 'cavafy's suitcase':

the absence
                    of you
If I never know you
                              should I not love you more?

by which i say yes. i learned today nyc poet jim carroll has died at age 60. carroll was ageless to me. his collection, living at the movies [penguin books; 1981], was either the second or third poetry book i ever bought. the spine is cracked and the pages have yellowed as i've thumbed thru these poems many, many times. i've fallen in and out of love with these poems many times over the years. however, carroll was an excellent poet and the world is emptier now for him not being in it.

finally, the actor patrick swayze died today. a terrific actor who has starred in many movies as the tough, sensitive soul. i prefer the swayze of action rather than swayze as romantic lead. i simply can't stomach his love scenes with either demi moore in ghost or jennifer grey in dirty dancing. both are horrible movies. instead, my swayze can do a roundhouse kick to your temple while holding a beer in his hand. movies like point break, directed by the inimitable kathryn bigelow, road house and the very silly but completely satisfying cold war epic red dawn are the shit.

below is the infamous AVENGE ME! scene from red dawn. just try to keep from laughing and remember to mind your ps and qs as swayze can just probably still kick your ass all the way from there.

rip, good souls