16th & 17th October, 2004
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McKuen appearance details!
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Rod 4/16/04 Photo by Billy Iz
A Thought for Today
Don’t flail away, walk away.
FROM the¨BOOKS
Three poems from the book A Safe Place to Land.
Meditations on October
In October when
the year starts home
to die
certain compromises
can be made and kept.
While traveling
down the motorway
always wear your duster
and never trust the wind
to be your friend.
Don't waste what time is left
adjusting every leaky faucet.
When the flood does come
you'll have been and gone.
Keep a set of spare keys on the dresser;
smile a lot and pray along the way.
And don't forget tomorrow's not a promise–
it may not even be another day.
Always look both ways at traffic crossings.
Never go to bed without an extra piece of pie.
And if you can't say something real nice about
somebody, a sure attention-getter
is to poke them in the eye.
Settle all the debts you've been amassing;
never bet much more than you can pay.
Remember that true death is everlasting
no matter what the Swaggarts have to say.
Is there meaning in this life? Who knows.
But if there is
I'll bet it is
in poetry
and not
some ancient prose.
Try to be of use to every girl and fellow;
never shrug and say, Aw, what the heck.
When a tooth comes loose
put it underneath your pillow
and wear a chain of garlic round your neck.
Please tear along the dotted line when told to
and use no hooks whenever
use no hooks applies.
And once you find someone to give your germs to
the flu and you will bring them down to size.
Why not make the world a little better?
Don't do drugs and always be
accountable for your space.
And even when your chores seem insurmountable
resist the great temptation to play your final ace.
Cancel all those magazine subscriptions;
pour that Grecian Formula down the sink.
You may be old and graying with conniptions,
but God or Teddy Turner will put you in the pink.
Viagra helps the staff that’s growing older;
Viagro is for all your healthy plants.
And let us not forget that V’s for victory
if you keep your passion in your pants.
October's not a long way from December,
when you're in spitting distance of
The Famous Void.
Do rail against the night but do remember:
Be happy. Be prepared.
Be paranoid.
I Have Loved You Often
I have loved you often,
though I did not know your name.
And I have heard you singing,
though I never knew
from where the music came
or what might be the next voice it would take.
Sometimes in evening with the longings
(I could put no name or reference
to them),
I knew that it was you who lit whatever spark
kept the lightning in me jumping and alive.
And you were who and what
I always thought about
whenever I was out of hope and wanting some.
As I settled for the smaller fantasies
I never doubted once
that all the big ones marking time
would
have their time with you.
In the name of patience and of comfort,
in the name of getting through the darkness
every time. You were always hereabouts or there.
And nearly always, in the name of love you came.
Though I never knew from where
and did not know your name.
-from the book "A Safe Place to Land," 2001
AND FINALLY
I’m more excited about the autograph party at the Austin, Texas Book
Fair than I am the reading. Meeting and greeting old friends and fans
face to face is a lot more satisfying than standing behind a podium
facing an audience.
Two books will be on sale at the event, Rusting in the Rain and A Safe
Place to Land and in honor of the even Stanyan is dropping the bookstore
price of a Safe Place to Land from 50 to 25 dollars. I hope to see a lot
of you there.
Sleep warm and join me on Monday for Ask Rod.
RM 10/15/2004 5:23 PM PDST
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ROD McKUEN
CONCERTS
ROD
McKUEN APPEARANCES
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Saturday 16 October
Max Bygraves o
Chuck Colson o
Linda Darnell o
William O. Douglas o
Flea o
Gunter Grass o
Jeremy Jackson o
Bert Kaempfert o
Angela Lansbury o
John Loudon o
Kellie Martin o
Eugene O’Neill o
Alice Pearce o
Tim Robbins o
C.P. Snow o
Suzanne Somers o
Morgan Stevens o
Noah Webster o
Oscar Wilde
Sunday
17 October
Jean Arthur o
Jimmy Breslin o
Sam Bottoms o
Spring Byington o
Montgomery Clift o
Cozy Cole o
Eminem o
Beverly Garland o
Rita Hayworth o
Marsha Hunt o
Alan Jackson o
Wyclef Jean o
Barney Kessel o
Margot Kidder o
Chris Kirkpatrick o
Evel Knievel o
Norm MacDonald o
Arthur Miller o
Pope John Paul I o
Tom Poston o
Gary Puckett o
Howard Rollins o
Irene Ryan o
George Wendt |
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Years pass by within a single hour for those who feel uncared for.
Whatever the arithmetic, the end of love is
slow.
Historians are too busy writing it down to
live it. You have to choose one side or the other.
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ENTREATING THE MOON |
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What is more
lovely than love
and the moon on a beautiful night?
Music perhaps and maybe art–
but art cannot skate with us,
arm in arm and side against side,
and music has yet to suck up
our breath until nothing’s left
and leave us for dead, but alive.
When the clouds begin to sweat
I hope the rain is ever good to you.
When stars start reciting poems
we’ll know that art is wonderful.
As soon as we are able
to spin texts from air
and texture,
who will doubt that two beats
are good as pulse beats, worthy
of mentioning in wills and writs.
Until love comes and finds you out
my wish for you is still
a life good as getting.
In a little while it will be morning–
new architecture for your old ideas.
Some spiders have been marching
over the ceiling, thrilling the cats
and carving a gutter in the dust.
Are there words you have not said,
are holding back until the final night?
Spit them out syllable by syllable.
Others crave you spring enough, as do I.
Semesters on your own terms.
And I entreat the moon
to be as good for you
as it has been to you and me.
Who knows how many dreams
die out of season,
reaching for some added darkness
or twisting upward where the sunlight
sits on haunches in the tops of trees.
There are no ordinary dreams.
Every nightmare is extraordinary;
and compared to bodies, every body,
the dream is truly plain.
The nightmare nothing.
I am of course
excepting my own body,
which needs a little work.
No mirror told me that.
Not seeing my reflection
in another’s body
was looking glass enough.
While glancing down
above a dream sometimes
I do see my old self rolling in another’s arms.
And, oh, the sight is dazzling.
-from the book "A Safe Place to Land," 2001 |
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