poeviews

                           … I’m afraid is the best word I could come up with:
            these are not reviews of comics films books tv
                     and whatever else has leaked into my stream of living
            but glimpses and holdings
                and after-image-ings and resonances
   and (certainly) echoes and proustian flagstones
        and surprise jetties and Ariadne strings
                     and zeppelin moorings and cornices and turning breezes …
      that have been tripped over and burnish with a slight-wine colour in the undergrowth
          of my looking reading and listening

                I have taken to writing down what I have found in peoples’ works
        they are not overviews or analyses or insights
                or even, sometimes, relevant
                      they are ‘views’ that have sprung from
            or are crocheted in
            or billiard-balled out
          of artists’ work
                mostly in the form of poems
                hence ‘poeviews’

 

COMICBOOKS

the 20th century: askance from chapter eleven of From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell
1964: Journey Into Mystery #104, May 1964; Stan Lee, Jack Kirby; I submitted this to a local poetry competition – not even an honorary mention
August / Adventure: cover of Adventure Comics #428, August 1973; artist: Tony DeZuniga
Batman 168: cover of Batman #168 (Dec 1964); artist: Carmine Infantino
Batman#175: The Decline and Fall of Batman, November 1965, writer: Gardner Fox, artists: Sheldon Moldoff and Joe Giella
Batman: Oddysey: from the opening pages of Neal Adams‘ Batman Oddysey which was a masterwork waiting to happen, in so many ways …
Batman: Year One (1987): writer: Frank Miller, artist: David Mazzucchelli
‘the Bat-Signal …’: Batman #184, September 1966: ‘Mystery of the Missing Manhunters!’, written: Gardner Fox, artists: Sheldon Moldoff, Carmine Infantino
coagulating: immerging (sic) from ‘The House of Shadows’ in Strange Tales #120, May 1964, by Lee & Ditko
Daredevil: Born Again (1987): writer: Frank Miller; artist: David Mazzucchelli
darkness: askance from chapter ten of From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell
darkness: a little snippet from askance From Hell, askance from chapter ten of From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell, gwn’n’avvalook
‘a blacknight fitted perfectly …’: Detective Comics #363, May 1967, Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino: oh the rhymes we wend and the bends we play
Clea: or is that ‘clear’; through the portals hung in space from Strange Tales #s 126 & 127, by Lee & Ditko
the dash is magnificent / the shadow grotesque: askance from chapter eight of From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell
Detective Comics #345: ‘found’ epilogue to ‘The Blockbuster Invasion of Gotham City’ story in Detective Comics #345, p.14, panel 3, November 1965; spoken by ‘Bruce Wayne’ disguised as ‘Roland Desmond’; writer: Gardner Fox, artist: Carmine Infantino
Dr Strange #6 (Feb 1975): writer: Steve Englehart; artist: Gene Colan
Dr Strange #6-13: (Feb 1975-April 1976); Marvel; writer: Steve Englehart; artist: Gene Colan
Dr Strange I – the trashcan tilted the better to see now the street: Dr Strange #6 (Feb 1975); Marvel; writer: Steve Englehart; artist: Gene Colan; inker: Klaus Janson
Doctor Strange I – the trashcan tilted the better to see now the street: I am psyched that the first trailer for the Doctor Strange film has just been released; I think this is going to see me lose my 56 year old jaded-cool; I am more excited about this than I was for the Batman movies, even though Batman is my character (oh, sorry, didn’t you know?), (in fact, I envisage Batman, ideally, as more akin to Doctor Strange, the character should be more mystical than he is generally presented); I am glad to see the trailer dealing with kaleidoscope-reality, this has a lot to go for it from the start; Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One is a genuinely creative piece of casting but I hope she is not as ‘explainey’ and active as this trailer suggests (or even as dynamic as she was Gabriel in ‘Constantine’, a female sage should have more devastating effect but with less of the door-slamming); ( and talking of door-slamming: I was disappointed that the trailer starts of with the ubiquitous iron door slam portending dire catastrophe for gawp-eyed Humanity, I was hoping Doctor Strange, at least, would approach tale-telling differently, but I suppose superhero movies have hit their formula now, no one’s going to play with it with that much money going in … mind you, Stark’s humour, and the first Avenger’s humour were interesting innovations, I might hope for something innovative in Strange, not humour, so much, as power through deft and understatement rather than grunt); the round loft-window gave me The Smile at the end; Cumberbatch has a Good Walk as he broaches realities, he has the right eyes to see-through fingers for the part as well; I once hoped that David Lynch might write and direct Doctor Strange … that would have been interestingly different and so right … it was not well-received (have a look in the comments section of https://longboxgraveyard.com/2012/11/28/76-superhero-greenlight-doctor-strange/) … actually, dab’n’abbit, here is my tender, but I’ll settle with what this film seems to promise: Dr Strange operates in worlds which are ‘mystical’ in the sense that they function within natural laws and forces which are alternate to our own – they are worlds which we just don’t get and it would be better for us that we didn’t know about them so we can continue functioning ourselves.   And yet Stephen Strange is of and from this world – he is all too human but has mastered the Mystic Arts.   He therefore lives between the two worlds – the physical/political and the occult worlds – or rather he lives amid, at the same time.   He is ‘strange’ because he bridges these two worlds, and this is the central pull of the character for me.   In comics the ‘occult’ world was depicted fantastically (the floating-island footsteps of Ditko, the swirls of Colan) because it was a visual medium meant for younger audiences (growing up); but the occult world doesn’t so much ‘look’ strange (like a childishly re-arranged physical world), in fact it isn’t even a different world it is the same world ‘seen’ (and ‘heard’ and ‘felt’ and acted in) differently.   What was equally attractive about Dr Strange (and under-used in the comics) was the depiction of the character in ordinary, recognisable surroundings but knowing he was actually operating in a world out of the space-time continuum.   I would conceive that Strange’s ‘battles’ took place while he was strolling through a park, while walking on the street, in the blink of an Eye (herm).   I once heard David Lynch talk about how he achieves perspectives in his work by ‘filming through the eye of a duck’ meaning that he doesn’t just film ‘lineally’ he films simultaneously/alternately – he shoots a scene/whole films which physically depict one narrative but which affectively show an alternate landscape in which they play out.   What better ‘mise-en-scene’ist than David Lynch to depict the life of a character who has ‘mastered’ the arts of living bridged across two worlds-in-one?   No need of CGI, no need of costumes, not even much need of action!   I know, I know, not the ingredients for your standard superhero blockbuster money-maker.   But they have been done and will continue to be done under their own momentum.   Dr Strange has always been a peripheral character because he is so … strange.   Perhaps this would be time to make a different take on the comics-to-film translation formula … Anyhoo, I wrote a series of poems tracking Doctor Strange through a key set of issues written by Steve Englehart and drawn by Gene Colan; (Dr Strange #6-13 (Feb 1975-April 1976)); these issues are some of the best comics I have ever read; they were also seminal in shaping me to become the significantly un-noticeable writer I have become to this day; I posted them in 2012 and then re-posted them again in 2014 because I thought the film was immanent – it wasn’t; but, dammitall, I like these babies so I’m going to post them again, spread out until November 4th when I’ll be two days into 57 …
Dr Strange II – … things are the same again: Marvel; writer: Steve Englehart; artist: Gene Colan
Doctor Strange II – … things are the same again: … in fact there never was any change in the first place
Dr Strange III – the needs of billions: Marvel; writer: Steve Englehart; artist: Gene Colan
Doctor Strange III – the needs of billions: is there a similarity between the flame-headed Dormammu and the current Republic candidate for presidency … oh, my arteries!?
Dr Strange IV – ellipses: Marvel; writer: Steve Englehart; artist: Gene Colan
Dr Strange V – all the words of all the times of all the worlds speak: Marvel; writer: Steve Englehart; artist: Gene Colan
Dr Strange VI – to hold my face to the world: Dr Strange #6-13 (Feb 1975-April 1976); Marvel; writer: Steve Englehart; artist: Gene Colan
Dr Strange VII – the madness of Mordo: askance from Dr Strange #6-13 (Feb 1975-April 1976); Marvel; writer: Steve Englehart; artist: Gene Colan
Elektra: from the 1st issue of Elektra: Assassin, 1986, by Frank Miller & Bill Sienkiewicz
events happen / through all measure of name: askance from chapter one of From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell
the four whores of the apocalypse: askance from chapter three of From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell
frame: from Strange Tales #117, ‘The Many Traps of Baron Mordo’, February 1964; Lee & Ditko
fresh destiny: dripped from “Dr. Strange Master of Black Magic!”, 1st appearance of Dr Strange in Strange Tales #110, July 1963 by Lee & Ditko
great underbelly to the rooftops: askance from Fantastic Four #s 102-103 (September-October 1970), Marvel, plot: Stan Lee; storytelling & art: Jack Kirby & John Romita
the Growing Man: The Avengers #69, October 1969; script: Roy Thomas; pencils: Sal Buscema; inevitable in 1969, actual in 2015
ha ha ha: askance from chapter four of From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell
hinged: askance from chapter five of From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell
hinged – From Hell ch. V: askance from chapter five of From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell; architecture always ever is so much more than trim, being the solidified air of encounter between Disraeli’s ‘two nations’ that still breathes to this day; I’m sure Victor Hugo said something about this at length in the beginning pages of Hunchback of Notre Dame, but I can never seem to find them
in desperation and worthless art: askance from chapter twelve of From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell
intent: from Detective Comics #370, Dec 1967, writing John Broome, art Sheldon Moldoff
introducing / the stranger: cover X-Men #11, May 1965; artwork: Jack Kirby
Kirby’s landscapes: Fantastic Four #95, February 1970; Marvel; plot: Stan Lee; art and storytelling: Jack Kirby
“The Lady from Nowhere”: from Strange Tales #124, September 1964, ‘The Lady from Nowhere’ by Stan Lee & Steve Ditko
languidly close the portal: held within from Strange Tales #118 outwards, ‘The Possessed’, March 1964; Lee & Ditko
the lines are not that straight / after all: askance from chapter thirteen of From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell
the moon, the moon: Detective Comics #391, September 1969; Frank Robbins, Bob Brown – anyone lived in a pretty how town
multifarious: the Dark Knight Returns (1986): writer: Frank Miller; artist: Frank Miller & Lynn Varley
now, the verticals go down as well as they go up: from the second volume of Marvel Visionaries showing Frank Miller’s initial script and art run on Daredevil in the 1980s
our whore-y little compromises: askance from chapter nine of From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell
pediment to behold: right-angled from Detective Comics #371, “Batgirl’s Costume Cut-Ups” by Gardner Fox and Gil Kane, January 1968
‘… plane is upright …’: Strange Tales #132-133, May-June 1965, Stan Lee; Steve Ditko: it is my contention that Dr Strange is strange because he doesn’t appear in his own event, he slips in and out at right angles to plane existence thence to vanquish solipsistic threat – story of my life
plethora: the Dark Knight Strikes Again (2002); writer: Frank Miller; artists: Frank Miller, Lynn Varley
presence: from somewhere within Detective Comics #356, October 1966; “The Inside Story of the Outsider!”; written: Gardner Fox; art: Sheldon Moldoff
the purple mist between: contrasted out from within ‘Beyond the Purple Veil’ in Strange Tales #119, April 1964; written: Stan Lee; drawn: Steve Ditko
purpose: askance from chapter two of From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell
pursued: Detective Comics #403, September 1970, “You Die By Mourning” by Frank Robbins and Bob Brown
raised brow: Detective Comics #392, October 1969, Frank Robbins, Bob Brown: almost two years after my father left I was beginning to find my nerve
September – silhouette of leaf // the / inside and the / outside: askance from the prologue to From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell
the silent night / of the Batman: from Batman #219, Feb 1970, writer: Mike Friedrich, artist: Neal Adams
the silent night of the Batman: ‘The Silent Night of the Batman‘ in Batman #219, Feb 1970; writer: Mike Friedrich; art: Neal Adams; inks: Dick Giordano
the silent night of the Batman: just keeps on giving; you HAVE REALISED that this is a Christmas ritual: “The Silent Night of the Batman” by Mike Friedrich, Neal Adams and Dick Giordano, published in Batman #219, February 1970
the silent night of the Batman: I am so pleased to say that this is the sixth time I have posted this poem, mostly always on Christmas Eve: the poem in which my hero-ego – Batman – doesn’t appear and yet everthing is done by his having been there all along; Batman doesn’t swing across the rooftops, it’s just that we sometimes find the space to change our minds; who is the Santa Claus for the 21st century – Batman (termsandconditionsapply:discussionaboutexistenceis … irrelevant); sculpted out of “The Silent Night of the Batman” in Batman #219 by Gary Friedrich and Neal Adams
silhouette: // second / thoughts: you need good suspension and no regrets to change your mind while doing
the skyline: from Strange Tales #125, October 1964, “Mordo Must Not Catch Me”, by Lee & Ditko
sometimes: Detective Comics #354, August 1966; cover: Carmine Infantino; “No Exit For Batman!”, writer: John Broome, artist: Sheldon Moldoff: tight-corner thinking and evasion – the redaction to zero, then out, again, the other side
space for probing thought: Detective Comics #360, February 1967, Gardner Fox, Sheldon Moldoff; Batman #190 Gardner Fox, Sheldon Moldoff, March 1967: how; how does the Caped Crusader stay so ahead of the game?
‘streetsigns …’: unfurled from Batman #225, September, 1970; Denny O’Neill, Irv Novick
the streets just fill with business: askance from chapter six of From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell
sufficiently away: from Batman #183, August 1966: “A Touch of Poison Ivy!”, written: Robert Kanigher, drawn: Sheldon Moldoff
thought: Batman #183, ‘Batman’s Baffling Turnabout!’; written: Gardner Fox; artist: Sheldon Moldoff, August 1966
traffic lights and broad avenue: not surprised by the camber of “The Demon’s Disciple!” by Lee & Ditko in Strange Tales#128, January 1965
turned backs of saddened victory: from the Dr Strange story, Strange Tales #116, ‘Return to the Nightmare World’, January 1964; Lee & Ditko
under silent direction of architecture: askance from chapter seven of From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell
up here: plucked in passing overhead from the pages of Spider-Man #90-113 (November 1970 – October 1972), written by Stan Lee & Roy Thomas; drawn by Gil Kane and John Romita
what heavy and cantilevered structure: askance from chapter fourteen & the epilogue of From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell
‘when travelling astrally …’: from Strange Tales #121, ‘Witchcraft in the Wax Museum’, June 1964; Lee & Ditko

FILMS

Being There (1979): directed: Hal Ashby; actors: Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine
castrated: The Imitation Game (2014); director: Morten Tyldum; actors: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley2001: a Space Odyssey (1968): directed: Stanley Kubrick; actors: Keir Dullea
The Godfather III: // AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHHHH …: 1990, director: Francis Ford Coppola; actors: Al Pacino; Diane Keaton; Andy Garcia
gravity: (2013); directed: Alfonso Cuarón; actors: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney
it was the breeze wot did it: Blow Up (1966); directed: Antonioni; actors: David Hemmings
just: The Horse Whisperer (1998); director: Robert Redford; actors: Robert Redford, Kristen Scott Thomas, Scarlet Johansson
the Reader (2008): directed: Stephen Daldry; actors: Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes
There Will Be Blood (2007): director: Paul Thomas Anderson; actors: Daniel Day-Lewis
top table: seen amid the rising wallpaper of “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” (2011); Directed: Tomas Alfredson; starring: Gary Oldman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Colin Firth, Toby Jones, Mark Strong

MUSIC

1962: Don’t Make Me Over; singer: Dionne Warwick; writers: Burt Bacharach, Hal David
1963: Make the Music Play; singer: Dionne Warwick; writers: Burt Bacharach, Hal David
1963: This Empty Space; singer: Dionne Warwick; writers: Burt Bacharach, Hal David
1963: wishin’ & hopin’; singer: Dionne Warwick; writers: Burt Bacharach, Hal David
1963: this empty place; singer: Dionne Warwick; writers: Burt Bacharach, Hal David
1963: so many windows opening in 1963; Dionne Warwick; Burt Bacharach, Hal David
1963: tentativing with wishin’ & hopin’: Dionne Warwick, Burt Bacharach, Hal David
1964: Anyone Who Had a Heart; singer: Dionne Warwick; writers: Burt Bacharach, Hal David
1964: you’ll never get to heaven (if you break my heart): Dionne Warwick, Burt Bacharach, Hal David; was she leaving, would she be back, could I expect her to be back – these things could never be certain in 1964
1964: reach out for me, 1964, my darlings; singer: Dionne Warwick; writers: Burt Bacharach & Hal David
1964: from the chips between walk on by by Dionne Warwick and Burt Bacharach
1964: simply and retrieved from reach out for me by Dionne Warwick & Burt Bacharach
1965: Are You There (With Another Girl): Dionne Warwick, Burt Bacharach, Hal David; there are wonderful thigs all around but in the morning things have already moved and working has already begun within strange buildings in unknown lands by unknown people
1966: Trains and Boats and Planes; singer: Dionne Warwick; writers: Burt Bacharach, Hal David
1966: several stepped in-takes through I just don’t know what to do with myself by Dionne Warwick & Burt Bacharach and one languid outbreath, each time …
1966 … actually sic // of it allllll-bsssssssh – poewieview #8: written amid Uncle Arthur, 1966; She’s Got Medals, 1966; Join the Gang, 1966; Did You Ever Have a Dream, 1966; We Are Hungry Men, 1966; Sell Me a Coat, 1966; Little Bombardier, 1966; Maid of Bond Street, 1966; Silly Boy Blue, 1966
1967: sung: Dionne Warwick, written: Burt Bacharach & Hal David; in 1967 my father left; in 1969 the decree nisi finally came through; somehow my Mum survived and brought us up during the 1970s
1967: reaching both from within, and through: I say a little prayer by Dionne Warwick and Burt Bacharach
1968: promises promises – more Dionne Warwick and Burt Bacharach sustaining another burst of breath-takingly open and naïve possibility from the later 60s
1968 – orange sand and mauve mist: put down a hundred down and buy a car: do you know the way to San Jose: Dionne Warwick & Burt Bacharach
aladdin sane: David Bowie, from the album Aladdin Sane (1973)
animus rises – powieview #37: sigh‘d from the tumultuous adolescence of Ziggy Stardust, 1971 and Soul Love, 1971
axis: bold as love: from the album Axis: Bold as Love (1967) by the Jimi Hendrix Experience
bad sneakers: Steely Dan, from the album Katy Lied (1975)
being in love – poewieview #26: just close your eyes: Lightning Frightening, 1971; Moonage Daydream, 1971
carpet worn / to the backing – poewieview #30: the continuance of birth: Kooks, 1971
crescendoeing cascade of chordage – poewieview #10: sometimes you gotta do a little crazy with instinct when the scent’s off: Please Mr. Gravedigger, 1966; The Laughing Gnome, 1967; The Gospel According to Tony Day, 1967; When I Live My Dream, 1967; Love You Till Tuesday, 1967
cut while you’re ahead/cut while you’re a thread – poewieview #35: outertextual in The Bewlay Brothers from 1971; there are more from here, but not now …
“Darling” – poewieview #28: oh, God, I could do better than thaat, Queen Bitch, 1971
don’t look / at her eyes – poewieview #18: found under the clunk of Buzz the Buzz, 1970, and the clatt-errrrrrrrrrr of Amsterdam, 1970
foreign affairs: Eno, Moebius and Roedelius, from After the Heat (1978)
gazing at the night / as my eyes passed the jagged hole / my head disappeared: “Given the Chance / I’ll Die Like a Baby / On Some Far Away Beach / When the Season’s Over. // Unlikely / I’ll Be Remembered / As the Tide Brushes Sand in My Eyes / I’ll Drift Away. // Cast Up On a Plateau / With Only One Memory / A Single Syllable / Oh Lie Low Lie Low.” – ‘On Some Faraway Beach’ from the album ‘Here Come the Warm Jets’ (1974) by Brian Eno
“he paced about the bricks with / empty glasses …” “Wehrmut” from ‘Cluster & Eno’ (1977) by Eno, Moebius and Roedelius
‘the hour before dinner – / the empire of dusk’ – poewieview #6: title gathered and arranged (ikebana-style) from the words of Chris O’Leary in his article on ‘There Is a Happy Land‘, 1966 – ‘there is a happy land/ where only children live …’
Is There / Life on Mars?: David Bowie, from Hunky Dory (1971)
Is There / Life on Mars? – poewieview #32: sky as high as the world – Life on Mars?
Life on Mars? – poewieview #31: Sunday afternoons – Life on Mars?
“King …”: ‘King’ from ‘Signing Off’ (1980) by UB40
King of the World: Steely Dan, from the album Countdown to Ecstasy (1973)
life [‘n’ death] / legerdemain – poewieview #15: oh, Janine, 1969 [clap]; Conversation Piece, 1969 [clap], you like to know me well, but …
Life on Mars?: David Bowie, from Hunky Dory (1971)
like ink – poewieview #23: oh, God, I should be dead: She Shook Me Cold, 1970; pack a pack-horse up and step-up here, on Black Country Rock, 1970
London Hearts – poewieview #4: through the teeth of Bowie’s London Boys, 1966
London Park in Greenwich town – poewieview #5: Rubber Band, 1966; ‘I hope you break yer baton’
looking for Lester: David Bowie, from the Black Tie White Noise (1993) album, trumpet … Lester Bowie
miss / ad / venture – poewieview #22: All the Madmen of the Saviour Machine collapsed into a rogue card with which you could do anything if you let the rules allow … if you let the rules allow
my // shell – poewieview #19: “the prince heard the cry of a monkey in the forest: it had been trapped by hunters who used a nut case which was so-shaped that a monkey’s hand could fit into the shell when opened flat, but not if the hand was held as a fist.   The hunters placed food in the shell which greatly attracted the monkeys; when they put in their hands to grab the food they could not withdraw their hands, and yet they wanted the food so much that they would not let it go.   And so they were trapped.   This seemed to the prince that it might be the answer: beings find no happiness in life because the very act of trying to get happiness binds them to frustration.   In selfishly trying to grab their own lives, they were trapped in them.   The enemies to fight were the delusions within oneself: selfishness, pride, greed, belief in the self, anger, jealousy, hate, desire etc, those things which try to grasp happiness in life.”
new-found love – poewieview #36: I cried sadly, for a love I could not obey; summoned up through the dread rituals of Shadow Man, 1971; Star, 1971; Velvet Goldmine, 1971; Sweet Head, 1971
no one – poewieview #24: James Castle jumped from a tower … at which school, and from which book?   Therefore who is the ‘I’ and ‘we’ of poem?   The Man Who Sold the World, 1970
Nostalgia for Samsara – poewieview #16: seen what shouldn’t have been seen because it couldn’t be noticed: Wild-Eyed Boy from Freecloud, 1969
‘on second thought …’ – poewieview #27: I’ve never ‘got’ Andy Warhol, and I still don’t, 1971
organ / sunlight in all our eyes – poewieview #11: standing on the street corner looking at the traffic go by: I’m Waiting for the Man, 1967; Let Me Sleep Beside You, 1967; Karma Man, 1967; In The Heat of the Morning, 1968
pen and ruler: possibly a poeview of ‘thru these architect’s eyes by David Bowie without my even realising it at the time
poessay X: soul love: this piece of work grew out of a conversation with Johnbalaya which we had over coffee and jam on toast one mornings in the pages of Powieviews; orange juice anyone?
quite … / … yet – poewieview #12: I don’t know how to what saying … London Bye Ta-Ta, 1968; When I’m Five, 1968; Ching A Ling, 1968; The Mask, 1968 … yet?
Quiver of / Tiffany – poewieview #20: through the lonely portals of The Supermen, 1970; Saviour Machine, 1970; Running Gun Blues, 1970
Saturday: filtered through: That’s Where My Heart Is, 1965; I Want My Baby Back, 1965; Bars of the County Jail, 1965; You’ve Got a Habit of Leaving, 1965; Baby Loves That Way, 1965; I’ll Follow You, 1965; Glad I’ve Got Nobody, 1965; That’s A Promise, 1965; Can’t Help Thinking About Me, 1965
seventy two, perhaps – poewieview #9: serendipitously bounced from Come And Buy My Toys, 1966, and the wordage on the page
Shonagh – poewieview #17: … all because of what you are: The Prettiest Star, 1970
the ‘Signing Off’ album (1980), UB40: the soundscape for a quiet love-affair; please note that these are poeviews of our founding love, not reviews of UB40’s music; any reference to the lyrics of the song is not intended and entirely incidental; it is more the lilt and texture of the music which forms the fibre of these pieces – and indeed our lives; I personally loved ‘Signing Off’ because of this but wasn’t particularly drawn to anything else that UB40 made: Tyler; King; 12 Bar; Burden of Shame; Adella; I Think It’s Going to Rain Today; 25%; Food for Thought; Little by Little; Signing Off; Reefer Madness
sixty four sixty five: this is – believe it or not – from Bowie’s first cluster of works: Liza Jane, 1964; Louie Louie Go Home, 1964; I Pity the Fool, 1965; Take My Tip, 1965, only one of which was actually written by him; they’re all in there somewhere fore-striding the next day …
the sounds of 1969 // [would have] seemed that way – poewieview #13: filtered through grill of angst: Space Oddity, 1969, Cygnet Committee, 1969, Memory of a Free Festival, 1969
The Smoker You Drink The Player You Get (1973): The Smoker You Drink The Player You Get (1973); Joe Walsh & Barnstorm
south horizon: David Bowie, from the Buddha of Suburbia album (1994), and yes I know it’s a trumpet
south horizon: David Bowie, from the Buddha of Suburbia album (1994); the terrace ends of tall Victorian houses
trellis / and wisteria – poewieview #29: trellised and wisteriad through Song for Bob Dylan, 1971
a theremin note – poewieview #21: you have to go deep into the corridors and past the tall windows, to get to eventual recognition – let alone re-cognition when it cannot be found – with only brief respite between thoughts and the too-closeness of every footstep; you cannot escape the footsteps, no matter how many doors you peep into; After All, 1970
through the pane – poewieview #34: peered through Eight Line Poem & Changes, 1971, after January 10th 2016
… walking down the street: Dionne Warwick, ‘Don’t Make Me Over’ (1962) & ‘Walk on By’ (1964) by Bacharach & David
weight of high sash windows – poewieview #33: mlred in the dry quick of sandQuicksand, 1971
‘went up to London and what did I see; …’: written with the train tickets I found amongst the scattered Do Anything You Say, 1966; Good Morning Girl, 1966; I Dig Everything, 1966; I’m Not Losing Sleep, 1966
where the goblins leered – poewieview #14: grown through hedge of Letter to Hermione, 1969 and brow of An Occasional Dream, 1969
words tumble like / boulders – poewieview #25: settled throughout: Holy Holy, 1971; Oh! You Pretty Things, 1971; Fill Your Heart, 1971; How Lucky You Are (Miss Peculiar), 1971; Hang On To Yourself, 1971, after the dust
your gold teeth: Steely Dan, from the Countdown to Ecstasy album (1973)

PAINTINGS

Automat, 1927 – held: the first of a triptych held in a quadriptych laced together with Hopper; the lifelong pause of pre-occupation
‘blades / articulate all the lonely height / of the sky’: A Windmill on a Polder Waterway; Paul Joseph Constantin Gabriël, c. 1889
boiled spangle with soft centre: OK … ‘Spangles’ were a boiled sweet, square and dimpled, which suggested a soft centre, but didn’t; their taste was a combination of visual colour and transluscency rather than anything other than sweet; Turner‘s A Town on a River at Sunset, 1833, had the colour of event and the transluscency of time, but also the soft centre of … life-ing
Boulevarde Montmartre, Evening Sun, 1879 // Boulevarde Montmartre at Night, 1879: a diptych linking Boulevarde Montmartre, Evening Sun, 1879 by Camille Pissarro and Boulevarde Montmartre at Night, 1879 by Camilly Pissarro
Chop Suey, 1929: by Edward Hopper; second of a triptych that doesn’t yet realise it is four-fold … like acting on a stage
Compartment C, Car 193, 1938: heightened perspective of traverse, by Edward Hopper
A Corner of the Garden at the Hermitage, 1877: slyly, from the corner of A Corner of the Garden at the Hermitage, 1877 by Camille Pissarro
Cote des Bœufs à l’Hermitage, Pontoise, 1877: stepping out from the Cote des Bœufs à l’Hermitage, Pontoise, 1877 by Camille Pissarro
Cours La Reine, Rouen, 1890: grown from the banks of Cours La Reine, Rouen, 1890 by Camille Pissarro
The Diligence at Louveciennes, 1870: up through the depth of The Diligence at Louveciennes, 1870 by Camille Pissarro
Drug Store, 1927: when the 20th century was still being made in black and white, by Edward Hopper
Dulwich College, London, 1871: Dulwich College, London, 1871 by Camille Pissarro
Evening Wind, 1921: a sketch by Edward Hopper
Female Peasant Carding, 1875: Female Peasant Carding, 1875 by Camille Pissarro en plein ombre
Fishermen at Sea, 1796: fetched from the swell of Fishermen at Sea, 1796; (The Cholmeley Sea Piece); William Turner
Great Bridge, Rouen, 1896: spanning the reach of the Great Bridge, Rouen, 1896 by Camille Pissarro, the eternal dialectic between nature and industry
Hotel Room, 1931 oh, go on, then, have a look if you must; have a hundred looks
House by the Railroad, 1925: Edward Hopper passing
impressionism: witnessed between elbows at the National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London, 030515: La Terrasse at Vasouy, The Garden, Edouard Vuillard, 1901, reworked 1935; Van Gogh’s Chair, Vincent van Gogh, 1888; A Wheatfield, with Cypresses, Vincent van Gogh, 1889; Hillside in Provence, Paul Cézanne, about 1890-2; Corner of a Café-Concert, Edouard Manet, probably 1878-80
Impression of Winter: Carriage on a Country Road, 1872: Impression of Winter: Carriage on a Country Road, 1872 by Camille Pissarro – but redder and greyer in the book I found it in
in turgid reflection: woven within and despite The Fighting ‘Teméraire’ tugged to her last berth to be broken up, 1838 by William Turner
Landscape, Pontoise, 1875: about three storeys at right-angles into the Landscape, Pontoise, 1875, by Camille Pissarro
London, 1809: London, William Turner, 1809
The Louvre in a Thunderstorm, 1909: by Edward Hopper
Morning in a City, 1944: by Edward Hopper; limpid existence
New York Movie, 1939: by Edward Hopper, and the girl with the mousey hair
New York, New Haven and Hartford, 1931: from draft-board to construction: traversal and the sun
Office at Night, 1940: the quiet intimacy of reach and strive; Edward Hopper
Office in a Small City, 1953: from the surmise of Edward Hopper
El Palacio, 1946: a pure and brazen landscape from Edward Hopper
The Passage of the St. Gothard, 1804: by William Turner
Le Pont des Arts, 1907: by Edward Hopper, an American in Paris over 100 years ago, and still bracing
Pont Neuf, Paris, 1902: de l’avantaged de Pont Neuf, Paris, 1892 by Camille Pissarro
Le Pont Royal, 1909: by Edward Hopper before he really started working
Railway Crossing, c. 1922-23: by Edward Hopper
Rain, Steam and Speed – the / Great Western Railway, 1844: emerging out from Rain, Steam and Speed – the Great Western Railway by William Turner, 1844
{reading right to left}: The Crystal Palace, London, 1871 by Camille Pissarro
La Route de Louveciennes: La Route de Louveciennes, 1870; by Camille Pissarro
La Route, Effet d’Hiver, 1872: right there, from La Route, Effet d’Hiver, 1872 by Camille Pissarro (… actually, better if you could see the original)
St. Erasmus in Bishop Islip’s Chapels, 1796: St. Erasmus in Bishop Islip’s Chapels, 1796 by William Turner
Seven A.M, 1948: before time gets going, nothing happens, and yet everything is done as if there were elves; painted by Edward Hopper, 1948
Soir Bleu, 1914: read from right to left through the eyes of the painter’s landscape; Edward Hopper
Staffa Fingal’s Cave, 1832: berthed out of the cave by Coleridge‘s ‘Kubla Khan‘, 1816: Staffa Fingal’s Cave, 1832 by William Turner
Summertime, 1943: by Edward Hopper, whenever the curtain billows
sun setting over a lake, 1840: Sun Setting over a Lake, William Turner, 1840
then: prologued from S. Giorgio Maggiore, Early Morning, 1819 & Looking east from the Giudecca: Sunrise, 1819 both by William Turner; did you see the sunsets that morning, was anybody else there …?
three musicians: from ‘Of One Heart’ by Cornelis Kruseman, 1830
Vue de Pontoise, 1873: approaching and leaving Vue de Pontoise, 1873 by Camille Pissarro
Western Motel, 1957: an over-the-shoulder by Edward Hopper
window: the sounds of light downloaded from Petworth: the Artist and his Admirers (the old library), c. 1830 by William Turner; when light enters through windows it turns to music if there is an alert-enough artist to express it and an audience-enough to hear

TV

Hill / Street / Blues: from the opening titles
transferring: mostly a palimpsest of season 1 from 1990

BOOKS

is Koestler important // ?: Koestler: The Indispensable Intellectual by Michael Scammell (2010)