From Here to Eternity: Dead Ringer at Boot Camp, Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo, May/June 1965

D

You never knew Jean Genet served a stint with Uncle Sam, did you? Well, just as some things are kept under wraps for various deceptive reasons and some appearances are meant to be intentionally deceiving, i.e the bogus name-tag with that implausible soubriquet, this authentic looking photo recently discovered jammed between the thin slit left between weathered floor boards in a safe house somewhere in Europe shows the great French writer staring at us from that infamous Middle West boot camp's PX photo booth. Observe, if you will, that famous full-of-meaning slanted glance he's throwing our way and the way his cig forms an artful ringlet that has just wafted up to the bottom of his trademark horn-rimmed glasses. As if all the above weren't enough to throw us off the track, he's also adorned his left hand with--of all things--a US high school class ring!*

Excuse my use of what might seem smacking of hyperbole, but from here to eternity, this is what I'd call the sublime art of subterfuge. 

*It has yet to be ascertained as fact, but rumor has it that the phrase Tell Laura I Love Her is engraved on the ring in question.

Mood

may ours be forever         changing,

but not always

                                          like today’s

reflecting the dark

night sky

                                             light

Vitriol

My dear Lady Jane,
No need to explain
The demise
Of your infamous obnoxious
Former proboscis.

We’ve heard
The rumor of a tumor’s plain
As that snippet
Of a snub now gracing your face,
And oh so innocuous looking.

So pretty
Please with sugar on it,
For old times’ sake
Before you depart,
Give us your best parting shot—

No need for formalities, dearie,
Dispense with the snot.

Coming Apart at the Think Factory

unhealthy

.

there you thought
you were whole

.

some did not see how
introspective

.

you came to be

.

a part of it
self-destructing

.

defective

.

machinery

Summer Deluge

over

whelmed
bamboo

touching the
rain

soaked track