New November poetry--let me (constructively) have it

The Musty Back Shelves
As I lose myself
in the yellowing pages
of an old text

Its words connect
to the eye and synapses
enriching brain cells

Its rhythms like
some dinosaur step portents
of a prog rock band

Its textures between
fragile and brittle
fighting against time

Its illumination
making paths straight
in a cluttered mind

One day I will bask
in the light
of my electronic device
and muse if
I’ve ceded discernment
to the machine

Gordon Stamper, Jr.
November 4, 2017

Hagiography

If someone were to write of me
a memoir of some note
no help would the subject be
fame would come from the writer

With the rings of a tree
nature’s tablet wrote
beaver is fait accompli
now it’s work of the biter

Concrete minds would likely flee
and fall into a moat
but deconstructionists can see
with deduction for a lighter

A reader gives a stirring plea
what line can one quote
from faulty rhyme scheme debris
joined by an awkward miter

Such would my memoir be
a challenge of some note
a mediocre jamboree
art made by supercollider

Gordon Stamper, Jr.
November 11, 2017

New October Poetry--feel free to comment

An Asylum of My Own Making

My thoughts reside in a padded cell
illuminating days of regret
in the contemplative light
of my self-pity

If there will be introspection
I would have to turn off
the inner man
who accepts no blame

On a self-aware day
I seek counsel
but measured reason
gets lost in the corridors

Words of advice or comfort
become discordant notes
waking me in the night
from their clatter in the hall

Will I seek asylum
regaining empathy and recognition
for those who care
whether I live or die

Or will I be committed
to the asylum
where my mind sets on
chasing departed hopes

Gordon Stamper, Jr.
October 7, 2017

Feathers

I found a stack of feathers
in the corner of the yard
a mix of white down
and brown quills

The wind tickled the plumes
and gauzy travelers
went adrift in
the autumnal breeze

A pile of art
so aesthetically pleasing
born of unknown violence
lurking in the meadow or
the society of tall trees

Gordon Stamper, Jr.
October 21, 2017

Recommended Acts for Lollapalooza Days Two-Four

                                 A throng watching Paul McCartney at last year's Lollapalooza.

For what is hopefully a storm-free weekend for the remainder of Lollapalooza 2017, here are my picks based on personal preference and logistics, with alternative acts listed in my "Runners Up."

Friday, August 4: The Lemon Twigs, 1:45-2:45, The Pretty Reckless, 3:45-4:45, Lake Front Stage; Tegan and Sara, 5:00-6:00, Bud Light; Ryan Adams, Tito's, 6:00-7:00; The Killers, 8:45-10, Grant Park Stage (if you get there early enough, catch the incendiary rap of Run the Jewels for part of their set).  Runners up (tough choices, but unless you own a time machine, you can't see every set):  Cloud Nothings, 3:00-4:00, Bud Light; Kaleo, 4:00-5:00, Tito's; Phantogram, 4:45-5:45, Grant Park; Andrew McMahon and the Wilderness, 5:45-6:45, Lake Front; Foster the People, 7:00-8:00, Blink-182, 8:45-10, Bud Light.

Saturday, August 5:  Time to show my college and indy music prejudices. War Paint, 2:15-3:15, Glass Animals, 4:15-5:15, Lake Front Stage; alt-J, 6:15-7:15, Grant Park; Sylvan Esso, 7:45-8:45, Mac DeMarco (oh yes, I went there!), 9:00-10, Pepsi.  Runners up (for the more conventionally minded): Highly Suspect, 4:00-5:00, Tito's; Vance Joy, 5:00-6:00, The Head and the Heart, 7:00-8:00, The xx, 8:45-10, Bud Light; Chance the Rapper, 8:45-10, Grant Park.

Sunday, August 6: You won't have to move a lot with my suggestions.  Maggie Rogers, 2:30-3:30, Grant Park; Charlie XCX, 3:30-4:30, Lake Front; TOVE LO, 4:30-5:30, The Shins, 6:30-7:30, Grant Park; GROUPLOVE, 7:30-8:30, Lake Front; Arcade Fire, 8:30-10, Grant Park. Runners up:  Rag'n'Bone Man, 4:00-5:00, Tito's; Milky Chance, 5:00-6:00, Bud Light.

Have a great weekend, and if you can't be there, check out the live online performances list at https://www.lollapalooza.com/news/2017-live-broadcast/.

Recommended Acts for Lollapalooza 2017 Day One

As a veteran of seven Lollapalooza festivals, I generally know my way around the Grant Park craziness.  If the weather actually holds up and they don't shut the festival down Thursday evening, here is part one of my picks for Lollapalooza acts to see for 2017.

Thursday:  I'm also recommending sets that you can actually go and see a complete set, so there will be runners up that will be tough acts you'll miss.  You know, those crazy things called logistics and time, and not having a time machine.  Temples, 2:30-3:30, Grant Park stage; George Ezra, 5:30-6:30, Lake Shore; Cage the Elephant, 6:30-7:45, Grant Park; Lorde, Bud Light, 8:45-10.  Runners up:  Spoon, Lake Shore, 7:45-8:45; Muse, 8:45-10, Grant Park.

In the post for Friday-Sunday coming soon, you'll see more of the cruelty of space/time come into play, as there will be difficult choices to make.  I'll be back later with the rest of the fest.

The Native Act with a nod to Doctor Doom

My response to #Trump's new immigration bill: the #NativeAct. Just make it simple--everybody has to leave except the Native Americans.

We are all taking jobs away from hard working Native Americans. Everybody out. You, too, Whitey; go back to Europe. This includes Donald Trump.

Part of the Act would stipulate Trump gets to run San Marino or somewhere else that's really small and landlocked. You know, a tiny place where he could do the least harm and feel like he's a real dictator, for example, Doctor Doom in Latveria.

All the U.S. Trump properties will be ceded to Native American tribes in the regions they are located. Any Mohicans still out there? You get Trump Tower! Hey, Seminoles, you thought owning the Hard Rock chain was awesome. How about Mar-a-Lago?

I think this will pass Congress with a super majority. Everybody leaves, Native Americans get their ancestral lands back, and the only Trail of Tears will be from the whining of White Supremacists and conservative talk show hosts.

I'm packing my bags now, preferably where I can get social health care. Let's go true Native today!

Review--SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING

In the Marvel Universe's latest incarnation of Spider-Man on the big screen, they may have finally done him justice.  Spider-Man: Homecoming may stray from strict interpretation of the original origin story, but it captures all the teenage insecurity of Peter Parker the comic book character.

Peter (Tom Holland) is fresh off his adventure from Captain America: Civil War and currently on his Spider-Man "internship" courtesy of Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.), chaperoned by Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau).  At the same time, Peter is juggling his schoolwork at a high school for gifted students and a major crush on Liz (Laura Harrier), a high school senior.

While getting a bit bored with being a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, Peter espies a strange transaction taking place with extraterrestrial overtones.  It's a ring of black market weapon dealers led by a disgruntled former government contractor (Michael Keaton), who in mechanical winged form transforms into a classic Spidey nemesis, the Vulture.  It provides a stimulating challenge and then some for the teen wall-crawler, and major headaches for Stark, Hogan, and his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei).

Full of good humor, very good ensemble acting including the teen performers, and exciting action sequences, this is probably is the best Spider-Man film version other than Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2.  Some may find a major plot twist a little too convenient, but it does set up several tense scenes with terrific acting exchanges between Holland and Keaton.

Though it suffers from the usual Marvel movie flaw of being too long, Spider-Man: Homecoming otherwise delivers the right tone of confusion, humor, and heroism in the Peter Parker character.  With a young Holland as a foundation, this could set up another big superhero franchise.

Stamp of approval, B+.

Columbia Pictures presents Spider-Man: Homecoming, a film by Jon Watts, starring Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Marisa Tomei, Robert Downey, Jr., Jon Favreau, Zendaya, and Donald Glover.  Length: 2 hours 13 minutes.  Rated PG-13 for sci-fi violence and language. In wide release as of 7/7/17.