Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Monday, October 5, 2009

Friday, July 24, 2009

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Brown Book Prose #10

We made our way to a shabby, aged trailer
Deep in the wildernesses of Nowhere, Virginia
Speed limit 10 in Glens
20 on Main Roads
The waters were docile and the green from the trees above
Looked like algae on the water's surface
I couldn't seem to focus on anything but the gravel in my canvas shoes
And she told me there was no time like the present

Well how shall I know she's present?

And we made love so that everyone could see
I realize, now, that we were everyone
We were fighting for our lives because who knows how long we'll feel this young, right?
She scribbled something sloppily in Spanish she probably thought I'd neither see nor comprehend
I told her about my infatuation with this American wilderness
But she didn't believe me
And I sang her that Outfield cover
And she didn't believe that either

I can recall my voice
While checking the time like late December in Manhattan

What happens now?

What does that mean?

I think it means, er...
Is this en route to inevitable destruction?

God, you worry so much
We can always continue from this ellipsis

It has always been a habit of mine
To acknowledge every cloudings potential to metamorphose into a downpour
And I arose to a desolate space
Devoid of all affection
And I realized the seeds I had planted had taken root
Fair to say, packing my umbrella was a worthwhile decision


Friday, June 19, 2009

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Eight Mile/Seven Hour Poem

Despite my body's plea for change, I ignore the routine of an early morning trot.
I am fully aware of the dangers of subjective judgement 
Here in this oddly misplaced age of neatly tied neck ties and symmetrically laced shoe strings,
But this God-given free will continues to have it's way.

I am greeted by the mid-afternoon breeze 
And the stench of rotting berries from a tree I've been trying to identify without much success
Even with the assistance of my literature on the flora and fauna of North America
I have the tendency to do nothing on days like this
You know, sluggish, warm, Do-Nothing days
But I will make most of this one as this hazy atmosphere is usually unappealing to me
But has grown resplendent in mine eye

The body is a machine, a mechanism He created with such delicacy
All the pieces packed compactly within a shell
Yes, a machine and machines operate on fuel
Peanut Butter on toast

Great, now we can begin
Public transportation is such a drag and I barely have enough room 
Between two large, odd regulars to think about the unutterable history
Between the number three line and myself

Three stops, two stops, my stop
Oh shit! MY stop!

Minding one's business is a philosophy taught to every youth
In every school yard across America
But I knew this girl from Anatomy & Physiology
God, how I dreaded that class
In all truth,  I find it completely farcical that I often end up
At the hindquarters of every dying discourse
But I assume it's because I'm always conscripting tiny banks of audacity or intestinal fortitude 
For efforts to make my words engaging.

We discuss old passions and what became of whom
I am surprised by a sudden selfishness as she informs me of those doing worse than myself
It makes me feel better about the fact that I am not as ambitious as I feel I should be
Again, selfishness
Tales of aborted love affairs and irresponsible thinking

Bidding farewell, I am late and there is a first time for everything
Breathless from choking down cigarettes, I climb the stairs
Today was a day for damning my existence, evaluating silent romances
And practicing brisk pragmatism

Friday, June 12, 2009

Lists for Liars

To Do Everyday:

  1. read a poem
  2. write a poem
  3. listen to a good song
  4. eat good food
  5. make something to be proud of
  6. express humble gratitude
  7. drink good tea
  8. touch the earth 
  9. watch the sky
  10. let go of inhibitions
  11. eat fruit (for the body)

Sunday, May 31, 2009

I am an avid collector of good cover songs and I have built quite a playlist of them. If anyone who bothers to read this stumbles across a good cover song, please be kind and send them my way

Thnks Bunches,
Keith

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Drawing Final: Spring 09



 Portrait on nine sheets of about 12x12 paper and one 15x20
Sorry about crappy wall, but I was in a rush
Johnny Cash
Assignment was to find an image and draw it in a grid. One piece should be larger than the rest.
Close up on largest piece.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Summer Summer, Oh Bummer

Tonight, 
Yes, this very night
A overwhelming wave of melancholy crashed against my fragile frame
And I believe I stood with open arms
Welcoming the tidal wave of crushing emotions
I divulge in literature and writing to occupy my mind but
I have developed a longing for a girl
Who fascinates me more than any other
Yet, who I feel like I only know by the narrowest of margins
Again, typical me
So, the expanse of music collection mirrors my emotions
Throwing at me the sappiest of songs I sometimes forget could bring me to tears
Blah Blah Blah
Oh, and here is my favorite bit
It is completely impossible to know if my feelings of almost deep infatuation are felt in return by said young woman
I guess it isn't the improbable cause of my lack of inspiration, huh?

Oh, and Venn Diagrams!
Lately, these devices of comparison have made frequent appearances in my sketchbook
They seem natural
Organic, if you will
Great, another sad sad song
Only in the summer do I feel this way

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Seventy-Six Days Plus

God, these hunger pangs
No socks
No shirt
Solitary light seeping from the refrigerator
Boylan Bottleworks Black Cherry
Inaudible breathing in the upper levels of the edifice
I hate writing like this
Narratively
Descriptively

A lone tear fell when my eyes fell upon this house
I said to myself
"Here...again?"
These people do not know me
As much as they believe they do
And I lack the adroitness to tell them as such
And no longer do I find comfort in my old allies
We share no common ground
"Yo, you hear that new Gucci?"
"No, but lately my migraines have grown past the level of incapacitating"
"So...you wanna hear that Gucci or what?"
I guess one could say I've been dreaming of freedom again.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

C2-106C

I came to, ears still ringing from the night before
Rolling out of a bed that is not my own
I grab my dirty shoes and worn flannel shirt
Stumbling torpidly toward the front door in a semi-hypnotic state of subconsciousness
I am deathly silent
I am inches away from the exit
Inches away from disappearing without making a sound
A sudden movement in my peripheral vision
"You're leaving."
"Yeah, I'm going to do work"
I am given looks of uncertainty and despondency
"Okay...well I'll see you at some point"

Is it wrong, when one knows his heart is elsewhere, to try to give affection to another?
Specifically
In that very room
Tucked in a blanket
Uncomfortable with the adjacent situation
I find it hardly fathomable that the mind and heart
can ever concur
They are of opposite poles

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Data Transfers

Exhausted.
Feet blistered from a day of extensive walking
I lay my heavy head against the cold glass
and drown out the drones of conversations around me
Somewhere around Dover
she lay her head on my shoulder
Could I have been dreaming?
No way to be sure 
The brain does peculiar things when it lacks what it needs
I lean into the window 
in efforts to create a comfort zone for her
(or the apparition of her)
My neck
It hurts
From hours of being still
She shifts...closer
And she is warm
And this song is a cover
And this gum is stale
A few more miles to Baltimore

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Flickr Flickr Quicker

I have not finished scanning these but they're coming.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Helplessness Hood





This was an Elements of Visual Thinking project. The assignment was to engage a space (that space being the classroom) so that it is changed from its normal function. I used this canvas hood to blind me of sight, smell and a bit of hearing and I also vowed silence so that I was completely vulnerable to the outside world. I let the class do what they pleased with me. The real point of this hood was to show how humans act when given power and how, in most instances, the power is abused. I was lead into walls, objects were thrown at me, I was taunted and overall, I was used as an object of amusement. 

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Six More Days at the Bottom of the Ocean

Violet-black skies linger over head
I see her everywhere
Apparitions of that face surrounding me,
There and there,
Here and here 

Spring arrives and astonishment ensues
Petals adhered to the wet, cement stairs
Yet, the formality of it all is profound

Just then, the Great Star crawled over the horizon
but my intentions are flawed
Just as they were when you knew me

Those trees are dampened with the dew of daybreak
and I think I own too many readings on the local flora and fauna
Names and names of things I have yet to encounter

This wind is whipping far to violently for me to bear today
Shake off the dust from my trusty, five-year-old windbreaker
grab my camera
and get a late start on an early day


Tuesday, April 7, 2009

I closed my eyes
and opened my ears to full capacity.
I heard a voice
but the words were in a voice I could not comprehend
I can only imagine
that what was said was nothing in my favor
and a stab at my character

On this journey, I have met too many individuals
who concern themselves solely with richness and decadence
fame and fortune,
and things of that nature
Me?
No, I am not the same
for my only goal in life is to make a sincere impact on as many people I encounter as possible; whether it be positive or negative
I want to be remembered
That is all.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and ten.



Friday, March 13, 2009

Ceci n'est pas une pipe

vain, vane, vein

I am a man of peculiar tastes
mmm...food

I've had recent run-ins with old friends--the majority being the imaginary ones--and I realize how much of a change I have made as a being. 
I used to think it was possible to ensconce oneself on clouds. I made it my primary goal in life. I later found out it wasn't possible. I cried for hours upon hours.
"I quit my job and moved to live in France for a short while, because I wanted to spend time with a girl that fascinates me more than anybody I have ever known"

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

This Didn't Go Over Well But...


I'll post it anyways...




So many ideas went into this self-portrait series, that it was too hard for the class to grasp. I have to find a simple way to incorporate all my ideas without confusing the viewer. Two of the drawings are layered tracing paper sketches of my face: one in india ink, the other in pencil. One is chalk & charcoal on toffee colored paper and the last is just ebony pencil on found paper. All the drawings have a projection of a photograph of me onto them. So many concepts, so little time.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Stream of Consciousness is So Overdone

There are times when I stop and think

about the choices I have made

and how arbitrary they have become

Based on nothing but pleasure of the flesh

So I think of what good they have done

...nothing

I draw up blank.

In the meantime, I compare myself to those idolize.

Of course, with my own revisionism

and I make of mold of that which I chose to be

which I long to be

I have so much work to do.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Mo' Sketches, Mo' Problems. 5x3 Moleskine






word.

Trojan Horse

watch the branches sway
and we go where eagles dare
spin out, baby, spin

Friday, February 13, 2009

Thursday, February 12, 2009

8 Words


They can only shut me for so long!!!

#1

there is a castle
on a hill
and I am approaching its peak
and the winds whips
and my ears tear
and my legs are weak
but I continue to push
because beautiful fields arise before me
but I'm not sure how much more of this I can take

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

photographs


unexpected
can 
be 
beautiful
http://www.flickr.com/photos/operationdoom/

Monday, February 9, 2009

untitled.

it
is
only
the 
wind
that
rustles
the
trees
.

The Artist's Warning!


Don't push an artist because we already live close to the edge!! LEARN YOUR LIMITS!! Appreciate the art because if we didn't CREATE the SHIT that you LOVE you would stand TRAPPED in a BLAND WORLD! DON'T JUDGE US! DON'T QUESTION US! DON'T CRITICIZE US! It takes a lot to OPEN our HEARTS and POUR ourselves to you! My WORLD is not the SAME as your world. I have seen SHIT that you would NEVER understand and if you saw it you'd KILL yourself! I FEEL PAIN that you'd never be able to TOLERATE! I don't always SMILE because I'm HAPPY, sometimes I just smile because it FEELS great! We don't have to do what we do! We are giving out gifts for free! Merry Fucking Christmas!! Don't complain about a GIFT! Consider yourself LUCKY, and consider yourself WARNED!  

Sunday, February 8, 2009

If | 2.8.09

Tessa said :
"You know, there is only a fine line between genius and insanity"
and it wasn't the first time I'd heard that.
Not that I am a genius or anything (nor do I try to be) but 
for those geniuses out there, 
one could interpret that many ways

Meanwhile
I am rotting away
I feel like a flightless bird
knowing my potential and seeing what my peers can do
yet feeling so uninspired that I just don't even try to get my feet off the ground
"what a waste of talent"

"Hurting someone is an act of reluctant intimacy"

Today was the most one of the beautiful days of the new year.

Sometimes I wish I was a snake so I could stick out my tongue and taste the air

taste the joy,

taste the relief,

taste the life within it

feeling the wind gust whipping against my skin

and the faint sounds of children skipping in praise of the day

it is at times like these...I am okay

it feels good to feel alive every once in a while

Saturday, February 7, 2009

goobledeegook

my mother always told me to "choose your friends wisely"
naturally, i didn't listen
but to watch a friend hurt a friend hurts, my friend
so i have to make my choices wisely.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

an ode to mass

James and I went to Mass
but neither of us is Catholic
so we knew nothing of what to expect
but, both of us being Christian, we knew what Communion was
and we could make it through that
as we walked thru the pews, I was amazed at the how grand and gothic everything was compared to all the churches I had attended
I listened to the Word of God
I ate His son's flesh
I drank His son's blood
and we sang the closing hymn
as I exited the doors of the House of the Lord
I felt as though I had just been rained on
and as I looked at James, I could tell he felt the same
it's funny how a little worship can change a man


Tuesday, February 3, 2009

because...

Love
is
not
a
synonym
for
eternity

Importance of Quietus

yesterday, one of my roommates friends passed away
despite our differences, i was sympathetic
he was so down; as i have never seen him before
it is at times like these i realize people all have feelings no matter what
and death makes us all realize that

Thursday, January 29, 2009

welcome
we are a collective
and we want to be your pal.

We Humans are Condemned to Be Free

i don't remember much of what she said
i remember the crying
always crying
things never change
she still cries to this day
but there is something comforting in her tears
i think absence is the key to painlessness
but these things are never easy for the weak
we give in to empathy
God...empathy?

she laid her head on my chest

"i think i'm comfortable with you"

i think you're delusional

"yeah...i guess, if you want to put it that way"

"what do you mean?"

"you're always comfortable with me when you're hurting"

perfect.
i'm no good at things of this sort

at least we know things won't change