The Last Romantic Verb: From Out of the City

In the run up to the release, June 9th, of my CD entitled THE LAST ROMANTIC VERB, I am going to post a series of discussions of the poems contained within...

and to be fair, let's do this chronologically, in the order they play.

We kick off with FROM OUT OF THE CITY, certainly a most durable work. Some have speculated it is about at September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, but that is total hogwash. The warning about the "madness of martyrs" contained in it is a generic warning about anyone who believes so much in their truth that they will die (or kill) to preserve it. This poem was actually written a few years before the attacks, anyway.

The "City" is metaphorical, allegorical. It is the virtual city of thought, of dreams, of belief, of arts, of literature, of human culture and civilization. It is more than the global community, more than my own City of Legends.

The poem is a warning and a celebration of life, mysticism, truth, poetry and hope. The "Prophet" in the poem is anyone who seeks to build themselves up with self-importance, as they will be judged "in accordance with the law". I have lived long enough to see so many artists, politicians and religious figures claim themselves as watershed figures in the resurrection of an art, a cause, a faith, only to be proven false prophets. In The Holy Bible, false prophets are to be stoned to death, not given a book contract with Zondervan.

And finally, the poem is a warning about indifference. "The violence of indifference". I recall a radio commercial a few years back where you can clearly hear a man beating a woman in the next apartment....after several seconds, the voice over comes on to say "If they were playing their music that loud, you'd say something."

Yes, those who stand by when lies are told, who show indifference to falsehoods, who are avoiding their responsibilities to life and the human condition, they are conducting their own acts of violence.

I chose for this reading a series of sound filters to make it sound like I was speaking through a distant radio signal. Some have said it sounds like I am a signal coming in from outer space, playing intelligent life as a warning to mankind. Klaatu barada nikto, anyone? Others say it sounds like the communications from the demon world in "Prince of Darkness". In any case, I find the effect chilling and potent. While atypical of the rest of the CD, it opens a door into my sphere.

This piece opens the CD and segues into the arc known as "Erotic V", which is a musical sequence of eight poems with a soft but persistent erotic/romantic lilt to them. More about them, later.