Desert Rain

poem & photo by Elizabeth

                                                             DESERT RAIN
                                          mud seeps
                                                                    between bare toes
                                                        almost naked I walk miles
                                                                                      soaked in desert rain
                                                and catch it with my tongue

                                                                                       laughing as my mother
walks the balance beam of stone walls
                                              while her husband and I point at Catalina cows
        and shout Buffalo, buffalo! and she so nearsighted
                                                             believes us

                               spinning
                                               wrists held tight as Geno soars me
                                                                                                           round &
                                    round
                                                           parallel to the ground

                chimes        bells         ice cr
                                                                   eam delivered by truck
                                                   treasured pink          green
                                                                             yellow plastic dogs
                                                                                            birds
                                                                               tigers buried in
                                           chocolate  strawberry  vanilla to be lipped
                                                                                   licked
                               sucked away

                                                                                        curled like a sow bug
                                                                                laughing
                                                   belly aching as a finger waving in air
                                       tickles as effectively as one would
                                                                                                   touching

Thank you to the editor of Something Like Homesickness for first publishing this poem.

Exit Through the Gift Shop

photo by Elizabeth

In the summer of 2009, a friend drove me past this sign, which I had to jump out and photograph while she drove around the block.

Turned out to be a happening for an artist involved with Exit Through the Gift Shop , a documentary that focused on Banksy: underground and overground hero, artist, thinker and social critic. He is illusive, creative, technically stunning, brave, quick and smart. While some argue that he is the best graffitist, Banksy has many peers.

Throughout the world, usually by night, graffiti artists draw attention to the greed and propaganda that relentlessly pushes products, images and manufactured lives into the primal part of our brains. Six repetitions is often enough to bypass our critical thinking skills so that we think something false is true. Yet these people and corporations cry foul when graffiti reveals the real cost of their words, images and products.

Exit Through the Gift Shop not only exposes ruthless greed, but also graffitists’ sensibility and artistic craft, courage and brilliant social commentary. This film explores both some of the best graffiti and guerilla art waged and why Life Is Beautiful!

She Enlivened

“Self-portrait” charcoal & photo by Elizabeth

Carla Zilbersmith, inspiring theatre arts creative director, teacher, singer and comedian to her final words, wrote and performed her critically acclaimed one-woman show not long before her ALS diagnoses, which undermined the serious interest about to bring “The Wedding Singer” and Zilbersmith to a larger audience.

Wedding Singer Blues Carla Zilbersmith

Carla is part of my self-portrait since she helped me develop hand character for my class monologue. People loved Carla. I loved Carla. There are no words for such loss except ALS sucks! and her own:

http://carlamuses.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=688804606&ref=ts