THEY KNOW THINGS THAT WE DON’T
THEY KNOW THINGS THAT WE DON’T, 36 x 24, acrylic on canvas, by Jesse Sublett, $595, from Jesse Sublett’s Little Black Book
A new piece added to the ART page, above: “THEY KNOW THINGS THAT WE DON’T.” Yes, another one with grackles. AND another chapter in the Grackle Chronicles.
But first, this message from the New York Times, one of the best bits in the Sunday’s edition, about the fabulously successful author Neil Gaiman, which I filed in the “I can relate” department:
[Neil Gaiman's] first published book — “written solely for the money,” he says — was “Duran Duran: The First Four Years of the Fab Five” (1984). “I got a phone call from a lady,” Gaiman explains in an interview cited in the book, “and she said would you like to write a rock ’n’ roll book for us? A rock ’n’ roll biography? And I thought, ‘Oh God, yes! I’m in!’ ” Gaiman suggested a handful of subjects, including the Velvet Underground, David Bowie and Elvis Costello, before the editor interrupted: “Do you want to write the Duran Duran book, the Barry Manilow book or the Def Leppard book?” Pragmatism led him to choose the relative newcomers Duran Duran. “With Barry Manilow,” he said, “I figured I was going to have to listen to, you know, 40 Barry Manilow albums.”
GRACKLE PROFILING
Grackle
rolling down South Congress Avenue
in a ‘74 Ford LTD
talking to himself
as he floats past Enoteca
a mockingbird
says
to a blue jay
“Never mind the grackle, Jake, it’s SoCo.”
Grackle
turns left on Annie, rolling east
proud of that machine
not all that much rust
or Bondo
vinyl top patched with duct tape
on the left side
plywood in the opera window
of that Detroit beast
Grackle
running on about this & that
pea brain working overtime
midnight black, raven shape
split second later
matador with a black cape
Grackle
talking squawks & rattles
loudmouth beak
trash truck of beer cans
backward whistles
airplane cabin with a compression leak
LTD
riding low, white wall retreads
brass balls striking sparks on a speed bump
muffler killing your ear drums dead
radiator leak, bad head gasket
burning oil tail feathers
big as the Hindenburg
what the hell is he saying?
now & then a human word
dumbass Suburban driver
woodpecker cell phone texting
comatose as the light changes
grackle perches on the horn
hollers out
“Hey shit bird!”
FINALLY: Don’t forget these dates for for “Broke, Not Broken: Homer Maxey’s Texas Bank War,” by Broadus A. Spivey and Jesse Sublett August 5, 7 PM, BookPeople: The Austin premier book party. August 15, 7 PM, Barnes & Noble Lubbock: The West Texas book party, with Broadus A. Spivey, Jesse Sublett AND special guest, Glenna Goodacre. Texas Tech Catalogue page for Broke, Not Broken: Homer Maxey’s Texas Bank War. Like us on FaceBook to keep up with upcoming events, reviews & news about the book and the authors.
Broke, Not Broken: Homer Maxey’s Texas Bank War, by Broadus A. Spivey & Jesse Sublett
