These were the shoes he wore. Notice the soles are thin. He’d walked many miles in these trying to get ahead.
This was his favourite jacket. He felt wealthy when he wore it. Even though it had holes in the pockets.
This is the shirt he called his lucky one. He always wore it to important meetings and although nothing ever came of them he felt this shirt would bring him luck. Someday.
These were his favourite pants – he’d been married in them. Twice.
This was the hat he wore everyday. It shielded his head from the rain and the wind and the sun. And if he pulled the brim down, from everyone.
This is the map he lost just before he lost his way.
These are the tears he cried when he had nowhere to go.
This is the heart you broke and you didn’t even know.
These are your letters he kept when he believed in you.
This is the photo of his mother who thought he was precious.
Where are the friends he helped instead of helping himself?
This is his favourite song that he played every night.
This is the movie he said changed his life.
These are the books he loved now all packed away.
Who saw him last?
(C) Frank Howson 2019
Posted in 9/11 , Action , Action Movies , Aged , Alamo , Animals , Art , Arts , Australia , Australia Day , Battle , Beach , Beggars , Berlin , Bias , Boats , Cafe , Calvary , Cats , Children , Chinatown , Chlldhood , Christmas , Cigarettes , Circus , Citizen Kane , City , Civil War , Classics , Coffee , Creative , Crime , Critics , Damage , Dance , Dancing , Directing , Dogs , Dream , Dreamers , Easter , Fame , Family , Family Tree , Fathers , Fear , Fiction , Fight Game , Fighter , Film Business , Film Directing , Film Festivals , Film Frstivals , Folk Heroes , France , Frank Howson , Freedom of Speech , Glory , God , Hemingway , Heroes , History , Hollywood , Holocaust , Homeless , Houdini , Humanity , Husband , Infidel , Interrogation , Ireland , Irish , Jerusalem , Jessica , Jesus , Jewish , Las Vegas , Life , London , Lonely , Los Angeles , Love , Lovers , Marilyn Monroe , Marriage , Married , Media , Merlot , Mothers , Movie Stars , Ned Kelly , New York , Night , Night Club , Nightclubs , Obervations , Old Men , Opinion , P.F. Sloan , Paris , Poem , Poet , Poetry , Political , Politics , Press , Prisoner , Prose , Records , Regret , Romance , School , Secret Agent Man , Sensual , Sherlock Holmes , Social Comment , Sons , St. KIlda , Stars , Strangers , Street People , Stripped , Sway , The Boxer , The Kinks , The Ring , The Sultan of Swat , Theater , Theatre , Tony Curtis , Trump , Twin Peaks , Ulysses Grant , Uncategorized , Valentine , Valentino , Vegas , Victims of War , Villains , Warren Zevon , Weapons , What's Exactly The Matter With Me? , Wife , Wine , Writer , Writing , Yes Virginia , Youth , Zoo
Tagged 9/11 , Abuse , Acting , Action , Action Movies , Actor , Actors & Actresses , American Civil War , Angels , anger , Animals , Art , Arts , Balcony , Baseball , Battle , Beach , Behind The Scenes , Betrayal , Bias , Birds , Blacklist , Bob Dylan , Bobby Darin , Book , Boxing , Brian Wilson , Business , Cafe , Casino , Cats , Cheating , Childhood , Children , Childrens , Christianity , Christmas , Cigarettes , Circus , Clowns , Cocaine , Coffee , Cole Porter , Concert , Congress , Creative , Creative Process , Crime , Critics , Dance , Dancing , Death , Directing , Director , Dogs , Doritos , Dreamers , Dreams , Drugs , Easter , Electric , Electric Guitars , Elvis , failures , Fairness , Fame , Families , Family , Family Tree , Fantasy , Fathers , Fiction , Fiction Writing , Fighting , Film , Film Festival , Forgiveness , France , Freedom of Speech , French language , Games , Gandhi , Gangsters , Genocide , Germany , Giving , Glory , God , Grateful Dead , Happy , Health , Heaven , Hemingway , Heroes , Hobos , Hollywood , Holocaust , Home , Homeless , Homeward Bound , Hong Kong , Human , Humanity , Humor , Hunter Thompson , Husband , Idols , Ireland , Irish , It's A Wonderful Life , Jealousy , Jerusalem , Jesus , Jewish , Johnny Cash , Johnny Depp , Journalists , Judge , Jury , Justice , Kids , Kings , Lamborghini , Las Vegas , Legal , Legend , Lessons , Letting Go , lierature , Life , Life and Times , Lincoln , Literature , London , Lonely , Los Angeles , Loss , Love , Lovers , Magic , Marilyn Monroe , Marlon Brando , Married , Media , Memories , Merlot , mistakes , Monogamy , Morality , Mother , Movie Industry , Movie Stars , Movies , Music , Musical , Mystery , Napoleon , Nature , Nazis , Nest , New Orleans , New York , News Coverage , Night , Night Club , Night Clubs , Nightclubs , O , Observation , Observations , Old Men , Orson Welles , Oscar Wilde , Outsiders , P , Painting , Paris , Perfect , Performance , Persecution , Personal Stories , Pets , Pick-Up Artist , Poem , Poet , Poetry , Political , Politics , ppp , Pregnancy , Press , Prison , Production , Prohibition , Prose , Psychology , Public , Public Life , Recreation , Redemption , Regret , regrets , relationship , Relationships , Religion , Religion and Spirituality , Reporting , Romance , Romans , Roots , Roulette , Roy Orbison , Santa Claus , School , School Days , Secrets , Sensual , Sexual , Sherlock Holmes , Shopping , Sin City , Social Comment , Social Commentary , Social Sciences , Song , Sons , Sports , Stage , Stars , Stories , Story , Strangers , Stripped , Sun , Sydney , Taco Bell , Terrorism , Thanks , The , The Beach Boys , The Eagles , The Game , The Kinks , The Sporting Life , Theater , Theatre , Thought , Truth , Twin Peaks , United States , Valentine , Vegas , Video Games , Vietnam , Villain , Virginia , Wagner , War , Warren Zevon , Wife , William Shakespeare , Wine , Wonder , Writer , Writing , You , You are , Youth , Zoo
Jul · 05
The heavy decrepit bodies of the great and not so, mingled with their offsprings, children too young to realise that this too would be their fate. Pathetic men way past their glory days paraded pretending that they still had it, while bored defeated women looked on knowing they didn’t.
It was another day at the enclosed perfectly temperatured salt baths. The warmth was comforting to the skin and the soul and made old bones and muscles feel rejuvenated. The inhabitants floated safe in this maternal womb away from the business deals that no longer mattered in a world that no longer cared and was on its last legs. Some old guys studied the racing form while younger middle-aged men preferred the stock market. Some gambled with their own money while others ventured with what they had married into, or had inherited. All in all there’d be few winners that day. There were no more lucky numbers to be had, or surprise gold and mineral funds in a world that had been looted, raped and gang banged so many times there was nothing left. Certainly not energy for outrage. Only resentment from natives who had been trampled under foot and squashed by the invaders who destroyed paradise without ever having taken the time to truly look around and realise the greatest wealth was above the ground. But like rats they burrowed lower and lower into darkness desperate for any shiny morsel of opportunity. Never thinking any further ahead than that.
We had destroyed the world without realising that such an abomination also destroyed ourselves. What we project outwards also implodes us. Given time.
I stood in the warm salt water as the floating bodies of the dead and the dying circled me.
(C) Frank Howson 2019
Sketch by Frank Howson.
Posted in Action , Action Movies , Aged , Alamo , Amy Winehouse , Animals , Arts , Australia , Australia Day , Battle , Bias , Blue Eyes , Bob Dylan , Boston Red Soxx , Cafe , Cary Grant , Casino , Cats , Chinatown , Chlldhood , Chopper Read , Cigarettes , Citizen Kane , Clark Gable , Clinton , Coffee , Cowboys , Crime , Critics , Damage , Directing , Dream , Dreamers , Electric , Elvis , Errol Flynn , F. Scott Fitzgerald , Family , Fear , Fight Game , Fighter , Film Directing , Folk Heroes , Francis Church , Frank Howson , Gangsters , Glory , God , Gratefiul Dead , Greville Street , Hank Williams , History , Hollywood , Hong Kong , Humanity , Infidel , Ireland , Irish , It's A Wonderful Life , Jail , Jerusalem , Jessica , John Lennon , Keith Richards , Lincoln , London , Lovers , Lynard Skynard , Marriage , Married , Media , Melvyn Douglas , Merlot , Movies , Music Business , Nazis , New Orleans , New York , Night Club , Obervations , Old Men , Orson Welles , Oscar Wilde , Our Times , P.F. Sloan , Playboy , Poem , Poet , Political , Politics , Prose , Recordings , Records , Renee Geyer , Robin Williams , Rod McKuen , Romance , Satan , School , School Years , Sensual , Sexual , Sherman Oaks , Social Comment , St. KIlda , Stage Craft , Terri Garber , Terrorism , The Beach Boys , The Boxer , The Kinks , The Sea , The Yankees , Ther Beach Boys , Tinsel Town , Tony Curtis , Twin Peaks , Ulysses Grant , Uncategorized , Valentino , Verse , War , Warren Zevon , Werewolves , Werewolves of London , What's Exactly The Matter With Me? , Wine , Writer , Writing , Yes Virginia , Zoo
Tagged 9/11 , Abuse , Acting , Action , Action Movies , Actor , American Civil War , Angels , anger , Animals , Art , Arts , Babe Ruth , Balcony , Baseball , Battle , Beach , Beggars , Behind The Scenes , Betrayal , Bias , Birds , Blacklist , Bob Dylan , Bobby Darin , Book , Boxing , Brian Wilson , Business , Cafe , Calvary , Casino , Cats , Cheating , Chelsea Hotel , Childhood , Children , Childrens , Christianity , Christmas , Cigarettes , Circus , Clowns , Cocaine , Coffee , Cole Porter , Concert , Congress , Creative , Creative Process , Crime , Critics , Dance , Dancing , Death , Directing , Director , Dodger Stadium , Dogs , Doritos , Dreamers , Dreams , Drugs , Easter , Electric , Electric Guitars , Elvis , failures , Fairness , Fame , Families , Family , Family Tree , Fantasy , Fathers , Fiction , Fiction Writing , Fighting , Film , Film Festival , Film Making , Forgiveness , France , Freedom of Speech , French language , Games , Gandhi , Gangsters , Genocide , Germany , Giving , Glory , God , Grateful Dead , Hank Williams , Happy , Health , Heaven , Hemingway , Heroes , Hobos , Hollywood , Hollywood Boulevard , Holocaust , Home , Homeless , Homeward Bound , Hong Kong , Human , Humanity , Humor , Hunter Thompson , Husband , Idols , Infidel , Ireland , Irish , It's A Wonderful Life , James Stewart , Jealousy , Jerusalem , Jesus , Jewish , Johnny Cash , Johnny Depp , Journalists , Judge , Jury , Justice , Kids , Kings , Kings Cross , Lamborghini , Las Vegas , Legal , Legend , Lessons , Letting Go , lierature , Life , Life and Times , Lincoln , Literature , London , Lonely , Los Angeles , Loss , Love , Lovers , Magic , Make Believe , Making Movies , Marilyn Monroe , Marlon Brando , Married , Media , Memories , Merlot , mistakes , Monogamy , Moral Dilemma , Morality , Mother , Movie Industry , Movie Stars , Movies , Music , Musical , Mystery , Napoleon , Nature , Nazis , Nest , New Orleans , New York , News Coverage , Night , Night Club , Night Clubs , Nightclubs , Nile , O , Observation , Observations , Old Men , Orson Welles , Oscar Wilde , Outsiders , Painting , Paris , Perfect , Performance , Persecution , Personal Stories , Pets , Pick-Up Artist , Poem , Poet , Poetry , Political , Politics , Pregnancy , Press , Prison , Prisoner , Production , Prohibition , Prose , Psychology , Public , Public Life , Recreation , Redemption , Regret , regrets , relationship , Relationships , Religion , Religion and Spirituality , Reporting , Romance , Romans , Roots , Roulette , Roy Orbison , Santa Claus , School , School Days , Secrets , Sensual , Sexual , Sherlock Holmes , Sherman Oaks , Shopping , Sin City , Social Comment , Social Commentary , Social Sciences , Song , Sons , Sports , Stage , Stars , Stories , Story , Strangers , Stripped , Sun , Sydney , Taco Bell , Terrorism , Thanks , The , The Beach Boys , The Beat , The Eagles , The Game , The Kinks , The Ring , The Sporting Life , Theater , Theatre , Thought , Tightrope , Tortilla , Truth , Twelfth Night , Twin Peaks , United States , Valentine , Vegas , Video Games , Vietnam , Villain , Virginia , Wagner , War , Warren Zevon , Wife , William Shakespeare , Wine , Wonder , Writer , Writing , You , You are , Youth , Zoo
Mar · 25
across town
big jake
will use her
again and again
until he is
done
until the fantasies
he harbored
behind her
back
are played out
in living color
until her moans
and whimpering
tell him he’s the best
and not to ever
leave
he will leave
and she will remember
him
and her breathing will
seduce her
and make her melt
blush
bad girl
as she finds
the swing and
pushes
it
crying out his name
as she comes
to her insanity
that it’s better this way
and he will smirk
in a bar
with pals
detailing his conquest
another notch on his belt
along with julie
and the dumb one
and the blonde on location
that couldn’t speak english
and the other
with the limp
and dog that talked
more sense than
she
he will drink to her
the goddess
brought down to earth
onto the next
who will
offer
her secrets
begging that they
be taken
hard
before we all go
soft
and then home
she had so wanted to see harry potter
with him
and her daughter
but he couldn’t make it
he will catch up with her daughter
some other time
he says
i don’t doubt that
i once saw
a cowboy movie
where they hanged the wrong
man
I never went back again
for years
to sit in the dark
why give money
to have a dream
come out
like
that?
I could’ve repaired your
wing
but I think you must like
it
the way it is
me
myself
I
like happy endings
if you can find any
call me
(c) Frank Howson 2013
Posted in Arts , Battle , Beggars , Bias , Creative , Directing , Dreamers , Fame , Fathers , Film Business , Film Directing , Frank Howson , Freedom of Speech , God , Heroes , Hollywood , Humanity , Life , Los Angeles , Love , Lovers , Mardi Gra , Movie Stars , Movies , Obervations , Opinion , Our Times , Poem , Poet , Poetry , Political , Politics , Press , Prose , Regret , Sensual , Sexual , Social Comment , Stars , Street People , Stripped , Terrorism , The Ring , Theater , Tinsel Town , Uncategorized , Writing
Tagged Arts , Creative , Creative Process , Directing , Director , Fathers , Fiction Writing , Film Business , Frank Howson , Heaven , Hollywood , Kings , Life , Literature , Los Angeles , Lovers , Make Believe , Media , Movies , Observation , Poem , Poet , Poetry , Politics , Regret , Reporting , Sensual , Sexual , Social Comment , Sons , Stage , Stars , Story , Stripped , Tightrope , Writer , Writing
Sep · 27