A film about the singer Tina Turner and how she rose to stardom with her abusive husband Ike Turner and how she gained the courage to break free.

This is such a powerful film to watch, everyone knows Tina Turner’s music and possibly know that she had an abusive relationship. While I don’t think its certain which parts of this are completely true to life, that really does not matter. As the hitting and abuse scenes are all horrible to watch and have to experience, especially knowing that he did beat her up quite a lot over the years. The rape scene had to be the worst to watch and I am sure people watching will feel the same way I did trying not to actually watch it as it was just awful.

Tina Turner/Anna Mae Bullock had such an awful life with her husband Ike Turner this film tracks her rise as a singer and the years of abuse she put up with. Until she decided to do something about it, hitting back at him was the start of leaving him and the divorce. That scene in the film when they fight in the car was a fantastic moment, seeing her hit him and give him some of his own medicine. Which may sound strange, but if you watch the film you will understand how brilliant the moment is as you really do feel so bad for her and that is all just fantastic in terms of him eventually getting punched/kicked etc.

Not only was the divorce the end of such an awful period of her life, it was also the start of a new type of music for Tina, with the final scene being her performance at the Ritz. With her new rock style ready to go, with the song “What’s love got to do with it” which was such a fantastic way to tie up the film. (I have not stopped listening to that song, since watching the film). Ike watching in the audience, he tried to tell her that it would not work and her fans would not like it. But such a fantastic way to start the next chapter of her life and career, and what a career it really has been and she is very much still going strong today, touring and releasing new albums. 

The film really does take you on an emotional rollercoaster which makes you just want to watch it ,as you know what happens in the end that she does go onto create a fantastic career for herself and getting away from Ike. It is still a journey to watch it, seeing how she managed to get through things and eventually break away.

Performance wise I really do think both Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne really deserved their Oscar Nominations for the leading roles of Tina and Ike Turner. As they really were just fantastic, I have not looked to see who won and who else was nominated in 1994, but the winners must really have been outstanding. As I do not think you will find better performances for a pairing like this. I suppose one way to really explain how good Laurence Fishburne was it will always make me look at him in a different way now!

My father arrived in the Philippines on vacation a week after Riley and I got here, and almost immediately he took to keeping late hours. I probably wouldn’t give a damn if it weren’t for the fact that my mom paid for his ticket and is working 70+ hours a week in order to pay for the mortgage and utilities that he’ll come home to – but both are the case. My mom’s the martyr. Again.

Forget that my mom’s disabled and doesn’t know how to drive, so she’s limping her way to and from work everyday. Forget that it’s her own damn fault; she knows he’ll never stop cheating and that she’ll never get over the fact that he never stops cheating, and she sticks around anyway. That’s bad enough, but what makes it worse it this: Here my dad is, fucking around on his wife’s dime, and when he gets back to New York he’ll continue treating her like shit. Calling her names. Yanking her hair like he’s a 5-year old on a tantrum. Making fun of the way she walks, the way she talks, the way she thinks, she way she keeps house, etc. She’ll have tricked herself into staying with him – out of pity, out of fear, out of loyalty, out of comfort, out of stupidity – and he’ll continue to be a jerk.

In years past, I would’ve made a big stink about this. I would’ve called my dad out on his bullshit, told my mom what’s going on, and found the other woman and [threatened to] beat the shit out of her. I would’ve spent countless hours agonizing about what my father’s adultery has to do with the way I see love and relationships and men. I would’ve blamed him for all the problems I’ve had with love and relationships and men. I would’ve stayed on my high horse, looking down at my dad for being an asshole and my mom for being unable to leave him.

But I’m not doing any of it anymore.

Maybe it’s because I realize that there’s nothing I can do or say to make my mom realize that she’s worthy of happiness. Maybe it’s because I know there’s nothing I can do to make my dad stop cheating. Maybe it’s because I’m in a functional, happy relationship with an amazing guy. Maybe it’s because I’m living in a country whose culture deems male adultery “normal”. Maybe it’s because I have enough on my plate, and now that I have my own family, the concerns of my parents are none of my business. Maybe it never was, and I was just too immature or bleeding-hearted or disillusioned or ideastic to realize this.

All I know is, I’m walking away from all of this. From all of the problems, all of the tears, all of the heartache, all of the dysfunction. I’m making sure that I’m all about my own family (Rob and Riley) and the things that make me happy (writing, blogging, staying in contact with friends and extended family, working out, doing well in school, stepping up my billiards game, etc.). My actions dictate that I am my own person, independent of the lunacy that is my mom and dad’s marriage. But don’t think I’m cold-hearted. I still care. I’ll always wish for my parents’ marriage to be a happy one. I’ll always think that my dad is an asshole for treating my mom like garbage. I’ll always question my mom’s emotional maturity for not having the balls to leave my dad. I still care. No matter how hard it is for me to swallow that fact, it’s there, living under my skin, right below the surface, right where my tears meet the air. I still care. And I’ll probably always care. Always. The same amount of time that my dad will be cheating and my mom will be staying by his side.

AMOR. s. Insania temporal curable mediante el matrimonio, o alejando al paciente de las influencias bajo las cuales ha contraído el mal. Esta enfermedad, como las caries y muchas otras, sólo se expande entre las razas civilizadas que viven en condiciones artificiales; las naciones bárbaras, que respiran el aire puro y comen alimentos sencillos, son inmunes a su devastación. A veces es fatal, aunque más frecuentemente para el médico que para el enfermo.

Ambrose Bierce en El Diccionario del Diablo (The Devil’s Dictionary, 1911).

(LOVE, n. A temporary insanity curable by marriage or by removal of the patient from the influences under which he incurred the disorder. This disease, like caries and many other ailments, is prevalent only among civilized races living under artificial conditions; barbarous nations breathing pure air and eating simple food enjoy immunity from its ravages. It is sometimes fatal, but more frequently to the physician than to the patient)

Jag läser ju en del andra bloggar va, rätt många faktiskt, men en av favoriterna har varit Hela Hustruns blogg. Nu ska jag väl inte redogöra eller recensera vad som är som gött med den bloggen, utan det här blir väl något slags metainlägg. MEN för er som inte vet så går idén ut på att Hustrun fortsätter-bloggar om sitt äktenskap och hur de ska hitta vägar i den formen som passar för deras relation.

Vilket som, läste om ett inlägg från i förrgår som i korta ordalag just handlar om dessa nya vägar och hur de som äkta makar ska ta itu med eventuella lustar att träffa andra och få flirta ohämmat och fritt.

Nu är jag varken gift eller i ett parförhållande allt är väl egentligen bara lekmannamässiga funderingar från min sida, men det är väldigt fascinerande att läsa om hur de tänker och resonerar kring olika “lösningar” i deras “problem”. Alltså, jag menar inte fascinerande som någon slags skräckförtjusning eller så va, utan genuint intressant.

Jag har inga goda råd eller enkla lösningar på hur de ska gå till väga, men det är ju nästan sjukt hur många andra i kommentarsfältet som verkligen gått in för att vara några slags förstå-sig-påare och minsann visa hur dessa två bäst gör i den här situtationen de försatt sig i.

Nu är väl Hustrun mycket väl medveten om att hon blottlägger delar av sitt liv (om än under täcknamn), och jag tror absolut att hon förväntar sig både ris och ros när man som Äkta Maka delar med sig av sina innersta viljor till att knulla andra karlar än den man gift sig med. Men ändå, är det här så konstigt? Är det inte bara helt naturligt i en relation att man känner sig lustfylld inför okända män eller kvinnor då och då, och att man faktiskt någon gång beslutar sig för att följa den lusten?

Även om flera av kommentarerna är stöttande och hoppfyllda känns det som att den givna undertonen är att Hustrun är skökan från helvetet som inget annat vill än att knulla på första bästa student medan maken sitter där hemma och deppar, väntar och bara vill vara gift och go.

Då och då kommer det dessutom in personer som minsann också känt så här, men alla valde skilsmässa och hipp happ – plötsligt har deras nya partner allt det där som den förra inte hade. För det är nog DÄR felet ligger, att Hustrun och Maken inte passar ihop egentligen.

Okej, det kanske blev lite väl till att lägga sig i, trots att jag påstod att jag inte skulle utfärda goda råd eller praktiska lösningar. Men det hela grejen stör mig så mycket, att man bara på grund av en blogg och ett blogginlägg anser sig ha sådan rätt att gå in och döma och nästintill ställa krav (syftar nog mest på de som propsar på skilsmässa här). Även om man anser sig ha helt sjukt goda intentioner med alla råd och tips så tror jag att det är lätt att glömma att DU inte befinner dig i den relation du så gärna vill styra upp, oavsett hur mycket Insikt du anser dig ha.

Feeling Fucked Up
Etheridge Knight

Lord she’s gone done left me done packed / up and split
and I with no way to make her
come back and everywhere the world is bare
bright bone white crystal sand glistens
dope death dead dying and jiving drove
her away made her take her laughter and her smiles
and her softness and her midnight sighs—

Fuck Coltrane and music and clouds drifting in the sky
fuck the sea and trees and the sky and birds
and alligators and all the animals that roam the earth
fuck marx and mao fuck fidel and nkrumah and
democracy and communism fuck smack and pot
and red ripe tomatoes fuck joseph fuck mary fuck
god jesus and all the disciples fuck fanon nixon
and malcolm fuck the revolution fuck freedom fuck
the whole muthafucking thing
all i want now is my woman back
so my soul can sing

Because this song has gotten me through some rough spots in the past. Because it just popped up on Ipod shuffle. Because it is a great example of syntax and line being simultaneous. Because, if you are someone who deserves it, this song kicks your ass.

“Changed the Locks”
Lucinda Williams

I changed the lock on my front door so you can’t see me anymore
And you can’t come inside my house, and you can’t lie down on my couch
I changed the lock on my front door

I changed the number on my phone so you can’t call me up at home
And you can’t say those things to me that make me fall down on my knees
I changed the number on my phone

I changed the kind of car I drive so you can’t see me when I go by
And you can’t chase me up the street, and you can’t knock me off of my feet
I changed the kind of car I drive

I changed the kind of clothes I wear so you can’t see me anywhere
And you can’t spot me in a crowd, and you can’t call my name out loud
I changed the kind of clothes I wear

I changed the tracks underneath the train so you can’t find me again
And you can’t trace my path, and you can’t hear my laugh
I changed the tracks underneath the train

I changed the name of this town so you can’t follow me down
And you can’t touch me like before, and you can’t make me want you more
I changed the name of this town

I changed the lock on my front door, I changed the number on my phone
I changed the kind of car I drive, I changed the kind of clothes I wear

I changed the tracks underneath the train, I changed the name of this town
I changed the name of this town
I changed the name of this town

• Un estudio analiza los factores que más influyen en las rupturas.
• La diferencia de edad y las relaciones anteriores, principales factores.
• La falta de dinero acelera las acelera las separaciones
  

  La crisis económica ha provocado un descenso de rupturas matrimoniales. (Imagen: ARCHIVO

Vivir felices y comer perdices no tiene por qué pasar sólo en los cuentos de hadas. Unos investigadores australianos han encontrado el remedio para que una pareja se mantenga unida, y supone más que estar enamorado.

La edad de una pareja, las relaciones anteriores y si fuman o no son factores que influyen en la duración del matrimonio, según un estudio llevado a cabo por investigadores de la Universidad Nacional australiana.

El estudio, llamado “What’s Love Got to Do With It” (¿Qué tiene que ver el amor con esto?) , observó a cerca de 2.500 parejas, casadas o que vivían juntos, desde 2001 hasta 2007, para identificar los factores asociados a aquellos que siguieron juntos y a quienes se divorciaron o separaron.

Llegaron a la conclusión de que un marido que es nueve o más años mayor que su mujer está dos veces más dispuesto a divorciarse, al igual que los hombres que se casan antes de los 25.

Influencia de los hijos

Los niños también influyen en la duración del matrimonio o la relación, habiéndose separado un quinto de las parejas que habían tenido hijos antes del matrimonio, tanto de una relación anterior como con la misma pareja, frente a apenas el 9% de quienes no tuvieron hijos antes del matrimonio.

Las mujeres que quieren reproducirse mucho más que sus parejas también son más propensas a querer el divorcio.

Los progenitores de la pareja también juegan un papel en la relación, y el estudio mostraba que el 16% de los hombres y mujeres cuyos padres se habían divorciado o separado hacían lo propio, frente al 10% de los hijos de parejas no separadas.

Las parejas que están en su segundo o tercer matrimonio tienen un 90% más de probabilidades de divorciarse que una pareja en la que para ambos es el primer enlace.

Cuestión de dinero

Aunque no sea una sorpresa, el dinero también aporta su granito de arena, y hasta el 16% de los encuestados que se habían declarado “pobres” o en los casos en los que el marido – no la mujer – no tenía empleo, se habían separado, mientras que delas parejas con dinero sólo se había separado en el 9% de los casos.

Y las uniones en las que uno de ellos fuma y el otro no también tienen tendencia a que la relación acabe siendo un fracaso.

Los factores que demostraron no tener especial relevancia en la separación fueron el número y la edad de niños nacidos en el matrimonio, la situación laboral de la mujer y el número de años que la pareja había tenido trabajo.

Fuente: 20minutos. Estar enamorado no es suficiente para mantener unido un matrimonio

one of my sister-poets was reading a collection of erotic/love poems by Sandra Ciscernos. I opened it and found this. And another I really loved that was just too long to copy out by hand. I gotta go buy the book now to have it for myself. The Spanish words should have accent marks I’ve not yet learned enough HTML to create. Soon, really.

You Like to Give and Watch Me My Pleasure
Sandra Ciscernos

You like to give and watch me my
pleasure. Machete me in two.
Take for the taking what is yours.
This is how you like to have me.

I’m as naked as a field of cane,
as alone as all of Cuba
before you.

You could descend like rain
destroy like fire
if you chose to.

If you chose to,

I could rise like hurracan.
I could erupt as sudden as
a coup d’etat of trumpets,
the sleepless eye of ocean,
a sky of black urracas.
If I chose to.

I don’t choose to.
I let myself be taken.

The power is my gift to you.

My favorite sports couple, Tony Romo and Jessica “Buffalo Tuna Wings” Simpson are at it again.

Jessica recently purchased a $100 thousand dollar speed boat for her Cow-Beau. And since nothing comes without a motive, there’s this. She wants to hear the four words every single Hollywood starlet dreams of hearing. No, not “Your boobs look great!” . . . no. She wants Tony to pop the question.

Couple of thoughts here . . .

Christ, Take Tony to a go-cart park and let him ride the mini speedboat as many times as his little heart desires. Buy him a remote control speedboat for a hundred bucks. Get him a waterbed and a captain’s hat.

Two . . what do you get a bachelor athlete? Well, I know what you don’t get him. You don’t get him a speed boat. Consider handcuffs, and a taser.

C . . . what happens after the inevitable breakup? Is Jessica going to want the boat back so she can go fishing for chicken? I mean, what is she going to do with a speed boat? Build a bigger bathtub?

Romo has been tight lipped regarding the pre-emptive strike, of course. Even money says he reports to camp early and tells Jessica that he enlisted in the Mexican Marines.

Odds of a celebrity wedding- One hundred grand to one

Odds of speedboat ending up on Ebay- Even

http://www.takehimwithyou.com

Podcast notes for May 31st, 2009 “What’s love got to do with it?” my interview with Jeff Jobb.  Podcast #053109

Direct download of today’s show:  http://www.takehimwithyou.com/podcast/053109whatslove.mp3

We start off with the intro and then a promo for Treks in Sci Fi with Rico Dostie.  http://www.treksinscifi.com 

RICK’s HOUSE
This time Rick’s house is up on You Tube check it out here:

I talk about social networks that I am part of.  Here are the links:
http://www.myspace.com/moyer777
http://moyer777.wordpress.com
Twitter-  @moyer777
On Facebook, search for Rick Moyer-  there are a few, so find me, the right one.

Bought a cool little netbook, but it broke.  So another one is coming I will do a review on Youtube.

My Youtube chanell is http://www.youtube.com/rickmoyer777

Here is Nathan and Ivy making Thai Salad Rolls–

I then play Knights of the Guild Podcast promo.  http://knightsoftheguild.podbean.com

WORDS OF WISDOM 

1st John Chapter 3
 ¹ What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we’re called children of God! That’s who we really are. But that’s also why the world doesn’t recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who he is or what he’s up to.

 ^2-3But friends, that’s exactly who we are: children of God. And that’s only the beginning. Who knows how we’ll end up! What we know is that when Christ is openly revealed, we’ll see him—and in seeing him, become like him. All of us who look forward to his Coming stay ready, with the glistening purity of Jesus’ life as a model for our own.

 ^4-6All who indulge in a sinful life are dangerously lawless, for sin is a major disruption of God’s order. Surely you know that Christ showed up in order to get rid of sin. There is no sin in him, and sin is not part of his program. No one who lives deeply in Christ makes a practice of sin.

NEWSLETTER

Hey, would you consider supporting Take Him With You by subscribing to our newsletter?  Go to http://www.takehimwithyou.com and click on Newsletter.  We would appreciate anything you could help with.  Thanks! 

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

I interview my friend Jeff Jobb about how he grew up and his thoughts on God and God’s love.

Jeff shares about his Spiritual gifts, his upbringing, rock n roll and more. 

Jeff went to a private school that was run by monks and brothers for a couple of years.  He also attended a protestant school as well, he talks about the difference between the two.

During the interview I play a couple more promos for other podcasts including WAFFLE ON http://waffleon.podbean.com  and THE ANOMALY PODCAST http://www.anomalypodcast.com 

To find out more about Jeff visit his websites here:
http://www.jeffjobb.com  Jeff’s blog
http://www.jedijeff.ca  Cool collectible site
http://www.jedijeff.ca/wijb  what is in Jeff’s basement?
http://www.champodcast.com  Jeff’s racing site.

I end the podcast by praying for Jeff and then playing a cool song from the band Disciple from their CD “This may sting a bit”  the song is called:
I just know

Next week is part one of “Surviving Churchianity”  an interview with Dave and Jen about the pros and cons of church and experiencing Jesus in everyday life.

Today’s direct download:  http://www.takehimwithyou.com/podcast/053109whatslove.mp3

Charles Hamilton got his ass whipped. By Mary’s stepdaughter no less. I guess she hasn’t had her breakthrough yet. After a impromptu freestyle battle, Sonic the Who The Hell Is He got a little too personal and she decked him one good time. 10 points to dude because he kept the cypher moving and didn’t hit her in the titty.

One of the most emotionally powerful movies of its era, What’s Love Got to Do With It? follows the true life rise of superstar Tina Turner and her notoriously explosive marriage to Ike.   A black biopic made at least ten years before the  musical biopic became one of the genre’s du jour in Hollywood.  On to the tale of the tape…

Relevance:  Tina Turner was already a global star before this movie (a large part of why it got made no doubt).  We can debate whether the nature of Ike and Tina’s relationship helped the film get made, but the bottom line is What’s is a film with two strong black lead characters.

Legacy:  Betty Shabazz, Katherine Jackson, Voletta Wallace…is it safe to say that this is the single role that Angela Bassett will be remembered for?  Hasn’t every brother playfully called his woman ‘Anna Mae’ at some point since this movie came out?  Was that too much information?

Craft:  Fishburne evidently kept turning down the role of Ike until he heard Angela Bassett won the role of Tina.  I highly doubt this will be the role Fish will be most remembered for (Morpheous and Furious Styles immediately come to mind), but was Ike his best acting performance?  Possibly…possibly.  One thing we can say for certain…

Crossover:  the Academy sure liked it, as both Fishburne and Bassett were nominated for Academy Awards for their performances in this movie.   Neither won, but Bassett did win the Golden Globe for her performance. 

Apollo:  Do I even need to say it?  For those of you who haven’t seen the movie, there’s a powerful rape/abuse scene in the second act that’s still as emotionally powerful as any rape scene I’ve ever seen.  On a lighter note, I have a personal Ike Turner story (this is true).  About ten years ago, I was on a plane in Houston flying back to L.A.  I’m walking through first class and see this gorgeous, amazonian black woman sitting in the middle row.  One of those situations where no matter how smooth you are, you can’t help but look for a few seconds at least.  Who’s sitting next to her but Ike Turner.  And this cat gave me one of the hardest mean mugs I’ve ever gotten in my life!  I’m not joking when I say I slept with one eye open the whole flight home.  That’s a little bit reputation, and a little bit of the power of movies. 

The hits keep coming as the next one should be up by the end of the month…

I know in Nigeria, we have a lot of men who have no jobs and so no real means of livelihood, most of them blame it on the government, but in my own opinion, I think majority of these men are just lazy and looking for easy money. The amazing part of it is that majority of these men are also beginning to believe if they get into relationships with desperate ladies looking for love, they just might be able to meet their basic needs of life through these ladies. Is these a phenomenon all over the world (where men date women for financial gains) or just in Nigeria?

Remember Jennifer Freeman? That jailbait chick from “My Wife and Kids?” Well she’s now all growd up and has got herself in the family way. She’s engaged to basketball player Earl Watson and the wedding has been moved up to 3 weeks from now. She managed to get herself knocked up and I guess she wants to jump the broom before jumping could damage the fetus. If I was Earl I’d give ole girl a lie detector test. The last acting she did was most likely in the missionary position, so she could just be out for a steady check. Either way, congrats, sucker.

“What’s Love Got To Do With It”

You must understand
That the touch of your hand
Makes my pulse react
That it`s only the thrill
Of boy meeting girl
Opposites attract

It`s physical
Only logical
You must try to ignore
That it means more than that

[Chorus]
Oh whats love got to do, got to do with it
What`s love but a second hand emotion
What`s love got to do, got to do with it
Who needs a heart
When a heart can be broken

It may seem to you
That i`m acting confused
When you`re close to me
If i tend to look dazed
I`ve read it someplace
I`ve got cause to be

There`s a name for it
There`s a phrase that fits
But whatever the reason
You do it for me

[Chorus]

I`ve been thinking of a new direction
But i have to say
I`ve been thinking about my own protection
It scares me to feel this way

What`s love got to do, got to do with it
What`s love but a sweet old fashioned notion
What`s love got to do, got to do with it
Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken

                           Here
                    Chana Bloch

                      Anything
                even the black
         satin road where it catches
       the streaked oils of stoplights
          as I drive home alone
             from the hospital
        rain pocking the windshield
       tires slicing the pooled water
       to a spume taller than the car.
      Even that patch where the road
     fell in, rutted as a face, even that
             cries out: Look at me
            don’t turn away, admit
            the ravage is beautiful.
       The world insists: I was here
          before you and your pain,
                  I am here and I
          will outlast you. Yes, says
             the mind stroking itself
                   into life again
                 as a body, taking
                    what comfort
                        it can.

from Mrs. Dumpty, an astounding collection of poems about the end of Bloch’s marriage, about how love is born and how it dies.

869
Emily Dickinson

Because the Bee may blameless hum
For Thee a Bee do I become
List even unto Me.

Because the Flowers unafraid
May lift a look on thine, a Maid
Alway a Flower would be.

Nor Robins, Robins need not hide
When Thou upon their Crypts intrude
So Wings bestow on Me
Or Petals, or a Dower of Buzz
That Bee to ride, or Flower of Furze
I that way worship Thee.

I’m starting to upload a new section of work – more psalms about assorted subjects from my daily life, and piyyutim, or prayer poems. The latter are, so far, a genre I’m calling “collages,” poems created by weaving together words from many different poets to create one piece that is a kind of dialogue about a topic between writers of very different eras and languages. I have two of these so far, one with ocean images, and one with river images (I’m a Pisces, whaddya want from me??). I plan to have more over the next few months.

For reasons unknown, I can’t get wordpress to make a new tab for this section at the top of my home page, so you can find it here:Psalms and Piyyutim

Sappho

May you sleep
on your tender girlfriend’s breasts

I’ve never been able to stand most love poetry (or most love songs, for that matter). Too much is just trite, too much is just sappy and pathetic (including, sadly, too much of my own!), and some of it is just outright creepy, predatory, and violent. I once had a male lover who held my waist-long hair around my neck and quoted a Browning poem about a man strangling his mistress. I wasn’t being strangled, or seriously threatened, but still — umm, ick, and I got rid of the hair and the male lovers not so long after that.

Anyway, now that I’m thinking about poetry pretty much all the time. Recently a lot of that focus on has been on Sappho, in case you’d not noticed in recent postings. I’m loving Willis Barnstone’s translation, and in particular his incredibly thoughtful introduction. (I’m sure the notes are great too, but generally more than I need to know as a poetic, not linguistic, reader). He has a passionate defense for reading her love poems as openly sexual and lesbian, with a great review of how attempts to hide this have distorted our understanding of her and of poetry in general. In the midst of that, though, he says this:

(Much of the world’s love poetry is homoerotic, and in ancient Greek poetry, the majority of love poems by known male poets, from Ibykos to Pindar, are addressed to other men)

Which has left me wondering about the connection between this and love poems in general. If so many of the models held up to us as “great love poems” have always been homoerotic/gay male homosexual, is it any wonder that so much of it feels completely inauthentic to me as a woman? For heterosexual men writing, at least in theory, to women, how have these models confined and defined their emotional reality? And how many love poems have ever been to an actual person and not to some muse, some unrequited passion viewed from a distance as perfection incarnate, some ideal of a lover utterly separate from the messy reality we are all as humans?

What would an authentic heterosexual love poetry be? Lesbian love poetry, allowed to develop outside of the models foisted on us? I’m really curious now about contemporary gay male love poetry, written from within a time and place where “gay” is a social identity, not just a sexual identity within a different social role.

For right now, I’m sitting with one small fragment of a fragment of Psapfo’s writing, a bit that may well be my next literary tattoo:

for praying
this word:
I want

Fist Kiss

We like to spread the fuckery around and thanks to Broken Cool we got some ignant shit for you, the reading public. Since Chris Brown decided that he was going to plead not guilty (side eye) the folks over at Broken Cool have decided to list the top 5 possible plea deals. C. Beatey would be lucky to get offered ANY of these gems. Good work to y’all, thanks for making us look bad.