Second Nature Demonic Summoning

Twitter Sonnet #54

I held distant doors open for babies.
So my journey was kind of not in vain.
County's covered with miles of maybes.
My skull filled with a single useless brain.
Twitter hides shyly behind error drapes.
There's no shield from the affection of Lum.
The day's drowned in the red vessels of grapes.
Pan knows grapefruit was created for rum.
Dampened brains collect layers of grey lint.
I can't see my way to a fresh squeezed juice.
Texts of human progress are left unsent.
Wonder what motor skills I can deduce.
Swing shadows moving are fine substitutes.
Escaping dirt are running mandrake roots.







More noises around the house waking me up to-day, and I was having trouble sleeping before that, waking up at 6am and reading Anne Sexton. But I made myself stay in bed until 2:30 and I think I feel rested enough to be useful to-day.

I watched the first regular episode of Twin Peaks last night, the one after the pilot, and I got to thinking about how subtle and yet crucial some aspects of an artist's abilities are. The episode's directed by Duwayne Dunham, who normally works as David Lynch's editor, and it's curious how ineffective his style is even when he's using exactly the same actors, sets, characters, music, and screenwriters as the far more effective pilot episode, directed by Lynch. A moment that stands out for me is a scene where James, being led to his cell, is taunted by Mike and Bobby in another cell. Both episodes have a scene like this. Lynch chose to shoot James from a distance and give his eyes dark shadows while going to extreme close-ups of Bobby's face. Somehow this creates a real menacing feeling, as James conveys practically nothing but somehow the lighting and camera distance make him seem vulnerable to Bobby's uncomfortably close face, bared teeth, and slightly inscrutable yet clearly threatening barking. Dunham, meanwhile, employs diluted lighting, lets James get close enough to give Bobby an absolutely empty look, and Bobby says something conventionally threatening. Not half as effective.

But still a basically enjoyable episode, especially for Agent Cooper's breakfast scene with Audrey.