a rough inventory
Posted by William F. DeVault | Filed under Abstra, Aubergine, Brigit, Goldenheart, Journal, Poetry, The Panther, the Leopard, the Selke
In my spare time (ask anyone who knows me, I define "manic") I have been polishing my poetic inventory. Well, actually my overall writing inventory. Just to see what all I have. Hey, it beats the hell out of reruns of "Two and a Half Men".
My current catalog breaks down thus (as of midnight, August 1, 2008. We all know that I have written about 50 new works since then…deal with it).
- 18,642 poems
- 143 essays
- 82 short stories
- 3 novels in various states of completion
- 3 screenplays in various states of completion
This does not account my general discourse on my various blogs, which numbers int he thousands of entries.
The poetry breaks down, as best I can figure, out of the 18,642
- 285 sonnets
- 46 villanelles
- 22 poems greater than 100 lines
Credited inspiration:
- 2,182 to Abstra (the abstraction muse)
- 740 to The Panther
- 488 to Aubergine (I have gone back to using totem on this one)
- 94 to The Leopard
- 82 to The Selke
- 72 to Brigit
- 55 to The Goldenheart
Some of these numbers are a little rough. I tried not to dwell on anything for too long.
So what does it all mean? I don’t know, but it was an interesting exercise that gives me fodder for internal debate for a while. And don’t think that the numbers mean much. In terms of classic, timeless and quality pieces, I would say that Panther is way down on the list, for instance. I will let history decide which muses were really luses and not just channels for a generic creative spirit needing outlet.
memories may be beautiful and yet
Posted by William F. DeVault | Filed under Brigit, Journal, Karla Sasser, Memoir
I had to tell this anecdote before it grew cold in memory.
Or so I thought.
I shared it with the person it most involved and they had concerns about how they came off in it. So I rewrote it. Still not perfect…and I hate the notion that anything I might say could be construed as intentionally cruel or harmful to another person’s reputation. If you have to be cruel to others to have your own way, you need to re-evaluate your life and your goals, as you are still a failed experiment.
So…no anecdote, at least not now. I thought back to my memoir that I recently blasted to atoms. A lot of stories in there that make me, and others, look like themselves, but not in the best lights. The lesson isn’t supposed to be about people feeling bad about who they are or what they have done or been perceived as being, saying or doing, but rather that we are all human and everyone falls down…or is thrown down.
Maybe one day I will again write that memoir. When I have something interesting to say about love and life and poetry. When I know the answers to a few of my more nagging questions about who or why or when. Too many of those right now.
I left the tags on this one after pulling out the anecdote, to drive everyone crazy.
alas, the flowers wilted
Posted by William F. DeVault | Filed under Brigit, Goldenheart, Journal
Yes, I know that is the name of an older poem of mine, but it just seemed to fit this morning.
After a run of successful model and photographer recruitment, I had my first refusal today…and it was one o the ones I really had my heart set on. Not the least of the issue being she is a redhead and I need a really powerful red hair presence for the Goldenheart and Brigit works. Plus she had an incredible portfolio. Such is life.
I am working on a proposal that requires input from two sources. Yesterday. Don’t have either yet.
The enormity of the redesign of my poetry pages I have publicly accepted is setting in. Yikes!
Headache. Throbbing, pounding, light-sensitive headache. Argh.
Hey, I have had worse days. This year.
song stuck in my head
Posted by William F. DeVault | Filed under Abstra, Brigit, Poetry, Psyche, music, the Leopard, the Selke
I think this is the first time this has ever happened to me. A song is wedge in my head, playing soundtrack to the hours I am spending here, at the computer, editing some technical documents and writing a proposal for a client. Hairy-scary proposal, too. You don’t want to know which branch of the US Armed Forces it is for or what they do with our services if we win.
But back to the song. Wow. It is one of my own. One of the ones off of my CDs. I can’t recall it happening to me before. But the taste, which is the musical version of the taste of remembrance, is doing its thing in my brain, and I am enjoying it. I am rediscovering me.
Not a bad thing, I think. I am happy.
The poem, itself, is something of a miracle. Clearly an Abstra work (one written about not a single person, but an abstraction) I still called upon specific memories of specific women at different moments as I wrote it and later recorded it. The slow, malevolent and mournful guitar was my vision.
I conjoured the Leopard, the Selke, Brigit and Psyche to fuel the work.
ahem…major effing announcement here
Posted by William F. DeVault | Filed under Brigit, Dan McTaggart, Mari Laureano, Media, The Compleat Panther Cycles, The Panther
I am now, without further huzzah or fanfare,
going to blow your mind.
I have just placed here for FREE DOWNLOAD, the entire contents and covers of
THE COMPLEAT PANTHER CYCLES in pdf format at archive.org.
If you buy the book in stores, Amazon.com, through the publisher or even through the City of Legends Bookstore, it will run you between twenty five and forty dollars, weigh in at over three pounds and make a hole in your bookshelf every time you pull it out to read again.
Here, it is free.
Happy National Poetry Month.
You owe me one, now.
Special thanks to Dan McTaggart, Barbara Holmes and Brigit for their forewords. To Mari Laureano for the stunning rear cover text. To Jillian Ann for being the woman whose beauty captured the essence of the mythology of the Panther that I spun from a real woman, filtered through my own longings.
It was one hell of a trip, writing, then revisiting to edit, assemble and annotate.
Long Live the NEMICORN
Posted by William F. DeVault | Filed under Brigit, Karla Sasser, Muses, Nemicorn, Psyche
The NEMICORN comes into the world, long live the NEMICORN.
Here is the final track list for my new CD, NEMICORN, available starting this Friday, November 3, either through the City of Legends Bookstore, or through the publisher (lulu.com) or you can hope to snag one at any of my public events. Ten bucks, 17 works, that’s a pretty good deal.
I’d like to thank two sets of people. First, those whose inputs were so crucial to my making the final few tracks decisions, Matt Hinton, Daleen Berry, Alan MacDonald, Aberjhani, E.J. and Pam Fries.
The second group is perhaps even more essential: People whose inspiration, directly or indirectly, lead to the works contained: Nancy, Peri, Nordette, Carole, Mary, Jennifer, Sarah, Ann, H. R. Giger, Kristina, Crystal, Jan, Jade, Brigit and Karla. I pray long and joyful lives for you all.
Here’s the final list of tracks (followed by duration of final version)
Damascus 3 (1:09)
The Nosferatu’s Quandry (2:37)
Right Set of Lips (2:12)
Falling and Fallen Angels (2:59)
Brisant Revelations (3:10)
Joining the Machine (2:42)
Texture of Your Tongue (2:40)
The Faerie (Strange but Beautiful) (3:15)
Theocricide (5:02)
Thunder Out of Valhalla (3:28)
Pink Jade - Soft as Dawn (2:16)
Love Gods (Multivox) (3:58)
Thetis (3:06)
Wild and Defiled, Along the Way (4:04)
Darfur (Jesus Wept) (3:55)
Once Again, The Nemicorn (4:08)
A Passion, Unrelenting (3:00)
Total running time, just a hair under 54 minutes.
There it is. Thanks to all. Now to finish up THE NAKED READS. So many projects, I shall never reach my nunc dimittis.
sorting the cats
Posted by William F. DeVault | Filed under Brigit, Goldenheart, Love Gods of a Forgotten Religion, Mari Laureano, Muses, PanthEon, Poetry, The Compleat Panther Cycles, The Panther, from an unexpected quarter, the Leopard
I had a call a few minutes ago from my old friend Anastacia, who mentioned that the other day, owing to her friendhip with me, that someone asked her if she was "the Panther"…
okay, for the record, let’s sort this all out…one more time…there will be a test.
The Panther (a/k/a the Black Panther) was the prime muse behind The Panther Cycles. A successful writer and artist in her own right, she now lives on the West Coast and I have not had any contact with her in probably six or seven years. She did the layout and cover art for my book "PanthEon" and was NOT involved with the creation of THE COMPLEAT PANTHER CYCLES.
The Crimson Panther (a/k/a Brigit, the Goddess) was a major muse I had an affair with and have remained friends with. She took the handoff from the Black Panther, is considered one of the "3 panthers" from a dream I had even prior to her entry into my life and I have occasional contact with her, as we are collaborating on projects. And yes, the art looks remarkably like her.
The Golden Panther (a/k/a the Leopard) was my second wife and a major muse. I have not heard from her in some time. "Damascus" is my set of works most associated with her, as at the time we met she was dating only women…then she changed her mind for a few years. Last I heard she was back with women. She was the cover model for two of my books, FROM AN UNEXPECTED QUARTER and LOVE GODS OF A FORGOTTEN RELIGION. For nearly the entirety of the last eight years, she is the only woman I have been involved with, romantically.
La Pantera is Mari Laureano, the extraordinary erotic poet from New York. We are friends and she wrote the rear-jacket blurb for THE COMPLEAT PANTHER CYCLES. She is married and we’ve never been involved. Her website is www.furiverse.com
A2Panther, Anastacia, is an old friend of mine who actually was about my only close friend who tried to talk me out of marrying Ann. We are close friends and she, from time to time, tries to fix me up with friends of hers (although the one I was really, really interested got away while I was married to the Leopard). We went on exactly one blind date, aeons ago, where we both realized from first glance that there was zero chemistry between us. She is nowadays happily married and lives in the DC suburbs.
Some have suggested that the Goldenheart was actually the Golden Panther…she could also be actually the Crimson Panther (she, like Brigit, was also a redhead)…but as that relationship never had a high-water mark to measure, I am disinclined to accept that analysis.
Finally, the model who appears on the cover and in the inside art for THE COMPLEAT PANTHER CYCLES is Jillian Ann, a young woman and accomplished alternative-scene model and techno-musician. We have never met face to face and I have never been involved with her. She is merely a representation, not an actual player in the tableau (however, that position is still open and I am taking applications).
Got it straight? don’t make me matrix this…
~so while hanging out in your corner...