SHOWCASE @laurahird.com
Eddie Kilowatt is a 25 year old sometimes wanderer who calls Milwaukee, WI his home. At current, his work has been accepted for Thunder Sandwich, remark., My Favorite Bullet, Defenestration, Ugly Accent, and Thieves Jargon among others. His first collection of poetry titled �Manifest Density� was released in April 2006. Over the next two years he is writing his next book via dictation while riding a motorcycle around the U.S. with a microphone in his helmet. In between he's compiling his next collection of poetry, �Carrying a Knife in to the Gunfight.�.
THINGS EDDIE LIKES:
SAM COOKE
To visit the official Sam Cooke website, click image; for the Songs of Sam Cooke website, click here or for related items on Amazon, click here
RAINER MARIA RILKE (Robert Bly's translations)
Click image to visit the Rainer Maria Rilke Archive site; for audio and text translations of Rilke's poetry on the Picture Poems website, click here or for related items on Amazon, click here
UMBERTO BOCCIONI
To read about Boccioni on the Futurism and the Futurists website, click image; for links to Boccioni's work online on the Art Cyclopedia website, click here or for related items on Amazon, click here
STEVEN JESSE BERNSTEIN (his Prison cd is amazing)
Click image to visit the Steven J. Bernstein website; to read about the 'Prison' album on the Seattle Weekly website, click here or for related items on Amazon, click here
TWANGY SURF GUITARS
BELLS OBERON (favourite beer)
DON JULIO BLANCO TEQUILA
THE VINCENT BLACK SHADOW
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FORUM
by
SELECTED POETRY
Eddie Kilowatt
of men who never did leave the hometownLET ME NOW JOIN THE RANKS
men who never did play in a rock band
men who will never fall in love in Paris
men who never became professional baseball players
of men who fell down the stairs
while planning their
next big move
men who will never backpack through Europe
will never spend a winter living in the ocean
surfing from first sun until mid-morning
and sleeping on the beach at night
of men who can never leave
without
guilt
men who will never live on a mountaintop
of men who will always wonder
what else they could have been
men who will never know the smell of Australia
in the morning
men who never saw the entire continent
men who never danced in Rio de Janiero
men who know
no matter how long
the car ride home
takes
they have to
return to it
of men silently accepting
a nine month long going away party
for every small dream
they ever had
� Eddie Kilowatt
RIDING LIFE
sometimes
when riding like a terrorist
between cornfields and cows
consorting with scarecrows
where gravel waits in the elbows of the road
insects explode into warpaint
on my arms and helmet
with such force and pace, turning into
grinning sunshine murder rain
slicing speed across entire lanes
where there are no friends or strangers, no
advertisements or family members or lovers
no music or coworkers, no
situational comedies or
morning radio talk show hosts
when I'm feeling God through
the scent of pine trees
stretching to the sun
when my teeth are bouncing with turbulence
and ears windburnt ringing
leaning, hanging knees through turns over rivers
the train going your way
between you and the water,
that train with you
leading somewhere you're
not quite sure yet,
the river not giving up either,
pushing entirely together,
you're there,
no matter how
or where
or why
you're going
you know it's progress,
it has to be, it's
predestined
as long as you feel and follow
their flow
when I ride up to the crest of a hill
and laugh because I do not know
where it will break, sometimes
I wonder if I am living a life full, or merely
passing the marrow of it all
at an incredible rate of speed
� Eddie Kilowatt
A SPADE
most of the world's geniuses
were called that
by people
who couldn't understand
what was being created, and
didn't want to be
seen as
unsophisticated
so they panicked
and pulled out that
enigmatic
eccentric
GENIUS
card
the art critics
the literary publications
the music historians
the film professors
the directors of documentaries
thanks so much
for elevating so much crap
no
one
else
understood
� Eddie Kilowatt
YEARS SPENT
seeing men yawn
while leaning over, looking
at women's asses
as they walk away
tripping in flashing soles on the way to
the bathroom
in bass heavy bars, they
zip down and
hold the wall with a left hand
to hover stumble over
piss oil smear toilet seats
between cigarette smoke the eyes and
purse falling off the shoulder, then
pull up to
check makeup
flick the hair almost exact,
rub eyeliner from where it shouldn't.
fling the door open and
step out in
heel boots echoing like
fourth grade teachers
in corridors just as hopeful;
pretending they don't hear
pretending they don't notice, everyone
� Eddie Kilowatt
IN GENERAL
they like it
when you write
honest
poems
about other people
but not
when you write
honest poems
about
them
� Eddie Kilowatt
DART BORED
the long blonde yawns
searching across the room
her boyfriend
is busy with the dart board
- so immersed
and not a clue
that her next step
is to walk away
and find
another doorway
into
another man's life.
one who
finds her more
interesting than
playing with himself.
� Eddie Kilowatt
JULY
the sky was full
like a mother's bosom
days after birth
but it never seemed to relieve itself
the horizon just sat and stewed,
steam cooking everything in sight
I decided to go against au naturel
and left the AC set to 70 at work
boys with rolled up pants and Pabst hats
rode past on stripped down bikes
with reversed handlebars and anorexic tires
pushing pedals with their Saucony shoes
they'd pretend
to not be sweating through their ringer t-shirts
silent lips - they're so scrappy
and I sat inside, cool,
smiling at them with my arms crossed
I'd already been there
and didn't feel the need
to prove it again
� Eddie Kilowatt
CATHOLIC ADVERTISING
I went to a funeral today
my father's cousin,
she died of the same disease he has
saw all the people from the family reunions
(can you be reunited with someone the first time you're meeting them?)
damn Catholics,
worshipping their god Cathol?
the funeral
seemed more like an advertisement
ending with
"Oh, hey, did you hear Carla French died?"
then afterwards
we all sat in the sterile cafeteria
where I ate my first (and still only)
meal of the day
So,
Andy's going to be a lawyer
Kristin's going to work at a fish resort in Alaska
Julie's son looks just like her,
except with a shaved head
Gail is still pissed at somebody for something
which is absolutely unforgivable,
who or what? I have no idea
Earl's still schizophrenic with huge glasses
to fit his huge face and refrigerator size body
the super religious cousins still sit by themselves
in long skirts and brown hair
- one of them told me of a poem she wrote about our lord,
and I didn't roll my eyes
the jokes are still corny
and the disease is still hanging
over our heads
like a big sigh before an argument
I spent most of my time checking out
the two beautiful ladies
who I made sure
I was not related to
� Eddie Kilowatt
FORECAST
tire trenches
scarred the seamless white dew
and I just looked out,
inside the warm neon
with my beer buzz.
Al Green wants me to
come and take her
and I want to
leave her as she is,
whoever she is.
admiring her,
without the tarnish of my hands
without the
cancer of my eyes.
Rolling Rock in my hand.
the beer I drink
when I'm camping.
and I wish I was right now.
tonight,
I'll sleep on the floor
blanket and pillow
heaped together
huddled around the heat register,
missing the complete discomfort.
hold me, bed of sickles.
� Eddie Kilowatt
OF COURSE
I couldn't reach,
so I started scratching my back
against the corner
like a bear on a tree.
she smiled her way over
bouncing gently
and asked if I could use a hand
I said - sure,
if you're offering.
and when my itch was satisfied
I turned around and
asked her
if I could return the favour.
she grinned like potential,
her eyes asking even more
and asked if I always
always
returned the favour.
and I said
Of Course! I always
always
return the favour.
and I did.
and that was how the whole night went.
� Eddie Kilwatt
