Sunday, February 14, 2010

Seattle Noir



Children of Slan

“Who will
recount the
pleasures of
dystopia?”
—Fredric Jameson,
“Then You Are Them,”
LRB 10 September 2009

Let me recount—
The pleasures of dystopia
The pity and fear and tragedies
Of the Other & myself

For am I not Jommy Cross—
Both One and the Same
Spectator & POMO protagonist
A young Slan on the run?

Let me tell you a story—
A pulp fiction cliff-hanger
Caught up in sci-fi in medias res
As if Robinson Crusoe fell in

Love with Friday & that was it—
As if Lord of the Flies just kept
Going and there wasn’t any
“To Be Continued Sign” for Sale

Dystop Apocalypto a prelude—
To further savage skanky Orwellian
Fear & Loathings from Titanopolis
To Chandler’s neo-nostalgic LA

C’mon gimme a synoptic break—
That mad scientist’s boner
In Colin Clive’s lap in the Lab
When he creams “It’s Alive!!!”

That ain’t a Mary Shelley utopia—
That’s a Mickey Spillane murder
Mystery called “Kiss Me, Deadly”
Not “Farewell, My Lovely”

Is Colin Clive the only closure—
We Slans are gonna get, huh?
Frankie’s gonna pull the Lever—
Miss Pretorious is gonna scream?

Down comes Castle Frankenstein—
Off go the Kites high above?
Elsa Lanchester retreats to the
Land of the Undead with Boris?

Booby-trapped by ideology—
Late capitalism = No Exit jive?
Radar Men of the Moon (1952)?
Zombies of the Stratosphere (1953)?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UutHtMgAXk

Deleuzian delirious denouements?
Haunting sci-fi noir ideologemes?
Paul Birch with his LA shades?
Not of This Earth (1957) vampire?

The Fall is ongoing—
Its trajectory leading us downward
Back to Earth our old home
We are the Children of Slan


Back to reclaim our Telepathic Realm
Stolen from us—by the Mutant Ones
Tendrilless Usurpers of the Flood
The Jurassic Shales ache for us

[*] Margaret Atwood
“Then You Are Them,”
LRB 10 September 2009

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