Tuesday, July 7, 2009

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)



The Day the Earth
Stood Still (1951)
—for Michael Rennie

The day—the earth stood still
that’s when—one world ended and
another world—began for me!!!

talk about—klaatu barada nikto!!!
that fateful day—the earth stood still
that’s the day—the world ended for me

that’s the day—my heart stood still
along with everything else—that strange
still afternoon—suddenly stuck in that elevator

michael rennie, patricia neal and me
standing there in the dark—stuck in that
dark moody elevator—for a whole long hour

there in historic—picturesque downtown
washington dc!!!—michael turning to patricia
asking her what time it was—noon she said

he nodded—saying something about gort
I had no idea—the whole city had stopped still
all I knew was—my heart felt alien and strange

I’d never fallen in love—with a handsome alien
so tall and calm and debonair—no wonder hugh marlowe was jealous—such a greedy thing

all marlowe wanted was—those lovely expensive intergalactic diamonds—so there we were
in the dark elevator— all alone doing nothing

good golly miss molly— what’s a girl to do?
patricia was scared—but I wasn’t not really
I’d been in tighter—predicaments during my life

dark cramped spaces—didn’t bother me
in fact it was all—rather romantic and intimate
I kept feeling strange vibes—emanating from

michael rennie’s crotch—I couldn’t help it
I got weak in the knees—so down I went
michael didn’t say anything—neither did I

I did what no other—earthboy had ever done
I went down— on a visitor from outer space
it was truly—an otherworldly experience

oh baby—interstellar oral intercourse!!!
there’s nothing quite like it—poor patricia neal
oh how jealous she got—there in the dark

fuming for a whole hour—while I did him
poor patricia neal—hearing but not seeing
wanting but afraid to—reach out and touch

I let my fingers—do the moon walking
patricia was so jealous—she glowed chartreuse
in the elevator darkness—me doing klaatu

it wasn’t exactly ménage-a-trois—just a nice slow fuck was what she needed—it was okay with me
I was curious about alien sex—so was she

I took my time with klaatu—and klaatu took his time with me—he was curious about earthboys and was
Into Mars Needs Women—Patricia falling in love too

Klaatu said there were—many worlds out there
some with nothing but boys living on them
thousands of boy planets—ancient adolescent suns

Ephebic cities—that would make my eyes bulge
Klaatu told me these things—like they were neat
vacation spots he’d visit now and then

telling me someday—I’d get to go there too
all of this somehow—calming me down in ways
that I’d never known before—or known since

for so long I thought—I was the only gay boy
in the universe—the only gay boy in the beltway
it was so lonely feeling—closeted and alone

and so to imagine—vast worlds out there
waiting for me—strange beautiful worlds full of
boys in love with each other—intergalactic

delicate eden worlds—with lavender moons
and nipple-pink sunsets—the kind of moons and sunsets I dreamed about—at night alone in bed

klaatu even told me—about a special spaceship
from a faraway spiral galaxy—full of intergalactic sugar daddies—cruising the milky way for cute guys

all in good time—smiling klaatu assured me
the universe needed boys—just like me he said
there was this—vast sleeping yin-yang dwarf star

sleeping deep inside me—klaatu said
someday it would wake up—and go super-nova
in a very strange way—it was timed that way

right down to the split—second of a chromosomal
apocalyptic minute—way into the future that was really here and now—except I just didn’t know it yet

klaatu smiled—klaatu said it the way he always said things—I don’t know how to describe it—it was more like a déjà vu wink in time—making me grateful for being there with him—for being who I was

when klaatu stopped the world—he said he
stopped it just for me, baby boy—but I knew there were other reasons—I wasn’t center of the universe

even though klaatu—made me feel that way
what a lucky coincidence I thought—klaatu
choosing my rooming house—to stay in for awhile

getting to know earth people—and why we were having problems—how fitting that day that the whole world would stop around me—stopping me dead

in my tracks like never before—like that day
the jar in tennessee stopped time—gathering around it all the forest and fields—and birds and me

turning the unruly—sprawling country quotidian
into a smooth ancient vase of time—the day time stopping for me—the night time stopping too

the way time and space—collapsed and oozed through a crack in the world egg—that was the way
I fell in love with—a man from another world

that was the day—one world ended and
another world began—if only klaatu would whisk me away from planet earth—I didn’t want to stay

maybe he’d make me—immortal like him
surely klaatu and gort—knew all those secret intergalactic things—about life and death

after all hadn’t gort—brought klaatu back to life
after he died—melting the brick jail wall with his laser beam eyes—gently picking klaatu up and

taking him back to the ship—up the spiral winding art deco staircase—the spaceship from another world—wasn’t that how alien superscience worked?

resurrecting dead gods—back again into time
by stopping the world—then moving them again through time and space—into the earthy now?

through portals—and quiet passageways
intersections older than rome—older than athens
and brooklyn—from one world into another?

surely gort could do—the same for me
michael rennie showing me—the interior of the spaceship—so modern and streamlined inside

I wanted him to take me—away from earth
both of us cruising the universe—forever and ever
just think of all the good times—we could have

the miraculous milky way!!!—and those sullen moody magellanic cloudy galaxies—waiting way out there just for us—where super novas slowly implode

expanding for millions of years—blowing spectral neon cloud stuff out—into the emptiness of space and time—maybe I’d even fall in love again

with some cute krell boy—reliving my childhood’s end—those dark monsters of the id not scaring me
as long as klaatu was with me—my handsome friend

getting to know—just how forbidden it could be
the forbidden planet—of my boyhood dreams
finding myself again and again—in the arms of

strange boys from other worlds—even tho gort got jealous—it was just awful—ever been stalked by a butchy darth vader robot—under a dark mean star?

well, it wasn’t funny, honey—even if he was kinda slouchy and slow—that beam of his was pure murder—it wiped out my condo dontchaknow

and couple of taxis—plus a dozen local sleazy beltway gay bars—it was just awful—potomac cyborg-sex amok—the beltway getting zapped!!!

everything stopped!!!—things invisible suddenly became visible—I could see this huge blue labyrinthine swimming pool—all around me

full of borges worlds within worlds—magic realism
and fabulous mise en scene—interplanetary romance many pulp fiction sci-fi worlds—all at once existing

klaatu telling me—once upon a time that
earth was a very ancient seaport—millions of years old—complex like a nautilus shell forever inward

winding and wrapping—downward into itself
it was all very mind-boggling—for a little chicken like yours truly—klaatu smiling and saying it was okay

in a couple of thousand years—I’d get used to it
then he’d come back—and take me to a special conservatory garden planet—of a thousand worlds

a sunken garden world—like no other
where I’d meet a boy—who was my doppelganger
a kid very ancient and asleep—waiting for me

my double other—waiting for me to show up
when I was mature enough—to finally understand
the full immensity of the gift—given to me

it would become known—to me then why
I was on earth now as well then—klaatu chiding
gort and telling him to leave me alone

there were a dozen wars—going on inside earth
at that very moment—klaatu and gort having business to take care of—thru a portal vortex

klaatu said goodbye—telling me to be brave
even though the sky—would come crashing down
which it did when he left—apocalypse days

days and nights—speeded up whizzing by
there was no time—for the earth to stand still
hormonal things like love—crowded around me

jaded guys in big spaceships—way up there in orbit began zooming over wal-mart—packed parking lots strange new martian ruins—were announced daily

the new york times headlines—ancient civilizations falling thru time-portals—out of my closet
wizard of oz—lions and tigers and bears oh my!!!

there wasn’t any reason—to get excited
multiple universes—were familiar as fairy tales
the rings of saturn—ruthless vandals of the void

there was no time for—couch potato ennui
no time for lazy-boy afternoons—watching the sci-fi channel for fun—those nostalgic snake pit drive-in

sci-fi movies out of the fifties—oh honey watch out for attack of the crab monsters!!!—oh dear me not the blob again!!!—oh baby, it’s the thing!!!

and the creature—from the black lagoon!!!
those long sultry summer—bijou matinees!!!
up in the red-velvet darkness—the brass-railing

balcony with bomba—letting me squeeze him tight
coming down sailing—thru wild jungles with long vines stretching—down from chicken heaven

swinging down into—my waiting arms!!!
cruising sad lonely—saturday afternoon bijou
matinee—double features plus serials & cartoon

space-seaports at night—intergalactic sailorboys
cute butchy starship troopers—sullen adolescent solar systems—moody battleship galactica boyz…







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