notes of gratitude to the ALL the mad ones!

Look deep into our swirly eyes. Deeper. Deeper. Ex-cellent. Now open your minds and hear what we've gots'ta say...

Mad Swirl called all you beatniks, hipsters & ca-razy cats out there to open the mic at Absinthe Lounge this past 1st Wednesday. And open it we did! T'was the mostest as all the mad ones came gatherin' 'round to wail away on the mad, mad mic.

With the most sincerest of praises and respect, we would like to thank ALL the mad participators and appreciators for making 1st Wednesday's what they are and what they will be as the whole Mad Swirl of everything to come keeps on twirlin' and turnin' and swirlin'. We would like to thank and recognize the mad ones who glowed and flowed on the mic on 03.04.09, in order of appearance...(pics coming sooner then later)

::: Round One :::

Johnny O
(host)
Opalina Salas
(co-host)
Josh Weir
Roderick Richardson
Devorah
John Kelley
Konnichiwa Zach
Max Earl Blair
Paul Sexton
Cabe Lindsay
Bob Whoopeecat
MH Clay

::: Round Two :::

James Hargrave
Jason
Tim
Alison
Burn
Poet Echo
Blackman

A very special Swirlin’ thanks to Swirve's amazin' trumpeter Chris Curiel, mad man G-Man Gerard Bendix on skins and special guest Kenny Withrow on wailin' guitar for keeping us movin', groovin' and steppin' all night long!

And HUGE thanks to Absinthe Lounge owner Kevin for allowing us mad ones to go with our flow for over 4 years now. And a shout-out to the fine Lounge staffers Brian and Triva for keeping the mad spirits fillin' and swillin' for us mad ones.

Mad Swirl's 1st Wednesday Open Mic Night

As you may or may not know, each 1st Wednesday is a unique madness all it's own. You just never know what you'll see when you go to Mad Swirl Open Mic at Absinthe Lounge.

Don’t wish you were there, JUST BE THERE on the next 1st Wednesday...

::: 04:01:09 :::

You won't want to miss it. We promise.

Interested in Performing?

Are you a mad poet, musician, actor, singer and/or performer? (circus freaks, Tenacious D rip-offs and Elvis impersonators always welcome) Do you live in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area? Then come-n-strut-yo-stuff.

Come one. Come all. Come to participate. Come to appreciate. Come to support your fellow mad ones.

The mic opens up around 8:30 and closes when there's no one left standing.

Mad Swirl Open Mic at Absinthe Lounge. It's THE place to be on the first Wednesday of the month! (it's also THE place for 1st Wednesday's $2 drafts/$5 Mad Absinthe's)

Where's This Madness Take Place?

Absinthe Lounge is located in the SouthSide on Lamar building.

1409 South Lamar Street • Dallas, TX 75215

::: Mad News From the Eye of the Swirl :::

(to view the HTML version of this newsletter please click here)

::: Mad News From the Eye of the Swirl :::



Our Fellow Mad Ones,

Greetings and a very Happy (and belated) 2009 from the mad ones here at Mad Swirl to you and yours!

As the New Year festivities were ringing our ears (or was it the booze?) we got to thinking about that line from the New Year's song...


Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne?

And we thought to ourselves, "Selves, no, no, no, auld acquaintance should not be forgot...dangit! And definitely, no way no how, should we ever, EV-ER forget auld lang syne! What'cho be thinkin' 'bout?"

So with that being said, we here at Mad Swirl are so adamant about this auld lang syne business that we just have to keep on doing the Mad Swirlin' voodoo that we do into 2009!

That's right our fellow mad ones, Mad Swirl promises to not forget and will continue to whirl round the printed pages, the www's and the dot com's and on the mic every 1st Wednesdays thru double-aught nine!

Ready or not 2009, here we come!

::: Of the Artists, by the Artists, for the Artists :::

The Mad Gallery is a beautiful space where we proudly display the many facets of the visual arts. From the furthest reaches of this mad, mad world we have gathered together just a few of the most maddest painters, sculptors, photographers & illustrators that we could and swirled them all together here.

Currently featured in the Gallery is painter Ellen McMahill. Here's a few words from Ellen:

"Each human being has a story. Each visual artist is telling a different story about a private perspective of the world made public through image - form, color, concept. I am the fruit of my history and the explorer of the present and future. With insight and compassion my history becomes the knowledge I use to imagine my art and the contribution I can make to the world through it.

On a linear, ordinary level my life has been a labyrinth of experiences which seemed to distract me from being a visual artist at all. In fact, those experiences allowed me to understand the world and myself deeply enough to be able to create on canvas my vision of this life on earth."

Also in the gallery since our last virtual meeting are new works from our resident artists Amy Bernays, Kristin Fouquet and Peter Schwartz.

::: Always Swirling New Poets in Mad Swirl's Poetry Forum! :::

Now with over 90 poets (and growing everyday), Mad Swirl's Poetry Forum is truly a poetic voice to be reckoned with. This massive online collection features some of the maddest poets from all over this big blue marble of ours. The Forum is truly a living and breathing entity, growing and flowing every day...so it's best to come by often to view the latest.

Recently, the mad ones at 10K Poets (Glen Still and Bo Blount) have beat-utifully pimped Johnny O's poem Joe. And what a poetically musical swirling collaboration this has created!


Click here to hear the musical collaboration with 10K Poets

Joe

Some folks say there's no voice today that is willing to reach the hearts and minds of the average Joe. You know him. He's the:

The 50+ hours a week with no OT Joe
The let's build our lives on shaky credit with a 21% APR Joe
The one pay check away from living in the car Joe
The American dream that's drifting away Joe
The let's kill the pain with spirits, herbs and chemicals Joe
The fear for our tomorrow's in a world chock full of sorrow's Joe
The class I was born into is going extinct and there's no moving up but only going down Joe
The masses that passes the classes and still works the mailroom Joe
The man on the street with nothing to eat Joe
The barely legal boys with their lethal toys who play GI Joe Joe
The dying too young my song never sung Joe
The teenager dad who wasn't so bad but got dealt the bad hand Joe
The drug addicted fool who sits outside the schoolyard retracing his steps to find his way back home Joe
The lonely poet who has lost his voice by no choice of his own Joe
The can't find it behind them and can't find it in front of them 'cos tomorrow may not there Joe
The living in fear of the 6 o'clock news afraid to hear another 3,000 are struck dead in the name of God Joe
The seeker who seeks and finds nothing worthwhile Joe
The fool who struck gold only to let it go up in smoke Joe
The I'm too tired to deal with this head, sometimes I think I'd rather be dead Joe
The coping and hoping for someone to hear their plea Joe
I hear you Joe. And this one's for us Joe.

(again we urge you to hear the musical collaboration with 10K Poets)

Here are some of the poets who have new poetic additions to the Forum since
we've last met...

Staff Poets: Johnny Olson · Lisa Olson

Featured Poets: Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal · Ra! Gabriel · Ashutosh Ghildiyal · Kenneth P. Gurney · Chris Hamilton · Justin Hyde · Roderick Richardson · Paul Sexton · Glen Still · Mel Waldman

Contributing Poets: Cabe Lindsay · Anna Devine · Kyle Segars · Jeffrey Winke · Mary McLaughlin · Willie Smith · Laura LeHew · Kat Dixon · John Oliver Hodges · Jennifer Bowles · Corey Cook · Claude Barret · Daniel E Wilcox · Sam Meizlish · Ricky Garni · Rebecca McCabe · Rafael Andrade Garza · R Jay Slais · R B Morgan · George Harding · Matthew D Abate · Paula Ray · Paula Mascho · Nicole Lilly · Nicole Kuwik · John Grey · D C Porder · Bernard Alain · Moctezuma Johnson · Melanie Brown · Heller Levinson
· Silvi Saxena · Jack Henry · Heath Aught · David E Howerton · Alexandra Ran · Anne Ransom

...and there's more madness being added every day!

::: Oh the Madness Will Flow at Mad Swirl Open Mic Night! :::

Salutations!
1st Wednesday's the day.
Take off to Mad places,
and Swirl away!

You have words in your head.
You have songs in your groove
The mic is wide open
for which ever you choose.

You are a Mad One.
And you know how to flow.
And YOU are the One
who'll make it all glow.

We call all you mad
poets, musicians and singers
miscellaneous mad ones,
even Elvis dead-ringers!

Come show what you got
and come do what you do
we'll be ready and waiting
this mic's open for you.

You say to yourself
"I'm not a participator."
We welcome you too
you mad swirlin' appreciators!

Come get you a drink
($2 drafts/$5 wells)
and dig on this scene
it's always quite swell

Swirve opens the show
sometime around 8-ish
Then we get starting to roll
don't be too late-ish.

Mad Swirl Open Mic
is the place you should be
every 1st Wednesday
where insanity is free.

Oh! The Madness Will Flow!

As you may or may not know, each 1st Wednesday is a unique madness all it's own. You just never know what you'll see when you go to Mad Swirl Open Mic Night at Absinthe Lounge every 1st Wednesday of the month. Whatever it is, you won't want to miss it. We promise.

Absinthe Lounge is located at 1409 South Lamar Street, in Dallas, Texas.


"So, come on iconoclasts, forward! Already the foreboding sky grows dark and silent!" - Renzo Novatore Arcola


::: Last Call All Y'All to Get Your Hands on Mad Swirl Six! :::

We've beaten the trails, pounded the pavement and just about sold our souls to spread the word about this issue. Time is running out to get your hands on this 28 full-color page, 23-track collection of beat-utiful collaborations between poetry and music.

This issue is Mad Swirl's ode to the insanity that is Mad Swirl Open Mic Night. In this issue, you'll find the poetry and music of some of the most maddest of the mad ones...

Johnny Olson · Lisa Olson · Cheyenne Gallion · Paul Sexton · Opalina Salas · MH Clay · Desmene Statum · Josh Weir · Roderick Richardson · Chris Zimmerly · Swirve · Tim Thomaston · Kevin Foresman

For this very limited time we are offering Mad Swirl Six: The Blue Note Issue for the low, low price of $5!

How do you get your hands on this amazing collection of madness? Easy, click here!

::: MySpaces and Bloggers and Facebooks - Oh My! :::

Are you connected thru just these few of several hundred different ways to stay connected to your cyber-friends? Well so are we! Why not be our cyber-friends and stay up-to-date on the happenings of the mad ones at Mad Swirl? Our connection is just one click away...

Mad Swirl on MySpace
Mad Swirl on Blogger
Mad Swirl on Facebook

::: And Auld Lang Syne! :::

We give you our word, our fellow mad ones, that auld acquaintances shant not be forgotten in the double-aught nine...

...and we look forward to swirling together with both old and new mad acquaintances as we continue spreading the poetical, musical and artistical voo-doo that we do do.

With the most sincerest of praises and respect we would like to thank-you, and thank-you and thank-you up there and a thank-you to all of you mad ones, past, present and future. It will be thru our hands that we created the Mad Swirling creative collective from what it was, to what it is and into what it will be as we move forward into '09.

Syne-cerely
Johnny O
Madman-in-Chief of Mad Swirl

"Begin doing what you want to do now. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand and meltling like a snowflake." - Marie Beyon Ray

(to view the HTML version of this newsletter please click here)

Mad Swirl Ranting & Raving Insane Campaign 08

Our Fellow Mad Ones...

One half score and a couple-few days ago, Mad Swirl brought forth on this mad, mad blue marble, a new creation, conceived in Swirling Madness, and dedicated to the declaration that all mad ones are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great creative war, testing whether the mad ones, any of the mad ones so conceived and so dedicated to madness, can long endure. We have come to dedicate a portion of the web, as a final posting place for those who here gave their mad spirits so that this madness might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

Just what's our agenda? Lend us your ear and we'll tell you.

Some Fundamental Madnesses

:: Of, By & For the Artists...
:: Read our Lips, No Old Poetry...
:: Change We Can Believe In...

Of the Artists, by the Artists, for the Artists...Mad Gallery's Promise to You!

The Mad Gallery is a beautiful space where we proudly display the many facets of the visual arts. From the furthest reaches of this mad, mad world we have gathered together just a few of the most maddest painters, sculptors, photographers & illustrators that we could and swirled them all together here.

Currently featured in the Gallery is painter Jimmy Ovadia. Jimmy's art "leads us on a transformative psychedelic odyssey full of unique and creative dreamlike portholes. It takes the mind through twists and turns perceived through levels of consciousness and mysticism. Jimmy's quest is toward an abstract surrealistic art that visually unites the body, mind, soul and spirit. It elucidates and enlightens the individual and the world around them."

Also in the gallery since our last virtual meeting are new works from David Arthur-Simons, Tom Harding, Peter Schwartz, Shelly Pinder and Greg Lamer.

Read Our Lips, No Old Poetry...Always Swirling New Poets in Mad Swirl's Poetry Forum!

Now with over 80 poets (and growing everyday), Mad Swirl's Poetry Forum is truly a poetic voice to be reckoned with. This massive online collection features some of the maddest poets from all over this big blue marble of ours. Now tell us, would we lie to you?

The Forum is truly a living and breathing entity, growing and flowing every day...so it's best to come by often to view the latest. Here is just a morsel, an excerpt if you will, from one of our featured poets Glen Still:

A True Liberator

A tribe of innocents
Lead to the pulpit
Believing in the ghost
To rise up

But a metal sword
Comes dancing through the fire
Cuts them all...
Blood Red Bleeds
The first step to amortize one self
Into the system

I imagined a freer world
I imagined her by my side
I see no one here now
I must go off to fight a war
Try to find a way to defeat this common god
The one that doesn't keep his promises
The one that vexes me against my neighbor
Therefore I refuse to raise the gun

(click here to read and hear the complete poem "A True Liberator")

Here are some of the poets we've added to the Forum lately...

Staff Writers: Johnny Olson · Lisa Olson

Featured Writers: Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal · M. H. Clay · Justin Hyde · Paul Sexton · Glen Still · Mel Waldman

Contributors: Robert Louis Henry · Gayle Bell · Nicole Kuwik · Tom Harding · Bernard Alain · Paul Sexton · Kat Dixon · Claude Barret · Cabe Lindsay · Colin James · Raffi Kiureghian · Ray Succre · Jessamyn Cuneo · Kirsten Reinking · Anne Ransom · Dan Provost · Joe Quinn · Gary Beck · Scott Larson · Nick Orf · Max Earl Blair · Melanie Brown · Connor O'Brien · George Harding · Clive Matson · Kenneth P Gurney · Larry Anderson · Moctezuma Johnson · Gene Barry · Changming Yuan · Jonathan Hayes · Jack Henry · Joseph Reich

and many more...

Change We Can Believe In...Mad Swirl Open Mic Night!

This is the official and unanimous Declaration of Mad Swirl Open Mic Night at Absinthe Lounge every 1st Wednesday of the month.

When in the course of Mad Swirl Open Mic events it becomes necessary for us mad ones to dissolve the mental and physical miles between us and gather together for the madness, which connects us with one another. And to assume among the powers of the host of this madness, the separate and equal time in front of the mic to which the Laws of Booze and of Nature's Tea entitle us. Fortunately, this sometimes enables they that would declare these causes to impel them to poetic revolution. Soooo...

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all poets, musicians, singers, storytellers, comedians, and performers are mostly created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are poems, songs and the pursuit of madness.

And for your support of Mad Swirl Open Mic, with a firm reliance on the intoxication from Absinthe Lounge, we mutually pledge to you our words, our tunes and our sacred madness.

Come one. Come all. Come to participate. Come to appreciate. Come to support your fellow mad ones.

Absinthe Lounge · 1409 South Lamar Street · Dallas, 75215

"So, come on iconoclasts, forward! Already the foreboding sky grows dark and silent!" Renzo Novatore Arcola


Make Your Picks...Mad Swirl Issue Six!

Time is running out to get your hands on Mad Swirl Six: The Blue Note Issue, a 28 full-color-page, 23-track collection of beat-utiful collaborations between poetry and music.

This Blue Note Issue is Mad Swirl's ode to the insanity that is Mad Swirl Open Mic Night. In this issue, you'll find the poetry and music of some of the most maddest of the mad ones...

Johnny Olson · Lisa Olson · Cheyenne Gallion · Paul Sexton · Opalina Salas · MH Clay · Desmene Statum · Josh Weir · Roderick Richardson · Chris Zimmerly · Swirve · Tim Thomaston

For this very limited time we are offering Mad Swirl Six: The Blue Note Issue for the low, low price of $5!

How do you get your hands on this amazing collection of madness? You have 3 options...

PayPal! It's safe! It's easy! It's instant!

OR

Visit us at Mad Swirl's Open Mic Night and buy an issue direct from Johnny O.

OR

Send us an e-mail and we can discuss payment options.

It just doesn't get any easier then that! Get your Mad Swirl Six fix as fast as you can!

Our Price: $5.00
S & H: $2.00

All the Hip Kids Are Doing It, Why Not You?

VOTE. We're not going to get all preachy, try to sway you in sOme suBtle wAy to MAke you vote for who we like best. We just want to do our public service by saying GO VOTE! Did we say that loud enough? GO VOTE!! A tad louder? GO VOTE!!! Not registered? Need more info? Visit RockTheVote.com

"The stakes are too high for government to be a spectator sport." Barbara Jordan

So, our Fellow Mad Ones, to include Joe's Six-Pack & Plumber...

This insane nation, under-ground, shall swirl together a new kind of madness -- and this zine of the mad ones, by the mad ones, for the mad ones, shall not perish from this big beautiful blue marble.

Stayed tuned to Mad Swirl for even more in the coming days, weeks, months and years as we continue to weave this mad web and print this mad page and set this mad stage whether we get voted in or not. So there.

Sincerely?
Johnny O
Madman-in-Chief of Mad Swirl

The whole Mad Swirl of everything to come begins...now!

Lots'o'News from the Eye of the Swirl

::: Summer 2008 :::

"Time, time, time, see what's become of me..."

Sure has been awhile, huh? Sometimes it seems like the days fly into weeks and into months and next thing you know it's summer. The last time you heard from us we had Santa on the header of this message, if that gives you any idea of time passed.

So what exactly has been going since we celebrated the birth of Santa? Boy oh boy and my oh my, a whole lotta madness has been swirling!

Are you ready to take the Swirl for a spin? Well then, LET's GO!

::: Heerrre's...Mad Swirl Six: The Blue Note Issue! :::

The long-awaited, much-anticipated full-color print issue, a 28-page, 23-track collection of poetry and music was officially released at Mad Swirl Open Mic Night to a full-house of mad ones, 07.02.08 at Absinthe Lounge.

This Blue Note Issue is Mad Swirl's ode to the insanity that is Mad Swirl Open Mic Night. In this issue, you'll find the poetry and music of some of the most maddest of the mad ones...

Johnny Olson · Lisa Olson · Cheyenne Gallion · Paul Sexton · Opalina Salas · MH Clay · Desmene Statum · Josh Weir · Roderick Richardson · Chris Zimmerly · Swirve · Tim Thomaston

This beat-utiful collaboration of madness is now available for purchase. Get 'em while they last!!!

Scroll on down to get your fix of Mad Swirl Issue Six...

::: Behold...Mad Swirl's Online Poetry Forum! :::

Now with over 70 poets, the Mad Swirl Poetry Forum is truly a poetic online village featuring some of the maddest poets from all over this big blue marble of ours.

The Forum is truly a living and breathing entity, growing and flowing every day...so it's best to come by often to view the latest.

Here are some of the poets we've added lately...

Mel Waldman · Johnny Olson · Robert Louis Henry · M. H. Clay · Gayle Bell · R. Jay Slais · Roderick Richardson · Joseph Reich · Janann Dawkins · Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal · Dennis Wilken · Nathan Tyree · Puma Perl · Justin Hyde · Nicole Kuwik · Victoria Munn · Isaiah Vianese · Ra! Gabriel · John Grey · Tom Harding · Rob Plath · Rafael Andrade Garza · Glen Still · Mary McLaughlin...

...and oh so many more!

::: Take a Stroll thru the Mad Gallery! :::

Welcome to the Mad Gallery. This beautiful space is the place where we proudly display the many mad facets of the visual arts.

Currently featured is painter David Arthur-Simons. David's works depict ideal places of peace, harmony and symmetry where people fly, leap and glide through the air from one dimension to another, constantly defying the accepted illusions of life. This is just the first of many more installments of David's vast collection to be featured in the Mad Gallery. And when you're done being inspired by David's work...

...from the furthest reaches of this mad, mad world we have gathered together just a few of the most maddest painters, sculptors, photographers & illustrators that we could and swirled them all together here. Come by and visit the gallery...

Get your stroll on here...

::: Mad Swirl Open Mic: Where the Mad Ones Are! :::

Every 1st Wednesday night Mad Swirl has its open mic and we make mad mischief of one kind, and another until our mothers call us "Mad Ones!" and send us to Dallas' Absinthe Lounge without our supper.

Come go mad with Mad Swirl's monthly showcase of beat-utiful mad ones as we strive to break the madness barrier! If you are a poet, musician, actor, singer and/or performer and live in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area then come-n-preach-it!

Come one. Come all. Come to participate. Come to appreciate. Come to support your fellow mad ones.

Absinthe Lounge · 1409 S Lamar St · Dallas

Get more info, see pics and hear audio from last 1st Wednesday's madness here!

::: Get Your Mad Swirl Issue Six Fix Here! :::

This limited-edition, numbered copy of Mad Swirl is 28 full-color pages of swirling madness that captures some of the most maddest of the mad ones and the insanity that is the Dallas poetry and music scene!

What would you be willing to pay for this limited edition, numbered copy of Mad Swirl? Don't answer yet!

A bonus with this mad zine is a 23-track CD of the whole issue performed and recorded live at Absinthe Lounge, with music by Swirve! Now how much would you pay? $20 would be worth it. $10? That sure would be a great deal!

For this limited time we are offering Mad Swirl Six: The Blue Note Issue for the low, low price of $5!

How do you get your hands on this amazing collection of madness? You have 3 options...

PayPal! It's safe! It's easy! It's instant! It's right here! Click and get whisked away into PayPal's safe and capable hands.

OR

Come visit us at Mad Swirl's Open Mic Night and buy an issue direct from Johnny O

OR

Send us an e-mail (crazy@madswirl.com) or visit us on MySpace and we can discuss payment options.

It just doesn't get any easier then that!

Give me my Mad Swirl Six fix as fast as you can!

We told you there was a lot going on in the Land of Swirling Madness! There's even more in store in the coming days, weeks, months and years as we weave this mad web and print this mad page and set this mad stage.

Keep on swirling madly, our fellow mad ones, because the whole Mad Swirl of everything to come begins...NOW!

Reach out and touch Mad Swirl the electronic-mail kinda way at crazy@madswirl.com

Or visit us on the Wide World of the Web at MadSwirl.com

What's Going on in Mad Swirl’s Poetry Forum? (02.2008)

welcome to mad swirl 's poetry forum. we have collected poetry from the maddest poets from the maddest corners of the world and have showcased them here in the forum just for you. catch the flowin' swirlin' madness from some our fellow mad ones ~ shawn r. misener, glenn still, rafael andrade garza, desmene m. statum, joseph goosey, moctezuma johnson & justin hyde...

"Who's Gonna Fuck You When You're Dead?"

is certainly the best thing I’ve overheard
so I can’t take credit for it
but I can relay the splendor to you
and we can both laugh and chuckle

the couple was gone down the street
before I could react
they were incredibly fast walkers
for being so grey and poorly dressed

but what the man said
in that moment
has stuck with me for ten years
and by now the guy is a wise sage
in the rolodex of my memories

- shawn r. misener

(added 02.16.08)

Death Is Picking Me Apart

Death is picking me apart
I never realized
That it would come to this
On the other side of the fence
Like some bad neighbor
Throwing trash
Not respecting property owned
By others with dreams

Ya! Death is picking me apart slowly
Its come hard to the realization
This shit is getting crazy
My best friend just took a settle down
I didn’t even know it
I kept calling and calling
No answer!
Too late motherfucker
Disconnected!

Death is picking me apart
My soul can’t contain this
This shit is re-arranging me like dominoes
Playing hard like some old black man
Stuck on a ghetto corner
Only in this game
No one ever wins
The truth of the matter is
No one ever loses either
Figure that shit out
If you can!
It’s just that pain
That creeps in every few seconds
Damn! I wish I would have answered your call
I thought I was just too busy
What a fool I was

Ya! Death is that phenomena
That makes you question everything
Well, you know what man?
I want to let you know now that you’re gone
You were that brother from another mother
We saw eye to eye
I knew you better
Then you knew yourself
I just wish I could’ve been there
When you hit the floor
Been a Jesus!
Resurrected you!
Brought you back!
But I know that this is just me wishing

Death picks us all apart
When it’s our time
The clock stops ticking
Stop
Dead Stop!

Dedicated to Steven Everhart Jr.
My friend, my Brother…RIP Man!

- glenn still

(added 02.16.08)

love is faster than a speeding bullet

If you were to shred my spirit’s tee
You’ll find a Superman S
where a bulls-eye used to be
my soul once bullet-ridden
with lost love
and bleeding sorrow
is coming back
even stronger tomorrow

nothing can defeat experience
but wisdom-
this is why I try to find new ways
to overcome my sworn enemies
the loneliness
the vice
the pity

If you were to hear my chest
echoes of a troubled city-
rockford fosgate beats upon flesh
blood flows from Technochtitlan
democratic bones carved out of Parthenon
my heart is Mt. Everest
and from this highest hope
I’m not afraid to fall

In my camera eye,
exists an imperfect world
ghosts walking where happy souls should be
on these hollow streets,
there are crimes against the heart
I put my superman t-shit back on.

- rafael andrade garza
© January 05, 2007

(added 02.14.08)

What I Gave Away

If I wanted to be nothing
I would have stayed in Alabama
probably married some no good johnny
baked myself a tasteless pie dream
I would have chosen selfishness
and raised my daughter alone
God, I would die
just to see her face
that would have been easier
than giving her away
and continuing the cycle
I was determined to break
teen mother with emotionally
unavailable father
Sometimes the hardest thing to give away
is control

If you are happy
you know
nothing can touch you
but wind
Libra’s daughter and her deviant lover
worshipers of melody
seeking a paradise
Singing two-fisted whiskey love songs
about fire eating eyes
to eighteen-wheeler emotions
Consuming each other
one gives to feel whole
the other takes to fill a hole
Each thinking
they lack something
necessary to live
They define their happiness
by the validity of touch
Void, devoid, and, afraid
selfish
both guilty in someway
not ever really knowing
what feels good
All they have known
is their conditioning
the constant paranoia
of lack
of never amounting to
more than an addiction
They construct a universe
of guilt, of right and wrong
and this is no place to live
Tangible intangibles
paradoxes of reality
pretending its paradise
Instead of making love
and making light
they mutilate their own hearts
and exist in a continuous state
of darkness and emotional disfigurement

When I was 18
my boyfriend and I
bought a trailer
and moved in together
This was after my daughter was adopted
during that time
I obsessed with an everyday life
couldn’t save myself from thinking
that my sacrifice was for nothing
I couldn’t let go
my thoughts of grandeur
that my purpose was something greater
than working in a day care
living in a trailer and
never having an education
Over and over
it burrowed into my consciousness
conquered my reasoning
After weeks of self loathing
I made a promise to myself
Then I burned that trailer
to the ground
and headed west

- desmene m. statum

(added 02.11.08)


A BIT OF NARCISSISM FOR YOU IN THE EVENING TIME

You mean to tell me you can't be fooled with poetry?
Well, shit on the sheets and call for a haircut appointment
because that was the only plan I had drawn up thus far.

Don't you understand? I'm writing about your pigtails
your sprinkles your frosting your dress your river cigarette
stuffed bear record player plastic flower neuroses

What? You don't want to read about any of those really personal subjects?
You just want to lay there eating your sushi and gatorade?
If you had a diary I could just read the fucking thing but now a
scheme must be devised.

If you would just write me up some instructions for how to
act smoke fuck laugh care cry shout poop eat ginger
then maybe this key would fit a more out of date but stylish car.

What yanks at me constantly,
is why you are not in awe
of all that I do.

- joseph goosey

(added 02.11.08)

Whore Next Door

you are the whore next door
I see you every day
stripping down into your panties
bending over to the oven
you're some hockey player's wife
they say. they don't know you. not
like I know you, your long blonde
hair, your thick curves—you're like
a porn star. my personal porn star.
I lower the lights so you can't see me
in the brownstone across the way
jerking off saying your name: Anya.
at least that's what I imagine your
name to be. you give me a flesh of
breast meat. I'm addicted. I'll watch
you everyday now. everyday after
I come home from middle school.

- moctezuma johnson

(added 02.09.08)

all these freak-shows

it seems
the more outlandish
they dress
the duller they are.

for instance
two pancake-faced
wafers
next table over:

striped leggings
wooden plugs
in their ears,
airing out
freshly minted tattoos
of japanese calligraphy
on their shoulders.

i'm going on a
green-bean only diet,
buzz-clucks
the one.

i'm so with you,
clutter-spurts
the other
as

a gopher
in nigeria
locks up
from a
heart-attack.

i don't have any tattoos
or piercings,

don't even
wear a watch.

i should have glasses
but that's a
different poem.

if you pegged me at all
it would be for a
sloppily dressed
footnote,

which i'd gladly be
if it wasn't
for all the
voodoo-rickshaws
jackknifing
right here
behind these
eyes.

- justin hyde

(added 02.07.08)

remember, this page is in flux, living and breathing, evolving and changing constantly...so please come and come often for the latest submissions.

click here to visit the mad swirl's poetry forum. if you would like to submit poetry for the forum please see our submissions page located here.

Mad Swirlin' Holiday Greetings to You

::: Winter 2007 :::



Ho Ho Ho-llo Mad,
...and all that other happily sappily sugary stuff to you and yours this holiday season!

And since t'is the swirling season for giving and sharing, for loving and caring, we here at Mad Swirl couldn't think of a better way to spend these chilly holy-day's then by caring to share the latest mad-happenings at MadSwirl.com with you and yours!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the 1st day of madness Mad Swirl gave to me...
...a brand new short story!

Welcome to Mad Swirl's Short Story library. We've all got a story to tell but some of us have an itch that we have to scratch and this is the place where the itchers go to scratch it. Here's a glimpse at our latest scratcher Joseph Goosey...

Someday I Will Be On the Lamb and Sorely Missed
I got out of my car. I sensed that it was about 82 degrees. Very unseasonable. I wished to just lay down on the sidewalk, perhaps an eagle would swoop down low and take me in as one of it's own. This was unlikely so I kept walking. I was out of the car now and on my feet so there really was not much else. I looked like an escapee from either some sort of work release program or a Northeastern writers conference because I was still wearing my cashmere sweater. Like I said, very unseasonable. In an attempt to minimize my visibility to passers-by I ducked into a coffee shop. The girl behind the counter looked as though she had the answers to some very important and philosophical questions...

Click here for more EVEN if you've been bad!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the 2nd day of madness Mad Swirl gave to me...
...some wild and ca-razy poetry!

We tried to wrap up all these poetic samplings in bows and ribbons but we just couldn't get the tape to stick! So instead we offer this online collection of poetry from the maddest poets from the maddest corners of the world and have showcased them in the Poetry Forum just for you. The Forum is always in flux, living and breathing, evolving and changing, swirling constantly...so please come and come often to view the latest submissions.

Be sure to check this poetry stocking for the interactive holiday collaboration between Merlin the Magical One and Mad Swirl. Smoke 'em if you got 'em and be sure you turn up the volume and shoo away the kiddos before you open "Twas the Night Before Tomorrow"..

If it's been a few months since you came 'round the Forum, it has got lots of new wonderfully mad words from some of the mad ones that color our world. Here's who you may or may not have read since our last meeting...

Roderick Richardson · Ra! Gabriel · Justin Hyde · Joseph Goosey · David Kowalczyk · Shellie Lobis · Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal · Johnny Olson · Glen Still · Moctezuma Johnson · W Alt Burns · Michael Lee Johnson · Sean Bowen · Nicole Lilly · Joseph Veronneau

Santa says tear here to open the poetic presents here...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the 3rd day of madness Mad Swirl gave to me...
...new work in the Mad Gal-ler-y!

Welcome to the Mad Gallery...this place where we hang by the chimney with care the many sides of art and mad cheer!

From the furthest reaches of this mad mad world we have gathered together and featured just a few of the most maddest painters, sculptors, photographers & illustrators that we could and swirled them all together here. Come by and visit the gallery and watch as it continues revolving round and round...

Currently, in the Mad Gallery Showcase we have hung the latest additions from Andrew David King and Lia Mildwater.

Behold the artistic presense presents here...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Every 1st Wednesday Mad Swirl Gives to Me...
...Open Mic Festivities!

As 2008 begins it's mad unraveling, Mad Swirl will continue to swirl collective creative chaos and madness and at Absinthe Lounge on 1st Wednesdays Open Mic.

Come go mad with host Johnny O and the monthly Mad Swirling showing of beat-utifully mad poets, musicians, actors, singers and miscellaneous mad ones as we try to make 2008 one to remember!

Make your list and mark your calendars now...


01.02.08 · 02.06.08 · 03.05.08 · 04.02.08 · 05.07.08 · 06.04.08 · 07.02.08 · 08.06.08 · 09.03.08 · 10.01.08 · 11.05.08 · 12.03.08


Interested in performing? If you are a poet, musician, actor, singer and/or performer and live in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area then come-n-preach-it!

Come one. Come all. Come to participate. Come to appreciate. Come to support your fellow mad ones.

And please, by all means, FEEL FREE TO SPREAD THE MAD WORD!

Absinthe Lounge · 1409 S Lamar St · Dallas, 75215

Santa says click here for more information...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks to Santa for sharing his mad gifts with us, even though he knew all about our naughities and nicities in 2007!

We hope that 2008 brings more and more swirling madness from the mad ones that color our world.

See you in the web, on the page and up on the stage in 2008! And a Happy New Mad Swirling Year!

What's Going on in Mad Swirl’s Poetry Forum? (11.21.07)

More then you can shake a stick at, that's what..!

We have collected poetry from the maddest poets from the maddest corners of this mad mad world and have showcased the latest Mad Ones in the Poetry Forum just for you. Currently the forum's gots lots of words from: David Kowalczyk, Ra! Gabriel, Joseph Goosey, Michael Lee Johnson, Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal & Ryan Dilbert...

My Dream Is Turquoise Marzipan

I am living at the San Diego Zoo
in a cage filled with crack vials,
banana peels, and expired bus passes.

I alternate covering my eyes,
my mouth, my ears,
while geriatric Republicans from
Tucson toss peanuts at me.

They are wise.
They feel the magic.
They know that I know
what I know, that I am
who I am because
I understand the serpent.

- david kowalczyk

Subway goes

he runs to catch the train
that doesn't stop
time is internal, spiraling now
a girl he's been practicing imagining
waits for him at some improbable stop
still unbuilt: a mere proposal on a drawing
board in some workroom
will blast through cheap restaurants and
Laundromats; will attract new
buildings and they will dine on Tofu
soup and cold, chewy noodles

- ra! gabriel

I TAKE A SEAT NEXT TO YOU

Are you hungry?
Do you want some lunch?
Will you be hungry on Saturday
around 7pm?
How was Corpus Cristi?
How is the aquarium?
Do you enjoy trumpets?
Trombones?
French horns?
French poetry?
French fiction?
Tennis? Bowling?
Do you savor dishes of fish
and rice?

Write the answer
to the aforementioned down
on a post-it, in H10 pencil,
and leave it for me
on the windshield of my
dirty dirty car.

- joseph goosey

Poem From My Grave

Don't bring the rosary beads
it's too damn late for doing repetitions.
Eucharist, I can handle the crackers and wine;
I love the Lord just like you.
Catholicism circles itself with rituals--
ground hogs and squirrels dancing with rosary beads,
naked in the sun and the night, eating the pearls
and feeling comfortable about it.
Rituals and rosary beads are indigestible
even the butterflies go coughing in the farmer's cornfields..
Cardinal George, Chicago, would choke on the damn things;
some of his priest would have thought it a gay orgasm or piece
remote found in scripture from Sodam & Gamora.
But my bones in ginger dust lie near a farm in DeKalb, Illinois
where sunset meshes corn with a yellow gold glow like rich teeth.
My tent is with friends there we said prayers privately like silent
moonlight. Farmers touch the face of God each morning after just
one cup of Folgers coffee Columbian blend,
or pancakes made with water and batter, sparse on the sugar.
Sometimes I would urinate on the yellow edge of flowers,
near the tent, late at night, before the hayride, speak
to the earth and birds like gods.
Never did I pull the rosary beads from my pocket.
It's too late, damn it, for rosary beads and repetitions.

- michael lee johnson

GIVE ME A CHANCE

It’s a mistake.
I’m not supposed
to be in here.

I didn’t do
anything wrong.
I forgot to

take my mind pills.
Without them I
get so confused.

I’m better now.
You can see that.
Why can’t I be

let go? I could
be more careful.
Give me a chance.

Whatever I
did to that poor
homeless woman

I won’t ever
do again? I
only took her

cart. She fell all
by herself. At
least she didn’t

break her hip. I
never laid a
hand on her. I’m

going back to
the place she lives
and apologize.

I will bring her
coffee, donuts,
and some spare change.

- luis cuauhtemoc berriozabal

Two-faced motherfucker

I first saw her in Starbucks black,
slim, maroon boxes around her squinty eyes.
Her face was bared to me in installments
all the grains of sugar and dust
placed into the lines of my palm

I am a two-faced motherfucker
and there is no way she could have known that
The first face I showed her
was the sweet and loyal boyfriend
the babysitter
who stockpiled friends

The next face I gave her
in the bedroom
the door closed
the girlfriend forgotten
for a few sultry moments
I left without saying goodbye

When I returned I was older, more mature, more jaded
The first face I showed her was passionate,
one she could hold in her clammy hands
that she could use to wipe up spilled soda
that called her
that tried to prove that the past wasn't a fluke

The other face was turned away
turned inward
uncaring like I thought she was
she saw that one fading off into the distance
becoming a dot
I left without leaving
and no good-bye

We met again and kept our friendship a clothesless one
The face I showed her in the dark
was erect and dripped into her cupped hands
it was a face of fire
kept warm inside a blanket

The second face I didn't show
it was indifferent,
unsure of if it was smiling or cringing
it was a icy face, rotting from the inside
full of insensitive maggots
it is one that I hate
that I try to cut off at night
with sharpened tears
I don't want to leave
I don't want to say goodbye

But she's seen the second face
and recoiled
She doesn't love the first face
But wouldn't mind being warmed by its flickering light
The other one bites into her back
and is only sorry
when it is too late

- ryan dilbert

Remember, this page is in flux, living and breathing, evolving and changing constantly...so please come and come often for the latest submissions.

Click here to visit the Mad Swirl's Poetry Forum. If you would like to submit poetry for the forum please see our submissions page located here.

Check Out Mad Swirl's Poetry Forum...

We have collected poetry from the maddest poets from the maddest corners of the world and have showcased the latest Mad Ones in the forum just for you. Currently the forum's gots lots of words from some of our seasoned mad ones mixed with brand-spanking-new mad ones: Misti Rainwater-Lites, Zachary C. Bush, Zoe Alexandra, Ra! Gabriel, Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal & Cabe Lindsay. But remember, this page is in flux, living and breathing, evolving and changing constantly...so please come and come often for the latest submissions.

Click here to visit the Mad Swirl's Poetry Forum. If you would like to submit poetry for the forum please see our submissions page located here.



Mother May I

barer of breasts
bearer of bad tidings
baby born to teenage mom
a year after her abortion
beauty pageant guinea pig
topless dancer at nineteen
here is the truth, mom
the truth that does not jibe with
your How Great Thou Art Old Rugged Cross mantra
you ask me to bring back my innocence
dust my purity off in time for my son’s birth
be the lover of God
the example to him
the conduit
the conductor
of the glory train
you have seen me fall and crawl and bawl for peace
you have seen me with messy hissing medusa hair
face bleeding from self-inflicted scratches
hiding in closets
defacing white walls with scented rainbow markers
bouncing off walls from prozac
writing poems about checking into a cheap motel room
and checking out
before life could really fuck me up the ass
loving men who didn’t love me back
wailing in the dark swigging from a bottle of vodka
puking up cheap wine with billie holiday on the stereo
and your favorite ceramic angel
broken into pink and gold shards at my feet
whore, mom
i am
wanting the most return
for the least effort
tired, mom
exhausted
but God is not my naptime
the angels are not lulling me to sleep
I’m not standing in that line
begging for blessings
holy, mom
you are
you have no idea
i sing hymns to you
memorize verses in your name
tell whatever special fucking invisible holy powerful thing
is listening
Her Life Will Not
Be My Life.
I Will Not Go
Down Like That.
Nailed To Anybody’s Cross.
A Waterfall Of A Woman.
Flowing Blood And Tears And Regret
Dying Some Asshole’s Martyr
While A Sad Dolly Parton Song Plays.

- misti rainwater-lites


& then I inhaled a lungful of sweet-cream when

Your left hand’s sandpaper tongue
Woke me curiously
From a dream
Where I did odd things
Like still-sitting behind a desk
In a bright room
[Like our Court of Moral Questioning]
In front of a man
With hair missing leaning
Over a dust-grey book pressing
His wrinkled finger against the middle split-
Open reciting lines blurred to me
To others listening surrounding me Darling

They were like nothing we have ever seen

I watched
As they were quick
Scribbling
Down
The sounds coming
Out of his mouth

An alarm-bell rang
The others dissolved
Before me
The mumbling man hunched
Over his desk waving
Me out from the room crying

- zachary c. bush


Today on the F-Train

Today on the F train
You said
Baby, you don't write anymore
You said
When I met you,
You were a writer
Now, you don't write
And I couldn't fault you there
Maybe sometimes you do see
Me better than I see myself

Inside my head there is always
A little whisper
A tiny slightly breathy whisper
Saying you're way too fucking fat
You talk way too much
You are such a pain in the ass
to everyone you know
and I know it's selfish to even feel that way
to take up that much space
even in my own head

space which could be used to build
linear equations, to conceal alien life,
to make a shelter for homeless animals
and yet I am always inside this small space

digging my heel into my own leg
stepping on the backs of my own shoes
tripping myself in the street
I want to tell you
I do write
I do
All the scribbles
All the cross outs
On scraps of paper
I do write my own name
Over and over in loopy cursive
And sometimes yours
But I loose track of time
And all of a sudden the bulk of it
Is gone.

- zoe alexandra


The Go-Go Swim Show

I'm so tired poolside, what now?
Don't you think so?
She flirts drippingly with no shame
No? Show me no.

She so flirts drippingly with no shame
Just me, not any so-and-so
Hysterically sexy girl
Ho CEO!

Hello hysterically sexy girl
Dodo. Let go--
Some girls pull the guava insides
From your ego. Let go.

Some girls pull the guava insides
she knows you know, even so
she's the CEO of the strip show
bro'. Flow aglow.

She's so the CEO of the strip show
so-so, sitting drinking green tea
in that short skirt, cup in front of the brie
she scowls, yet it's kind of sexy
No? Show me no!

She's so crazy, lazy
flirts drippingly with no shame
dumps on you all the blame
I'm so tired at the table, what now?
So slow we grow!

It's a go-go strip show, swim show
In bikini she's, whoa!
Even in Tagalog: gusto mo ho
I want no, let whims flow, a-
go-go swim show

- ra! gabriel


SOME OTHER FACE

Look at my face.
Does it look like
a face at all?

I don’t know who
I am. I don’t
know who I was.

Bring me photos.
Remind me of
the better days.

I don’t recall
if I ever
smiled at all.

Outside I hear
birds singing my
death song. I look

in the mirror
and I look in
my eyes. There is

no life there. I
sigh and hope with
all my might that

this could be a
dream, a nightmare,
some other face.

- luis cuauhtemoc berriozabal


Larry's Birthday Present

Both of them belonged, at first
to worlds of loneliness or worse
on separate mountains
on different islands
on distant oceans
without notions
of their other half's existence

Larry was one-of-a-kind
his mother was a platypus
his dad a hippopotamus
her labor was laborious
the birth, of course, victorious

Similarly squirrelly,
Lori was the hairy daughter
of a lion and an otter
nature hadn't ever seen
a comparably keen
and fiery
queenly being

These two future mates
shared two common traits:
their unprecedented strangeness
yes, foreign derangeness
as well as peculiar palpitation
of offbeat cardiovascular tempo
as a result of a unique heart condition
their primary organs of affection
were bursting with treasures
so immeasurable
so pleasurable
the overflow spilled onto others
unknowingly blessing these people
in their presences
with lovely loving lovejuice

Larry was hilarious
Lori was hilorious

Their paths were misaligned
until the day they intertwined

Larry was hilarious
Lori was hilorious
together they were merrious
the days they shared were glorious

Many planets wined and dined them
when their two fine minds combined, then
suns shined divinely
from their kiss-induced sparks
comets crossed asteroid belts
moons collided with moons
one colossal black hole swallowed them up
with an emotionally
explosionally
stellar gulp
the after taste of which
refreshed the universe

Space licked its lips and smiled.

- cabe lindsay