At the Hotel Miramar beside the Atlantic,
breakers are breaking, storm clouds
are brewing like coffee,
and no-one is interested.
At the Hotel Miramar,
everyone must play
the piano, read a novel
in a cigarette’s glow
and occasionally set a page on fire.
It’s an imperative existence,
footfalls and black market dollars,
parrots on perches
with plumage refracted in spectral displays.
They played Piazzolla on the Vitrola
and we danced a slow tango, counting
our steps, treading on toes.
When the shadows were darker, everything was tidy
and the stigmata of life were autoclaved
at dawn.
My blood pulsed, my mind boiled,
my mouth was a desert
and my words were all wooden,
little wandering Pinocchios
who checked out at midday and took a coach to São Paulo.
At the Hotel Miramar
the unexpected finds you
in the first floor bar.
Once I had an illusion,
but I will never return.
relevant note
The Hotel Miramar in this piece is fictional, but Astor Piazzolla, who created nuevo tango, is less fictional.
irrelevant note
I started Inconstant Light to give a little background about my pieces in case someone was interested, and to support the publishers who buy the rights. The Third Dimension appeared on-line this year in Plasma Frequency Magazine, but kindling and kindle versions of the Second Quarter issue were not produced. Now the magazine has closed permanently. It’s been replaced with a spam site, and my story was evidently the last to appear. I’m certain my piece had nothing to do with the magazine closing its doors. Almost, anyway.
artwork
Mostly digital abstract—graffiti wall, road signs, lane markings. Or maybe graffiti markings, lane signs, road wall.
An exceptional poem that feels like an intro to so much more. I wanted it to continue! Wonderful art enhancing the mood, also!
Glad to hear that, I tried to make the art fit the mood. As you know, fiction comes from pieces of real put through the vegetable blender. I can reveal that if the narrative went on, various people would be asking someone called Sam to sing ‘As Time Goes By.’ 😉
😀
I’m thinking of so many stories here that are happening in my world,my reality. I find recently that printed word online seems to connect with my inner monologue in an uncanny manner. I don’t search for it, it finds me, could it be I’m not stretched intellectually? Perhaps. I enjoy the way your piece refracts imagery from popular culture and literature. Thank-you
You’re welcome. Resonance with readers is something writers strive for, but I don’t really know how or why it happens or how intellect/emotion play into that.
What I would say if anyone asked me, which they wouldn’t :), is that people sometimes see the heart and mind as a dichotomy, acting against each other, but mostly they work in harmony.
I would like to agree with you
Thanks , also enjoy your work.
Another gorgeous piece Steve, but you really should accept total responsibility for random zine failure, I think.
Great work.
Frank
Thanks Frank. I do accept responsibility for most things, but I’m trying to cut back.
Really enjoyed reading this and also The Third Dimension Steve, thanks for including the link!
You’re welcome Leanne, and thanks for reading TTD. Since it’s on a zombie site and never appeared in print, you are one of a very select group :).
so when I read this I kept getting the feeling of old 40s movies – and then you mention Sam and “As time goes by” – good to know I was on the right track – tho if i follow the wandering pinnochios maybe not 😉
Yes, it has that vibe, partly the tango I think. There are hotels in Latin America away from the main cities that have somehow survived from a past era, so I don’t have to imagine them. With Pinnochios, you never know, sometimes it’s tough to chose between lies and a nose job :).
I loved this, along with the beautiful artwork. I want to set a page on fire too.
Thanks, and no problem, burning books is perfectly okay if you do it accidentally, or it’s cold and you need a fire, or you’re a character in Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 :).
I was thinking along the lines of a more metaphorical meaning, like setting my own blank page on fire.
Metafors? I never write anything metaforical, and if I did I wouldn’t admit it ;).
Wow, wonderful settling words and images, thank you for doing what you do!
You’re welcome, Cherilyn. When I play with writing and art, I use a 4 step creativity method. All the steps are pretty much the same–have a coffee :). Thanks, S.
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Thank you for sharing the hotel miramar