Sunday, April 10, 2011

Down Towner


there is a classic
vacancy
that does not hold
signage, singling itself
out - of commission
out of time, out of prospect
out of

loneliness - VACANCY

down towner, morph
completed to
down and outer, down
further...then soul should ever find itself 

so(lo)

giving
traveled points accumulated
little redemptive
quality - even with
premier or upgraded
parking status

bkmackenzie
copyrighted 2011

posted for One Shoot Sunday...photographer Lauren Randolph

really liked this particular photo...bkm

22 comments:

  1. beautiful piece.... "so(lo)" that just made the entire poem for me... loved that!

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  2. yeah i get this piece...a rather scary kinda vacancy bk...so(lo) nice!!! well not really if it is you but a nice write...

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  3. Every town big enough has one of these places and I can't help but agree with your sentiments. Vacancy isn't always a good thing to fill.

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  4. When I was a child, I can remember so many vacations when we stayed at places exactly like the one in the photo. Here in St. Louis, tied to Route 66, so many of them have become legends, even as they morphed into "down and outers."

    Well done, B.K. (And so glad to hear the news on your husband.)

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  5. Yes, clever so(lo) so crucial...classic vacancy indeed...nice piece, but I hope it's not reflecting you...

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  6. No, it does not reflect me...my solo so(lo) is very limited...the photo reminded me of a area I drove through yesterday, and now a once vibrant area can slowly decay and take on a whole new meaning....bkm

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  7. I love this. Vacancy is another reminder, nothing is for very long...but can be filled with memories. I find myself, even when something has become something else. I can still remember, what happened there. That's a funny idea, vacancy filled with memories, not empty after all, the vancancy still holds the past for those that remember....The house I used to live in, is full of my memories of the 18 years I lived there. Now someone else lives there, do they sometimes bump into my memories? The woman who lived there before me, said she often thought of the house at night, and would wonder through the house.....I wondered,did I dream her memories?

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  8. You capture that sense of desolation—utter despair that seems to come across the photo. And you are so right about a "classic vacancy" no longer holding. Wish I would of said it. Very true. (Like your new blog header too)

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  9. i also liked "so(lo)" ~ just a great write overall. captures the photograph perfectly!

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  10. This picture spoke to me, too. You've done a beautiful job of weaving the two kinds of vacancies together, bkm.

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  11. I almost chose this one too, barbara, but you've done more with it than I ever could--so(lo) indeed--sparse and every word perfect, especially the ending irony. Those miles traveling nowhere are too often the opposite of a credit.

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  12. This picture had grabbed me too. Some of my poem, thinking of the 'Deflated lives fell within time' I think stemmed from what I felt seeing this picture. Definintely a 'classic vacancy... so(lo)' that you have captured beautifully.

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  13. Yes, no matter how we fill our days, loneliness always follows our footsteps like a lonely dog.

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  14. Further, indeed, than soul should find itself -- though these roadside ghettoes of the spirit are so much a part of the dissembling American culture. God, how many million are on the road, sleeping in their cars, heading for the next gracious relative, never to own a home again? Those relic down 'n' outer motels are scattered around Florida, on the old highways which used to ferry hopeful souls here before the interstates were built. I've stayed in them, kicked out of a relationship or marriage, weeping for my dispossessed heart ... Thanks for reminding us that these fixtures are part of the permanent fix of endless motion ... Brendan

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  15. this is terrific-- a great sense of coherence, direction in this poem-- many of us seem to have reacted to the sentimentality of the message of the photo-- xj

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  16. ..there are days when I can relate to this a bit too well..wonderfully said.. btw, it was a joy to read as that was my favourite of the pictures featured, thank you ~

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  17. Part of my life for many years, I too grew up in a Route 66 town. There was glamour and exotic stories played in those rooms by those pools. On my last day in Amarillo, before leaving for college, my best friend and I went to every coffee shop on that road within the city limits, drinking coffee (5 cents for all the coffe you could drink) and writing poetry on napkins. I wonder what happened to all the words we wrote -- blown to the west I imagine. Loved this with all its nuances.

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  18. Love this, has a strong sense of empty 'space' to it - effective, excellent.

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  19. "down
    further...then soul should ever find itself"

    I love how you get there.

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  20. such emptiness
    empty as a denim pocket
    a vintage long past it's prime

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