WRITING NEWS! (NEW BOOKS ON AMAZON)

Hello all,

I have not been as productive in the poetry department lately, though I've still been writing up a storm. Please check out my new Kindle books for sale on Amazon (listed below). All of them are 99-cent Kindle singles. More singles and some novels will be on sale soon. Thanks for your support.

Matt Burns
Boston, MA.
October 21, 2016

FOUR POEMS ABOUT PALM TREES

A photo I took while driving on Hollywood Boulevard.

Here are four poems sparked by memories of when I was in Los Angeles a few years back...

I KISSED THE PALM TREE AND THE PALM TREE SAID FUCK OFF

by matt burns

I busted out of the American Airlines terminal at LAX

I saw the first palm tree I’d ever seen

I ran up to it, hugged and kissed it

Maybe it was just a Pacific Ocean breeze whistling by my ear

But I could have sworn that I heard the tree say FUCK OFF

SPIRITS BEHIND THE PALM TREES

by matt burns

I remember walking down Hollywood Boulevard

Rolling my suitcase over the pink and charcoal marble

The Hollywood stars passing beneath my feet

And I had a weird feeling…

I could feel

And in my mind’s eye I could see…

Spirits kind of poking their heads around the corners of buildings

And hiding out behind the palm trees

And they seemed to all be curious about me

Like they were checking me out

They were shy and timid

A little wounded

Some were even maybe traumatized

I think they knew I could feel them

And almost even see them

Hunter S. Thompson once said that Hollywood is like one giant graveyard

It’s true

I think there are several spirits just hanging out on the Boulevard

Stuck in some kind of middle plane

Lost and confused, kind of lingering around

Afraid to move on

While others maybe don’t want to move on

Unable to imagine a heaven better than Hollywood

Why leave the ‘place to be’?

They had heaven on earth

Why move on to any other alleged heaven?

And other spirits may just be residual energy

Like a skipping record

Repeating the same pattern

Looking for the brass ring of fame and fortune

It’s gotta be around here somewhere

Gotta be around here…

Hollywood is one place in the world

Where even if there aren’t many people around

You are very much NOT alone

You are in the presence of many

And you are being watched

WATCHING THE PALM TREE FROM THE BALCONY

by matt burns

I remember the first night in Hollywood

I was staying with a friend on North Cherokee

We got pretty drunk

We drank at the apartment

Then we drank in a small dog park

And then we went to a small bar on Highland

After last call we went over to the Chinese Theater

The cement forecourt was completely empty

It was quiet

And it was peaceful

Just me

My friend, his girlfriend

And the spirits

I hopped from one set of footprints

To the next

Fred Astaire

Clark Gable

Groucho Marx…

I went back to the apartment

I had a pretty good buzz

My friend went to bed

I sat outside on the stucco balcony

I saw the only palm tree visible

I stayed there on the balcony

And just stared at the palm tree moving in the breeze

All my life I had waited to see a palm tree

And I didn’t want to stop looking at it

I was there

In Hollywood

Finally

At the place to be

The sky started to mist

And the palm kept moving with the breeze

I didn’t want morning to come

It was just me and the palm tree

Together at last

Yes

I was in the place to be

The place to be was no longer in the future

The place to be

Was

The

Present

OLD PEOPLE HAVE DREAMS, TOO

by matt burns

It’s weird when you see an old lady in a small Hollywood neighborhood

She’s raking her yard or taking out the garbage

The old lady juxtaposed with the palm trees is strange

Like she’s an old woman playing in a playground

Seems out of place

But you have to remember

For some people,

Dreams never die

And they hold onto their dream

Until they’re very old

And until they die

And they want to stay close to the palm trees throughout

I really admire

And love

These people

Because most people allow their dream to die

By age

40

Or maybe earlier

If you can hold onto that dream

And stay close to the palm trees

Well through your 80s or even 90s

Even if you don’t achieve it

Then you’re my hero

THREE POEMS INSPIRED BY THE 2014 ACADEMY AWARDS

Here are three poems that kind of popped into my head while I was watching this year's (2014) Oscar ceremony. Read them and enjoy them or hate them, whichever you prefer.

WE ARE ALL ‘THE ONE’

by matt burns

I enjoy watching the Hollywood movies

The movies have characters

These characters are often underdogs

Christ-like figures

Established to be destined for great things

Sometimes they’re even called “The One”

Like Neo from The Matrix

Or Jake from Avatar

Luke Skywalker

John Connor

Bilbo Baggins

Simba

Leonidas

Danielson

Harry Potter

Batman

Ironman

Spiderman…

These characters are special

And I feel these movies are speaking to me, the viewer

They’re making me feel like I’m special

Like I’m destined for great things

Sometimes I even feel like I’m ‘The One’

And the rest of the people in the world

Are just supporting characters

But then I realize these movies are made for the masses

And there are millions of other viewers out there

Having the same one-on-one personal experience

They’re all sitting

Watching the movie

And feeling like they’re being spoken to

And they’re thinking the same thing I am

That they’re special

That they’re “The One”

Hollywood makes us all feel like we’re special

That there is me

And then there are the supporting characters

And me is more important than others

And the world revolves around me

In short

Hollywood has created a society of narcissists

Hollywood has blinded us from our interconnectedness

That we’re all of equal importance

That all our actions combined collectively create importance

That no one of us is “The One”

But, rather, we are all THE ONE

FIND ANOTHER SANDMAN

by matt burns

Hello my name is Hollywood

Watch my movies

Come to me, baby!

I am your Sandman

I will keep reassuring you

That your dream will come true

And even if it doesn’t by the time you die

At least you’ve watched my movies

And have given me a TON of business

Chao, sucker

All right, I’ll level with you

I’ll let you in on a little secret

But you didn’t hear it here

And this is the only time I will speak the truth to you...

Sure dreams come true, ya stupid schmuck!

REAL, healthy dreams come true

But my dreams are pipe dreams

And, yeah, those sometimes come true

But only a select few get those

Yeah, the Best Actress got hers

And Best Actor

Director

Sound Design guy

Short animated film dude

Costume design lady

But for what?

Being involved with a mediocre movie

With watered-down ideas

And watered-down intelligence?

That’s not a dream

It’s a pipe dream

Word of advice, babe

Find another Sandman

Find another dream!

There

The secret is out

Now if you keep on comin’ back to me

After I divulged all that Intel

Which you most likely will

Because you prefer the unreality

To the reality

Then you deserve to be ripped off

And that’s what I get off on, anyway

Giving you the truth, straight up

And seeing you ignore it

And just keep on coming back to me

Like a pathetic piece of lowest common denominator

I have no respect for you

Can’t say I didn’t warn ya!

Chao!

REMEMBERING THE WIZARD OF OZ

by matt burns

It’s been 75 years since the movie premiered

The Oscars are doing a special memorial

Liza and the other children are in the audience

A singer named Pink is singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”

And there are images from the film playing behind her

“Somewhere Over the Rainbow”

It’s a song about following your dreams

Same with the film

It’s a movie about following your dreams

It’s saying the American dream is out there

Somewhere

Over the rainbow

All you gotta do is believe

What the Academy fails to show

At any point during the memorial

Are pictures of Judy Garland

In the 1960s

The burnt-out Judy Garland

The Garland who died of a barbiturate overdose

At the young age of 47

Some say it was a suicide

Others insist it was an accident

But either way…

It was a tragic demise

And she died young

Maybe they should have shown those pictures

The ones where she’s burnt out

Drugged up

Or at least mentioned that she died young

Self-medicating herself from the pain of true reality

Not the American Dream

But true reality

Maybe they should stop lying to people

And show what’s at the end of the pretty rainbow

Maybe they should reveal the wizard behind the curtain

And show that the wizard is a very dark

Sinister

And fucked

Up

Man

Maybe they should show

The dark side

To this “American Dream”

FIVE NEW POEMS!

TWO MIDDLE FINGERS HIGH UP IN THE AIR

by matt burns

Hello world

You have been hostile towards me lately

No, that’s not true

I’m drunk

And angry

And negative

Sometimes you just want to

Put two of your middle fingers up in the air

Flip off the universe

And God

But it’s not really how I feel

I don’t mean it

I’m cool with yall

Sorry

This poem is incoherent

I’m drunk

I admit

This is the first poem

That admittedly makes no sense

By the author

But was born out of drunkenness

Sorry

NOTHING SAYS YOU LOVE HER MORE

by matt burns

I never knew I really had one in me

But jealousy, that green-eyed monster

Crept up on me, sunk its claws in me

And momentarily possessed me

My mind was not quite my own

I had a meltdown

And ranted and raved

I accused and pointed fingers

I made a buffoon of myself

At first she was angry

But then I apologized

And she was flattered

It’s weird that a jealous meltdown

Is the most genuine way to let a person know

You care about them

It’s raw emotion, nothing calculated or planned

If you buy roses for a girl, that can just all be theater

And you can say you have feelings for her all you want

But those are just words born out of a calm, rational mind

But nothing shows you care about her more

Than when you’ve reduced yourself to the level of a buffoon

A buffoon going off on a jealous meltdown and tirade

Unfortunately that’s the best way

The most genuine way

To let her know you care

HEY, COPPER!

by matt burns

Hey there, copper

You wouldn’t mess 

With a man in

A white shirt

Black pants

Black bowtie

Would ya?!

I drank heavily tonight

Filming a Freemason ball

And I got paid in the fine currency that is open bar

Now I’m driving to the next bar

And maybe one more after that for a nightcap

The cruisers are parked in the shadows of parking lots

Other cruisers are whizzing past me

Another one pulls up beside me in the left turn only lane

And waits at the red light

He looks over to me

I pretend he isn’t even there

He looks away

The light turns green

And makes his turn

I know I’m good for tonight

I know that the black tie is a free pass

I will be left alone

High class, upper class

Videographer working Saturday night

He’s just making a wage

Leave him be

Have a good night, Sir!

The coppers have bigger fish to fry

A man like myself

Wearing a bowtie

Is a small fish to fry

No, not even a small fish

I am no fish at all with my black tie

Far away from the pond they fish in,

They won’t bother me

I’m wearing a black tie tonight

THEY THINK I’M SOBER

by matt burns

Hee hee

They think I’m slober

I mean sober

I’m slut=rring my words

I ended up filming this thing

This dance

This ball

It’s a fundraiser the masons put together

There wasn’t much money to pay me, if any

But they promised an open bar

So I said I’d be there

And here I am, six or seven drinks later

Mostly beers

But some red wine, too

I’m walking around with my video camera

Looking professional

And eating free deviled eggs

One foot in front of the other, Matt

Walk straight, don’t stumble

Or fumble, don’t fumble

Have that professional face on

Pretend you’re filming things

Instead of doing what you’re really doing

Which is slam dancing on the inside

Walking on marshmallows

Floating on Fluffernutter

They think you’re sober

But you’re pretty damn drunk!

They don’t know it

So don’t show it!

On the outside be a serious professional

On the inside be Mad Magazine!

RAY FROM ACTING CLASS

by matt burns

Ramón went to acting class at this place in the Valley

I called him Ray, it was easier

He was my acting partner

We’d do scenes together

I was better than him

I don’t mean to be an asshole when I say that

Because everybody was better than him

He was the Private Pyle of the group

And I was like Private Joker

You know, like in that movie Full Metal Jacket

I was looking after him

Trying to make him better

Ray was raised by his grandmother

They used to watch movies together all the time

Ray would watch the movies and dream of being a movie actor one day

He told his grandmother he was going to be a star

Ray didn’t improve much in the acting class

The teacher picked on him a lot

And made Ray feel like he was no good

But Ray hung in there

He wanted to succeed for his grandmother

He wanted to believe that all the work grandmother did

Raising him

And caring for him

Wasn’t done in vain

Ray kept trying to do well in the class

But one day the teacher pulled him aside

And told him he should maybe do something else with his life

The teacher didn’t want to be harsh

But he said some people just have it

And others don’t, no matter how hard they try

He had seen too many people be encouraged to death

So it was best to be honest with the students

Ray said he understood

But he went back to his grandmother’s place in San Pedro

And he got very depressed

He was very hard on himself

Ray went to the Vincent Thomas Bridge

He jumped off it

No mother should ever have to bury her son

But what’s probably worse is a grandmother burying her grandson

And that’s what happened with Ray’s grandmother

She had to bury her own grandson

She always told him she’d love him no matter what

Star or no star

She just wanted him to be happy

He didn’t have to do big things to make her proud

But he wanted all her hard work

To be worth something

To mean something

He wanted that great American tale

Tough life to the high life

Redemption!

Reward!

He wanted that happy ending to the tough life

But maybe he had watched too many movies

And maybe he should have realized

That happy ending or no happy ending

He still had a person in his life

A person who loved him unconditionally

Whom he loved back unconditionally

And that unconditional love

Should have been happy ending enough

But, instead, he killed himself

And ironically his grandmother’s work

All the work she did raising him

It was, indeed, done in vain

His biggest fear

Came true

And it was a fear

He made come true

From his own doing