February 13: Another Flash Gordon Poem, W. Todd Kaneko, "Self Portrait as Flash Gordon (Motion Picture Soundtrack)"

Okay, I'm giving you another Flash Gordon poem from my current poet-crush, W. Todd Kaneko.  I saw him give a reading last night.  He was fantastic.  So fantastic I've decided to make next week Kaneko Week on Saint Marty.

You're probably going to get a little sick of me talking about him.  Sorry.  My blog.  My rules.

And tonight, Saint Marty wants a little Flash Gordon fix.

Self Portrait as Flash Gordon (Motion Picture Soundtrack)

by:  W. Todd Kaneko

The only words a song needs:
a man’s name in five-part harmony.
A radio signal, cosmic wind rushing
through the caverns of his heart
before erupting into wicked laughter.
Flash—a crash of cymbals, piano
pulsating like a woman’s heart
after starcrash, after that electric guitar
shrieking a man’s name in quasar
and quicksilver. Not a woman,
but a rogue planet searching for orbit,
then a machine gun vibrato slashing
through space, tremolo quivering,
a canticle for manhood. A burst
of swagger and bombast, then one note
vibrating into a man’s name: Flash—
ringing against a downy falsetto
explaining what the universe needs
a man to be. Not a musical astronaut,
not champion of the asteroid belts, not
a celestial body hovering over a woman
as she lay in the grass at night watching
for hot Jupiters or Mars crossers.
All a man has is a song until it’s over,
then just his name, a cigarette lighter
sparking in an alley, a supernova,
the erratic blink of a motel sign
on a lonesome stretch of highway.

I can hear Queen singing...