Carmen is a Cat

20.10.26

For an old friend.

This was shot like this, it has not been manipulated in any way. AI might be able to manufacture something like it but remember, it's in the name of the slop: ARTIFICIAL "intelligence".

19.10.26

Ode to the Man Who Invents Intellectual Property

When the scions arrive to plagiarize

the hem widths and planting depths,

remember to hide the tautologies

where no one thinks to look,

not in the drawers or under the sinks,

never under the sinks certainly not

in the socks, up higher.

Ever greedy and stupidly mean,

the scions might torture the females.

Plunge everything into the scum

bury it, don't burn and don't hesitate

to turn off the light and pretend

no one is home.

15.10.26

Zeroth

-In the museum,

everything is laid out neatly. - Jody Azzouni, The Lust For Blueprints

With just enough letters lights

and windows, that day

froze. It froze hard

the fights and promises

inside of it stopped

in an instant,

for an instant.

The hearts inside all the cages,

inside the cats and dogs, the

inertial moment of all

the right hand rules

of thermal equilibrium

in the fetuses there

La ilaha illallah

and the entire particles of space

and glaciers

played dead.

...I have to chuckle sometimes...people who ask those of us who practice poetry if 'they still write poetry'? Here's the thing, poets, those who practice 'poetry', never started writing it and never finish. Never finish writing new ones or elevating old ones to new heights. This one is brand new, hot off the press and is in response to a long lost friend I found the other day:

It's one of the friends that you haven't thought of since the day you waved from across the street. You never thought you'd be heading out of town for a while and somehow, through the ages they just get tucked away in the mind's eye.

Those guys were reaally hauling that day. So fast that entropy divested them of faces.

14.10.26

I invented the selfie. I also did not clean mirrors.

11.10.26

10.10.26

7.10.26

What About Mars?

No more problems says the package
the cure came in, no more
warning labels and the price tag
no longer legible. It began
with flashy children and fast cars
then people started talking
about the leftover stuff
after the move out,
wondered what would happen
to the crystal ball and Japanese flag.
Where to put Mars now?
Whose house next?

Riyadh, Night Souk in Batta. Batta was an area of Riyadh that packed in 1-200,000 "TCN" workers on any given Friday. TCN is an abbreviation for "third country national". All rights reserved MSwaid

We bought alot of fruit and veg that night. I only vaguely remember, much like the dream this picture appears to be.

The Goat Life is an astonishly beautiful movie and sadly, accurate during those times. The men in this photo could be characters in that must see, should see, why haven't you seen movie. I cannot speak for the situation now. I highly, highly recommend it.

All Rights Reserved MSwaid. Shot with Nikon FM SLR with 35mm lens, ultra bad supermarket quality slide film, probably Fuji.

6.10.26

Depicting Syrian troops headed towards the south, we were headed to the north to flee the carnage.

3.10.26

How the Grand Canyon Looks
all rights reserved MSwaid

1.10.26

Barber Shop Libnan, All rights reserved MSwaid
There's just something about barber shops. The real man caves. Politics, comraderie, image.

30.9.26

All rights strictly reserved MSwaid, The Red Wheelbarrow open source, by Wm Carlos Williams

—“The Red Wheelbarrow”:

so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens

28.9.26

Oh the bowling was great then.

Sometimes I think of these souls

I caught coming out, going in

if they knew they were part

of the long project called:

How the Ants Got Famous.

Who remembers the Daily Kos?

No one.

All rights to this photo are strictly retained by the photographer.

27.9.26

https://vimeo.com/130303794?fl=pl&fe=sh

26.9.26

At the end of the most uncivil war in Beirut, the Zionistas licked their lips and rubbed their hands together and never thought in a million years anyone would ever dare tell them no. All rights reserved MSwaid

If you or a loved one thinks they may be in an abusive relationship with Nazism, turn to your local chapter of anything, anyone because over 90% of all the world is now your shoulder to cry on.

25.9.26

I was always a photographer first, poet second. Nowdays, anyone can produce a passable image with the flick of an index finger on a little bubble on a screen. However. It's even more temporary, more disposable than it (photography) has ever been.

Good thing is, for me anyway, hardly anyone can write a poem anymore worth reading.

Large Language Models, oh pshaw! Little magnetic poetry boxes from Barnes and Noble.

We all die anyway.

24.9.26

23.9.26

22.9.26

The Zionist 1983

At AZ State University, the Palestinians and the ZioOccupierNaxis used to set out tables to "educate". I had literally no clue what all the fuss was about back then. I was innocently shooting pictures most likely for an assignment in beginning photography (I was already well on my way to understanding the whole deal with photography) so I figured hey, why not 'get a degree' to prove that I knew what I knew. So this arsehole got his hand right in front of my camera. You see, they've always known that they were criminals. Always and don't ever forget that. All rights reserved MSwaid

18.9.26

8.9.26

[41.37] And among His signs are the night and the day and the sun and the moon; do not make obeisance to the sun nor to the moon; and make obeisance to Allah Who created them, if Him it is that you serve.

7.9.26

True Love America

Begins near 20 and 24th
streets in Monro-via,
in front of the JFK
Memorial hospital-
People go there to die and work,
limping in and out
on one leg, maybe two
but most never go and the girl
at the bus stop sells used towels,
your uncle Ned's pajamas
to a Godwin or Cornelius.
These clean people have hearts
inside their hearts
bigger than the Mets versus the Yankees
times the Sox.
Their love is ne plus ultra.