Connor and Jack discuss the ekphrastic poem, Decoy Gang War Victim by Carmen Gimenez Smith. They discuss the nature of acting and direction, the history of the photo from which the poem grew, the hard-to-pin-down voice of the poem's speaker, and much more. EDIT: This episode was originally posted with an inaccurate title for the poem, "Decoy War Gang Victim." This has been corrected. We apologize for the mistake. You can find the poem (along with the photograph) here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/58875/decoy-gang-war-victim You can buy Carmen Gimenez Smith's latest book "Be Recorder" here: https://www.graywolfpress.org/books/be-recorder Decoy Gang War Victim By: Carmen Gimenez Smith For Harry Gamboa, Jr. Just a tick ago, the actor was a Roman candle shot to the sky, smudged by rain’s helter- skelter. His motivation was: he’s a stooge on L.A.’s sodden turnpike, so we have “to make” art. Got to rezone and react. The world the bare wall to his bullet. Got to rile up the populace, to fortify the arsenal. Once in a while, repopulate and penetrate, paint a list of incitement onto the walls. An elder told him that to overturn the city, one must surrender body/belongings to the one explosive spectacle of truth, making it ongoing. Pay attention. To overturn the city, not just the scraps but fervor itself. Not just the wan broadcast of indignation but IRL incursions into the workhouses and poorhouses to inflame the thousand points of light. A lean surge, departure pinks both ends of him. He’s the nth layer folded into the stand’s nerve. Find us on Facebook at: facebook.com/closetalking  Find us on Twitter at: twitter.com/closetalking  Find us on Instagram: @closetalkingpoetry You can always send us an e-mail with thoughts on this or any of our previous podcasts, as well as suggestions for future shows, at [email protected].

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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