20 June 2017 NY, edits 27 June 2017

unspeakable things

“His anus smell like an old dollar bill” -Catherine Wagner, White Man Poems

Could (the) first family be anymore clearly an expression of predator capitalism? 

Are markets mostly what is left of democracy?

We are allowed limited access to this public garden today, limited in that if any of us starts singing, for example, we will be asked to stop, (refusing to stop we will be asked to leave). I am told (indirectly) if we need to go to the toilet, we will be accompanied by security persons, in number, who will witness us urinate (as they pretend to wash their hands).

(What then is activism during this administration?)

This (writing) is something I can do. Writing is inherently unspoken (non threatening to my suburban location). To remain polite, an extension of all movement in the city. (One is expected) To remain within acceptable levels of movement and expression. If I remove my clothing for example, the security guards will remove me. If I sing, removal, admonishment and/or then removal.

The heavily armed man carrying two Starbucks beverages. A show of commerce and weapons. We can come in but only here (the garden), now and in specific ways. I am a guest in this space. It was agreed to (the garden), a condition of the specter of the tower, incremental maintenance of one German named family as a brand. The presidency as a brand. The art of the deal artifice.

Is the president legitimate? Is this really public space?

Branded space, branded Trump, branded Starbucks. There is no ceiling here, no obvious security cameras. The opaque spandrel panels, the subtlety of a blue shirted maintenance worker, tipping the metallic tables and chairs to spill the nuisance waters.

As long as we play by the rules it is seemingly polite.

(There is no Bloody Mary available until after 11am.)

When will we be allowed to speak of what remains? The left assumes Trump can be removed when he cannot be reached for discussion? Even he disputes the validity of the election results. His version is perhaps that he would have had more margin except for the illegal votes cast. In his mind he clearly must be the winner because obviously the Clintons are corrupt.

No word of the hundreds of lawsuits against his actions, only how anything potentially effects his family business. The 1970s version of interior design that receives us. The flesh stone, the plated substitutes for gold, the multi levels of visible inclined transport. If you agree to allow this branding, you too can participate, receive momentary access to ascendancy. Be elevated for this specific moment as a concession for the implied monetary dominance his family projects. A projection of a fictional outcome. If one plays by these rules, one family projects its name on to surfaces of earth. The public is allowed this token concession.

Our group today is all white. We are two male, four female. We are two couples and two singles. One of us is an employee, so to speak, of one of the couples. I am a partner to the employee to one of the couples. I am half of one of the couples. At the moment there is no visible presence of security. The constant exhaust fan buffers the street sounds. If we (announcement: 4 minutes) remain in this space the constant fan noise would eventually degrade our ability to hear.

(in Casino, Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro meet in the desert with their hands covering their mouths so as not to be surveilled)

Understand, speech is to be limited. Nearly all restaurants do this. The omnipresence of music (despite your choice, against your will) an effect being to limit speech, limit cross speech (cross hearing) reduce the range of any one voice.

David Curtis, NYC

©2018 David Curtis