Killing them Softly (2012)

[FranktheFrank]

Love Letters
Edward Heyman (lyrics) - Victor Young (music), Song: Love Letters, 1945
Sung by Ketty Lester 1982

Jackie Cogan: 'They cry, they plead, they beg, they piss themselves,
they cry for their mothers. It gets embarrassing. I like to kill 'em softly;
from a distance.'
Film: 'Killing Them Softly' 2012 - directed by Andrew Dominik

The engine purrs,
Kenny changes gear
the exhasut lets out a whoop
of throaty triumph.

Cogan speaks softly,
Kenny responds to
his prompting.

‘Nice an’ smooth.’
Window slides down.
Rain batters the car,
wipers brush back an’ fore
with a humdrum clunk.

‘Right ahead Kenny,
a little bit ahead;
pull right up next to him.’
The break-squeal introduces
an adjunct to the wipers
as the score of: Love Letters
eases into the film.

Markie, hugs his broken ribs,
turns to stare, the weight of the beating
in this stare. Two minutes
and nineteen seconds left,
time enough to sign goodbye.

Misery fills his turned-down mouth.
Eyes swing to their fullest extent.
A bridge of blood upon his broken nose.

A pistol, the chamber moves back
to unleash it’s spite, a puff of smoke
ejects from its side, rain droplets shake free
as the bullet speeds out of its cloud
hurling towards Markie.

Love letters straight from my heart

Markie flinches, turns to look away,
The bullet strikes his window, a maze
of crazy stress-fractures imprints the glass.
A black hole appears above and left of centre,
The glass shatters as the bullet enters,
the ejected cartridge-case pirouettes,
vapour ghosting as it spins for a slowed
down eternity and out the window.

Keep us so near while apart

The hammer comes back and fires again,
the chamber recoils as we recoil watching.
Markie throws up a ward-off hand,
a flash shines out of the cloud of grey,
the resultant missile spins toward him
and hits. Blood erupts from Markie’s head.
He may not know it, but Markie is dead.

I’m not alone in the night

Blood and water droplets fill the cab,
They dance to the score in slow motion.
The wonder of the song insulates
us from the horror of the scene.
Markie is dying alone in a storm.
Cogan shoots again . . .

When I can have all the love that you write

the bullet strikes the door panel,
a body shot. The car drifts forward
into a Tee junction with Markie
slumped over . . .

I memorise every line

Lights approach side on from the vehicle
they light up Markie, he appears to sit up,
hands displayed,
But he’s dead.

And kiss the name that you sign

The force of the collision rotates
Markie’s car one hundred
and eighty degrees, it completes
the turn with a sideways skid
that throws water up from the tires,
the car settles down to a stop.

and . . . darling then I read again

The wipers continue to operate,
clunk . . . clunk, the noise fills the cab
Markie's cadaver moves with the swing'
A pickup appears from the blackness of the night
front on and crashes,
the bonnet lifts and a dozen
loose mixed components lift up and out
of engine housing.

Right from the start

The force smacks Markie’s head
into the windscreen
and smashes it
as well as Markie's head.

The song winds down slowly,
a smash-cut to black.

Obama speaking,
his inaugural address,
' . . . to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm
that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one ... '

Cogan speaks out over the TV,
'This guy wants to tell me we're living in a community.
Don't make me laugh. I'm living in America, and in America
you're on your own. America's not a country. It's just a business.
Now pay me the money for the hit.'

End.

[SivaRamanathan]

Frank

Only one nit--that word 'fullest'--can there be anything more than full?

Siva

[FranktheFrank]

Yes, fullest - noun and adjective, common English Usage - standard grammar.

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/full

Another way of looking at English usage is filling a balloon.
Is the balloon full you may ask, yes it is full, but is it at it's fullest?
well it could take more so its full but not at its fullest.
The more you fill the balloon the more risk of rupture.

English is not always a logical language so usage rules.
But you can break the rules if it is accepted by a majority
hence English is constantly changing with the addition of foreign words
like: lift-off, curry, crag. English is made up primarily of Saxon, Angle, Jute
words with a large amount of Norwegian or Norse, French, and Latin
and thousands of words from the world, i.e. Kiwi fruit (NZ) and penguin (Welsh).

When in doubt check dictionary. Fullest may be illogical but it is a very old word.

[SivaRamanathan]

Frank

Thanks for the extensive coaching.Coming to your poem it will take me at least three readings to get it fully.

Siva

[meenas17]

It reads like a thriller to me.
The violence is harsh.
Mystifying and fearful.

Meena.

[FranktheFrank]

It's an ekphrastic Meena, yes, spot on. American neo-noir 2012.

[Michael (MV)]

Hi Frank,

apparently you are really moved by this song - to found a poem upon its lyric (Upon the rock He has found His church0

and in kinship with many artists(vocalists) who have followed it; Etta James, Elvis to name just 2.


From the start, and through the years to Eternity, I find for my sensibilities it's the singer-lyricist Stevie Nicks(Belladonna) who shares Visions of Love via her calling.

Love is a word that some entertain;
when you find it, you have won the game.

^^ maybe, time to go home - no longer need to be on earth in the temporal - Love transcends time

^^ in the recent years I have seen that Romeo & Juliet is not a tragedy - the love of each for each other gave cause for each to free themselves as one

from Blue Oyster Cult "Don't fear the reaper" (as I see/believe it, there is no reaper - the reaper can have the lifeless flesh of the corpse. My Life belongs forever to the Redeemer from the start of the Heart (he art)

Love of 2 is One [won]
Romeo & Juliet
are together in Eternity

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhRjyLLUdhw

we can be like they are
we'll be able to fly
free from time

there is no reaper to fear



Michael (MV)

[FranktheFrank]

Some deep thoughts there Michael,

It is an ekphrastic based on a film clip..

The clue is in the title.

The music is incidental to the plot, although crucial to bring

out the pathos.

It's a comedy, although insulated from all mirth,
a twisted view of America, capitalism, gangsterism, and drug culture
overlaps by the beauty of Ketty Lester singing her song.

We feel so sorry for Markie, he has already taken a terrible beating
which almost killed him, as he drives him from hospital he is shot
several times, we see it in slow motion, the blood droplets, his blood,
float serenely before our eyes, the music plays at normal speed,
we find it funny and feel guilty for seeing it so. The horror is
suspended, the song is so beautiful, Ketty Lester is beautiful, Markie's
blood is beautiful as it floats by, we are ashamed yet still watch in
fascination. At the end we hear the presidents fine words twisted by
this gangster who only sees the baseness of human nature and profit
in poor Markie's death.

This is a painting using modern high speed film, music, lyrics, a
beautiful singing voice, colour and sounds to make an impact on
our sensibilities and it does just that.

[Michael (MV)]

Frank,


it's definitely ekphrastic - I admire it for that

specifically it is a found-ekphrasis in that it's not just prompted after the source work, it's also structured upon & with it - components of the source are incorporated in your response poem

at least as I'm reading it thus far


hope to return later



Michael (MV)

[FranktheFrank]

Thanks Michael,
'found ekphrastic', wow I never though I could write a found ekphrastic.
If someone had accused me of that a year ago I would have slapped their face.

Okay I got you, not just prompted after the source work but structured on it, thanks again Michael,
that is really interested.

Who would have thought 6 years ago I would be writing found ekphrastics.

I have been here 7 or 8 years methinks.

[FranktheFrank]

Okay, its such a long poem I have committed all the different versions.

I am fairly happy with this one shown. Any nit? I welcome any more input on nits.

Michael, it s not just the song that moves me
it is the whole clip, mostly in slow motion.

The whole film is abhorrent to me and yet I watched it.
The scene is the death of a criminal and yet we feel sorrow
at his death. The slow motion ballot is a masterclass
in film making, the music accentuates the horror but
insulates us from any guilt, we enjoy the ballot of the gun.

Thanks for input, very welcome.

[Bernie01]

dy no myte.

great action, the movement deft and suspenseful.

the ending is perfect for the poem.


bernie

[FranktheFrank]

Thanks Bernie, much appreciated.

[FranktheFrank]

Bernie,
Have a look at this video clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgaaqFf14Bw

[FranktheFrank]

I have added to the epigraph details of a quotation from the film.

I thought at one time to keep it mysterious and let the reader find out for himself,
but unless he was a film buff he/she might not be able to recognise the found
ekphrastic.

[paylituzu]

When rival crook Johnny Amato (Vincent Curatola) hatches a plan to rob a card game run by mob lackey Markie (Ray Liotta), he picks a low-rent thug named Frankie (Scoot McNairy) to do the job. Frankie picks a less-than-ideal partner (Ben Mendelsohn) to help him, but despite their combined incompetenc…
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[BobBradshaw]

A very ambitious poem, with lots of good writing....very enjoyable. The poem had me from the opening lines:

The engine purrs,
Kenny changes gear
the exhasut lets out a whoop
of throaty triumph.

Good writing just pulls you along, and I was pulled along to the end....

[FranktheFrank]

Bob, thanks for feedback.

Some new names are dragging up very old poems.
This one represented this forum some months ago without a result.

But thank you anyway for the time put in.