Michael R. Allen is a poet zombie tour guide toaster

The diligent and talented Byron Kerman is out in front of bidding on the abandoned house tour with champagne toast being provided by Michael R. Allen for the 2008 Experiential Auction (bidding underway on the Comments page for that post or in my email inbox).

That experience is worth $20 of Byron's dearly earned money. The monies will fund the translation of poetry into other media. The auction moves into three dimensions this Sunday (5-8 p.m.) at the swank, handsome and vibrant Atomic Cowboy, 4140 Manchester Ave. in The Grove. Please come and bid against Byron and break his heart, depriving him of what he most wants in life.

As for the experience host, Michael R. Allen needs less and less of an introduction every day. I would have thought he was a citizen journalist, Landmarks historian and activist, and amateur thespian. It turns out he also is a poet. To you, Michael.

*

Return

By Michael R. Allen

My return comes with

a cloud burst, golden light

flooding the streets and

making everyone’s face

exquisitely beautiful.

The act of forgetting

this place brings me closer

to it, later. So many years

pass that memories

being to displace each other,

merge, interlock.

The specifics are less harmful,

the people downright lovely.

I will speak their names as if

each is an answer to

a question

that I have asked for a lifetime.

I will walk into the

center of the city without

crying. My feet carry me forward,

my home remade with every step.

*

That was lovely. Take a bow to the people, Michael.

Michael will read with Victoria Brockmeier (Buffalo, NY) at Rust Belt Readings next Friday, September 26 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fort Gondo Compound for the Arts, 3151 Cherokee Street.

Missouri native Victoria Brockmeier's first book, my maiden cowboy names, won the 2008 T.S. Eliot Prize. This is the latest accomplishment for someone who has worked as a waitress, a web designer, a drive-thru girl, an artist's model, an Air Force marketing specialist, & a palmist.

More information: Email or call 314-920-5680.

I have a five-year-old, rather than a social life, but I'll endeavor to "publish" more work by either poet before their big event in an effort to bid it up. Also, for those who have not seen Blind Cat Black, here is a scene with lots of Michael R. Allen in his zombie bartender attire. (Word to the weird: It also has a zombie orgy.) The image here is by lead gaffer Mathew Pitzer; Michael is the silhouette to the right, behind the zombie bar (location: CBGB).