MICHAEL MADSEN POETRY

Fugazi Definition: n. A fake; often used to describe fake jewelery.

For those of you that have seen Michael Madsen in the film Donnie Brasco will understand the definition of “Fugazi.” For those of you that have not, think Cubic Zirconia. This poem illustrates the spurious, commercialized and capitalized context of a brand selling cool and the emptiness of the purchaser’s motivation. Whether fashion statement or a Fugazi, Caveat emptor (Let the Buyer Beware) You can’t buy the real thing.  

                                                  -- Michael P. Naughton Editor/13 Hands Publications

                                                    
 

Fugazi by Michael Madsen

c. 2012 Michael Madsen & 13 Hands Publications from forthcoming book "Expecting Rain"

I went to a Levi outlet store to get some pants for my son.

Inside they had a lot of Levis’ stuff.

Pants for Max,

and nothing for me--

Which I would later find to be the case on a different subject.

A young kid working there, walking behind me,

Said, “Do you ride a Harley?”

--Undoubtedly noticing my jacket--

Worn for the last 20 years on my back.

“Yeah,” I said, “of course.”

But later he explained that he and his father were going on  a trip,

A motorcycle trip.

Problem is, the store sells jackets that are sold fake.

Broke in by a machine of some sort.

Broke in to look real.

Bought at a price.

A real life bought for sale.

Look at this.

It looks worn.

Yea, For $900. dollars you can wear a life. 

A fake.

Even a bag for travel.

That looks 50 but never saw a road. 

A train.

A motel.

Or even an airport.

A Fugazi.

Made for some dummy to walk around like an imaginary James Dean or Dennis Hopper.

Never to know anything about what that really was. 

You can’t buy a dream.

You can’t buy a life for any price.

Or cash.

You can’t be the real thing.

It’s not for sale.  The real thing is almost gone now.

It’s not for sale like Halloween  costume on Halloween.

$900 for the bag/$1200 for the jacket

Wear the coat/carry the bag

But there is nothing inside…

Cool Chat goes LIVE for the first time ever with actor/poet Michael Madsen. Michael will answer your questions on his work with Quentin Tarantino, his upcoming projects including: Celebrity Big Brother 2012, his new venture as spokesperson for Aha Toro and Amigo bf4e, his new book of poetry entitled "Expecting Rain," his upcoming film projects... and everything else you always wanted to know, but were afraid to ask.

$10.00 per participant; Space is limited to only 100 attendees.

Register here:

There is nothing like hearing the spoken word of Burning in Paradise with Michael Madsen reading his own words. His tone, inflection and delivery of his poetry will stick with you. 




Burning In Paradise was released back in June 1998. This third book established actor Michael Madsen of Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs as a bona fide American poet (Dennis Hopper wrote the Foreword).. He has not stopped since. Current titles include: The Complete Poetic Works of Michael Madsen, Vol. 1: 1995-2005 (c. 2005, 13 Hands Publications) Signs of Life(c. 2006, 13 Hands Publications) American Badass (C. 2009, 13 Hands Publications) and Expecting Rain due out in 2012. Michael Madsen and Michael Madsen's poetry is copyrighted by 13 Hands Publications and his name and poetry is a registered trademark.

If you have not heard this, now is the time to download on CD Baby or iTunes. Enjoy!

Download Burning  in Paradise here.

Michael Madsen recently announced his newest title: Expecting Rain, to be published by 13 Hands Publications and released in December 2012. Readers are in for surprises in this forthcoming, colorized combination of poetry and photography in the style of American Badass and Signs of Life.  



The following poem is a preview courtesy of Michael Madsen and 13 Hands Publications (c. 2011):


DALE

 

Sometimes, towards home, I unfasten my seatbelt before the last mile to the finish

And I always think of Dale Earnhardt who apparently did the same thing on the last lap

Of the Daytona 500, which they say, is the reason he was killed

When his mighty machine hit the wall,

And that rolling thunder that was Dale,

Went quiet.

 

One last mile to home, to the front gate. To my sons and my wife, and the dogs... the lizard.
The turtles. The birds and ants in the pantry. Dead rats in the garage and baby squirrels Drowned In the pool.
Old pictures on the table for Ancestery.com and the message light blinking on the phone.

Hell Ride Gent bike in the driveway and my big blue Ford carried me back once again

Where I write this now and back to thinking about so many things

That my head might explode 
Like an Atomic weapon.

 

I thought about driving a race car for a living when I was in the strength of my youth,
But now it’s just a goofy idea, but there once was a brave man who did it,

Did it better than anyone.

His name was Dale.

And ever since that fateful afternoon, when he unhooked at over 200 mph
On his way to wherever he was meant to go.

I have never done it myself on my to whatever is left of my life 
Without thinking of him

 

 

 

M.M. June 2011

 

 

 

From Michael Madsen’s forthcoming book: Expecting Rain (c. 2011, 13 Hands Publications)

---

 

During the release of American Badass in September 2009, Michael Madsen created and dedicated this poem about his youngest son Luke  using "the sword" as metaphor. He most recently shared this poem publicly again at The Crossing Border Festival  in The Netherlands. Michael Madsen was the 2010 Guest of Honor as a Poet at Crossing Border Festival. Enjoy!


Also Check out CoolBeat Audiobooks Here:
Click Here!

You can follow Michael Madsen on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/MadsenThePoet

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Michael-Madsen/140112193209

    Christmas and the holidays are a time for family and giving to those less fortunate... even sometimes robbing from the rich and giving to the poor in traditional Robin Hood fashion. 
    
    It's the end of the year and perhaps you've been working for a cheap boss... someone who has been taking advantage of you during this recession. Sometimes revenge is a dish best served cold as they say, especially with a glass of Egg Nog. So put on Bing Crosby or  Vince Guaraldi (Yeah, that guy who did the Charlie Brown Christmas music) or maybe you have that damn Blackalicious - Toy Jackpot song stuck in your head (the Target rap song), whatever is the Christmas soundtrack in your mind, turn it on and find out how Michael Madsen rebelled against one Christmas Eve as we share his poem entitled:

Christmas by Michael Madsen

 I worked at a Christmas tree lot sometime in the early '70s.
The exact year I don't remember, and who really gives a shit.
Anyway, my boss was a real prick who cashed in on X-mas every year
and could care less about my skinny, freezing ass- 
"Smile," he said, "You got to smile more."
Something I'd heard before and since many times;
I guess people like me better smiling
which is why I don't very much. 

"If you wanna sell those trees you gotta look happy...
make people like you."

All I really wanted to do was smash him in the face...
But I stood. And I froze. And I walked. And I Sold. And I loaded
while he sat in his heated trailer like King Tut smelling his own farts 
I imagined.
My mother was working two jobs.
It was Christmas Eve. 
We didn't have a tree.
So later that night, after all the station wagons had loaded
with their half-sucked lollipops stuck on the inside of their back windows
and driven away and the lights were out in the city
I went back to the lot, climbed over the back fence and
 stole a tree. 

I dragged it down the alleyway all the way back to our place
and put it on the back porch of the 1st floor of the shitty 
two flat we were soon to leave from.


 

It was snowing outside and I looked at that tree leaning there
alone and thought about my mother and sister.
I thought about my boss, the farting, king prick,
and my father missing another Christmas with us
 and my mother not having any money and my sister with her Marilyn Monroe posters
on her wall and how happy I was for ripping of that tree...
and I smiled...


Michael Madsen would love to hear if you have a rebellious Christmas story to share...

                                                                            
 

 

 

 

 

 

In case you are not familiar with Loren Eiseley’s The Star Thrower, it is part of a sixteen page essay of the same name. Loren Eiseley (1907–1977) was an American anthropologist, educator, philosopher and natural science writer who taught and published books from the 1950s through the 1970s.  The Star Thrower was published in 1969 in The Unexpected Universe. The Star Thrower is also the title of a 1978 anthology of Eiseley's works (including the essay) which he completed shortly before his death.



Here is what Eiseley wrote:

"While wandering a deserted beach at dawn, stagnant in my work, I saw a man in the distance bending and throwing as he walked the endless stretch toward me. As he came near, I could see that he was throwing starfish, abandoned on the sand by the tide, back into the sea. When he was close enough I asked him why he was working so hard at this strange task. He said that the sun would dry the starfish and they would die. I said to him that I thought he was foolish. There were thousands of starfish on miles and miles of beach. One man alone could never make a difference. He smiled as he picked up the next starfish. Hurling it far into the sea he said, "It makes a difference for this one." I abandoned my writing and spent the morning throwing starfish."

Great writers like Ray Bradbury and gifted poets like W.H. Auden had seen the genius of Eiseley...  Michael Madsen is no exception. The actor and poet, most notably recognized as Mr. Blonde from Reservoir Dogs, wrote his  poem and unique interpretation, also called the Star Throwers, in 2003 (published by 13 Hands publications in The Complete Poetic Works of Michael Madsen, Vol I. 1995-2005 ). Madsen has admitted being influenced by Eiseley and this poem shows the depth of Madsen’s work; it is both humorous and poignant:

Michael Madsen Writes in these excerpts:

The dogs woke me up this morning: 

    Rocco, Sasko & Suzy-- the Three Hairy Stooges

started moving around 5:30 am.

    So, I put on my jacket and took them downstairs to the beach.

Walking along, in the early morning light, I came across about 50 sea stars,

    washed up like castaways across the sand.

In eight years, living on the beach, I’ve never seen so many lying about before.

    I wondered if they were going to make it back out— ocean bound.

But the tide was well back....

 

At the conclusion of  Madsen’s Star Throwers, he, his children and three dogs save them all, however, unlike Eiseley’s original story, Madsen secretly places two star fish in his coat pocket to take back home with him—perhaps to not only capture the star fish but the moment- and he completes the verse by writing:

Against the pink morning sky

    Was an image that I’m sure

God Himself might like.

    And I think I put every one back

Into the water

    Except the one that Sasko got and the two I took back

Home in my pockets of my coat

    Which will be hard to explain to the boys later.”

 

This classic story/poem illustrates the difference one person can make… it’s the dog you rescue. The person you love. The dollar you give. The friend you take the time to speak to. The smile you trade with a stranger. The hated word you choose not to speak.

Throw it back into the ocean when all else seems abject and worthless, say to yourself… "it made a difference for that one…" do one thing that matters…

IT MADE A DIFFERNCE FOR THAT ONE & THESE TWO: Loren Eiseley & Michael Madsen

Poetry excerpts © 2005 Michael Madsen and 13 Hands Publications

If we've heard it once, we've heard it a 1000 times as they say.

YES! Actor Michael Madsen of Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill,  Donnie Brasco,  Thelma and Louise  is an accomplished American poet. He has been writing poetry for over 15 years. As the story goes, Michael started writing on match books, napkins and hotel stationary in between his time on the movie sets and traveling worldwide. In 2005, 13 Hands Publications compiled all of Michael Madsen's poetry and released The Complete Poetic Works of Michael Madsen, Vol. I: 1995-2005. The book has been an international success and is the only authorized compilation of Michael Madsen's poetry.

I DIDN'T REALIZE HOW MUCH POETRY MICHAEL MADSEN HAS WRITTEN!!

It might surprise you, but yes, Madsen is a prolific poet. The Complete Poetic Works of Michael Madsen, Vol. I: 1995-2005 is 464 pages alone, not to mention Signs of Life (2006), which is his first photography/poetry book and is 120 pages, and most recently American Badass is also 120 pages.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE OR CLASSIFY MICHAEL MADSEN'S POETRY?

We would personally like to refer to Michael as a throwback to the "Beat" generation; we like to call him an "anachronistic Beat." He is hip, cool-- of course, he is Michael Madsen-- existential. In an interview with Dennis Hopper, Michael admits to being influenced by Kerouac. Some readers have even compared Michael to Charles Bukowski... You decide.

WHAT MICHAEL MADSEN IS... AND WHAT MICHAEL MADSEN IS NOT...

We know it. He knows it. He is honest and visceral and is not attempting to be Wordsworth, Blake, or Longfellow. In fact, he is not trying to be anybody other than himself and it takes a lot of guts for one to be honest as a writer and put your life out there as an open book. That is why we publish him.

WHAT AWARDS HAS HE WON AS A POET?

Michael won the Independent Firecracker Award for his book Burning in Paradise in 1998.

In 2006, Red Hen Press gave Michael the Lifetime Achievement Award for his work up to date.

MICHAEL MADSEN IS ALSO AN ACCOMPLISHED PHOTOGRAPHER

In 2006 Michael Madsen released his first book of photographs from his travels around the world. The book is called Signs of Life. He dedicated this book to the memory of Chris Penn who starred with Michael in Reservoir Dogs.

WHAT IS HIS LATEST BOOK?

His latest poetry book entitled American Badass was released in Sept 25th, 2009 published by 13 Hands Publications. He dedicated this book to his friend and co-star from "Kill Bill," the late David Carradine.

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS MICHAEL MADSEN, THE POET, NOW?

Michael Madsen has been invited as the Guest of Honor at this year's Crossing Border Festival in the Netherlands. That's where he will be next week. For More Info:  

WHO IS 13 HANDS PUBLICATIONS? 

We are a privately held publishing house located in Los Angeles, California, and are the exclusive publisher of actor Michael Madsen's poetry. eBook editions are forthcoming in 2011. We do not accept unsolicited material.

 

 

 

 

 

This is the official and only authorized poetry blog for actor Michael Madsen of Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill, Donnie Brasco fame. Michael Madsen and Michael Madsen's poetry is copyrighted by 13 Hands Publications and his name and poetry is a registered trademark.

13 Hands Publications was established in 2005 and has published three books of Michael Madsen's poetry with more to come. Please visit us at: www.13HandsOnline.com