The Hawaiian Motel

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I had just checked in
to the Surfer’s Paradise
Hawaiian Motel
and was defrosting slowly
with a block of black ice
and a bottle of Wild Turkey
when the news broke …
the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll
that Brylcreem Adonis
had gone to meet eternity
He could rhythm & blues
the whole jail house block
at the Heartbreak Hotel
in his blue suade shoes
Elvis “the Pelvis” Presley
He could even
gospel his way
to the edge of reality
Heaven’s pearly gates
now blown straight to hell
A pill overdose?
Or perhaps
a Cheeseburger Deluxe
was the guilty party?
Time will surely tell
as the red neon
of a No Vacancy sign
flickers on
at the Surfer’s Paradise
Hawaiian Motel

In the rage
of a new age
the world got fed up
with Doris Day
on a Candy Mountain high
and the Everly Brothers
eating Miss American Pie

Next up
the King of Pop
Then it was
all boys
all singing
all dancing
upon purgatory’s rooftop
“Please make it stop!”
All this lip syncing
The Head Lice
now producing
painted wagons
with ponies prancing
butts twerking
and lights flashing
The television reality
of instant celebrity
following the money
always flowing
in one direction
The Keepers of the Deep
their ears assaulted
like sea water desalination
Even the shallows insulted
Yet the minnows
keep on singing
and dancing
The discordant
and the harmonic
The angelic and the demonic
What’s the destination
of all this synthetic
heavy metallic thrashing?

Surging between
heaven and hell
riding a turgid wave
upon a tidal swell
with one last
throw of the dice
after abiding too long
at the Surfer’s Paradise
Hawaiian Motel
A humble dwelling
on a crumbling surface
for the Kings and Queens
of Apotheosis
living between the dream
of that same old lie . . .

“You too can be
Gods and Goddesses!”

Lost children
orphans searching
an endless ocean
Judas Priest will now
hear your confession
Spiritosis ~
is now in session
with all the morality
of a Caribbean hurricane
carving a dark path
to an eventful horizon

Eros now given
a life lesson in humility
by the ungrateful dead
and the forever dying
as Artemis
begins her seance
The usual suspects
are all in attendance
With the gutters now open
and overflowing
through the eye
of an unnatural storm
comes an utterance
daring to be spoken
to Eros from Isis;

“I’ll be waiting for you
in the deepest blue ocean,
my dearest Eros.
And please forget
all about that tramp, Psyche.
She’ll just drive you crazy.
Do not listen
to her teasing sighs.
As for Venus,
she has a trap hidden
between her thighs.
So please,
keep your fly done up
and your eyes on my prize.
Or have you forgotten
what that Venus did
to poor innocent Orion?”

Man not fallen
far from the apple
when booking into a room
at the Surfer’s Paradise
Hawaiian Motel
The reminiscence
of pure Venus
That lingering kiss
Living for just
another brief glimpse

Chewing the betel nut
and drinking the kava
from Copacabana
to South West Nirvana
Eros chased that
Great Eastern Dragon
from Graceland
to Brian Jonestown
and back again
Yet the Garden of Eden
was nowhere to be found
At least not in Guyana

Meanwhile
the Memphis Adonis
had fallen
His kingdom undone
All the King’s bodyguards
and all the King’s fans
couldn’t put Elvis together again
There is no known vaccine
for that vainglorious virus

So Eros
on a tattered wing
without a prayer
and no satisfaction
took to the aquatic
like a duck
takes to acid
Darkness in white light
diving the bright
and the exotic
Finding Venus
paragliding with Artemis
and all the hip cats
of the restless seas
being pursued
by a hound dog disease
and playing all sorts
of water sports
with bad company
continuously transmitting
Blue Suede recklessness
into a monochrome wilderness
with rebellious clarity

Eros
his skin salted
stone washed
and with a bad case
of nautical hepatitis
seeking a life boat
that floats
Lou Reed?
Yes indeed!
David Bowie too
Comes a time
to take a sounding
The chaotic extremity
forever thirsting
for a poetic blood letting
The Brylcreem Adonis
he need not worry
as the Emperors of Captivity
are forever disapproving
of any gratuitous
pelvic thrusting

With Eros
emaciated and dilated
riding that king tide swell
to wells deep
and outpouring
by the waters of Babylon
close to drowning
whilst chilling
with the toxic thrill
of a killer false alarm
The ever disarming Psyche
gently whispering to Eros
all washed up
but breathing still
“I meant you no harm.”
and with a smile enquiring
“Have you not had your fill?”

Such are
the mortal memories
of a now distant
Mount Olympus
Just as
the Surfer’s Paradise
Hawaiian Motel
has long since
been torn down
And that tropical coast
is now a high rise jungle
No longer a Shangri-La
but a defiled concrete urinal
Yet … it seems
I’ve been stuck with the bill
since Venus left town
for some mystical utopia

And Eros
he’s grieving still
for idols fallen
dished up much too soon
with a golden spoon
named Liberté Maximale
the Maximum of Freedom
Eros has since
had some operation
like a siamese twin
type seperation
with Psyche the Delectable
as his trusted surgeon

And as for
the Memphis Adonis
who can tell?
He is still listed
amongst the missing
Missing the bedbugs
at that flea bitten
God forsaken
Surfer’s Paradise
Hawaiian Motel

~ by David B. Redpath © 2018-2021

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Artwork; ‘The Birth of Venus’
~ by Sandro Botticelli

Photography;
David B. Redpath © 2018-2021

Sculpture; ‘Venus’ ~ by Jeff Koons

Photography;
Mark Clarebrough © 2021

69 thoughts on “The Hawaiian Motel”

  3. Mythology rocking at the house of the rising sun. They tried a metallic beat pumping blood into that dive. The sandman booked them in the city of decadent decay but it was like they swallowed a bad seed. they left Vegas and nothing stayed there except they lost their voice. They hanged ten for surf city Pasadena turned out it was kind of a drag. They took a day tripper and awoke at the Hawaiian Hotel. The new lead singer was a Psycho bitch, with a jealous lover Venus was her name. They were a hit until the Kings of Leon kicked them off the throne, it was a comeback story for them. They were left looking out their back door for life. Isn’t that how the story goes? 😎😬

    Liked by 5 people

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    1. The burden of Eric and his animals,
      to play the electric villain and rock
      the folk out of an unplugged Dylan.
      A mutant variant who had withstood
      the inoculation of time.
      In accordance with the Creedance,
      looking out the back door of infinite
      space, seeking the clear water, is no
      high crime. Survival 🔄 Revival
      May your Nubian sun dance ever be
      with the Optimus Prime, mysterious
      fellow traveller 🙏 🌸🌼🌺 ☮️ 😎

      Liked by 4 people

      Reply

    1. Thank you muchly, John 🙏
      Gallimaufry is bound up in the heart
      of this child of the wild, John. The rod
      of prohibition only drove me to a land
      of Viva La Revolution, where there’s no need to be timid about an outstanding
      tumescence in a hotbed rebellion 😎

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  8. Excellent, David.

    I love your mixing the gods of rock ‘n roll with the gods and goddesses of ancient mythology.

    Particularly love the line about Venus having a trap between her thighs so have “your fly done up”.

    And of course the fate of the Brylcream Adonis.

    Being in the Surfers’ Paradise Hawaiian Motel must have been quite the experience.

    Liked by 5 people

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    1. I was lucky to get out of that motel
      alive, now that you mention it Chris.
      Several guests choked to death on
      their Hawaiian Cheeseburger Surprise
      right before my very eyes 👁️🍔👁️
      That motel’s buffet breakfast special.
      The surprise was a grilled cane toad
      stuffed inside a battered pineapple.
      In Surfer’s Paradise you have little
      choice but to eat copious amounts
      of pineapple, like it or not. Sadly, I’m
      now allergic … to cane toad, as well
      as pineapple 🐸🍍

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply

    1. You’re very welcome, Christine 💛
      The confessional was over much
      too soon on that particular summer
      vacation. Way back when the tropical
      waters were pristine, with no floating
      plastic to be seen, a little venture
      to Paradise was worth the trip 🏝️ 😎

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  12. Love your imagery and references to rock n rollers and mythology. I especially love Artemis 🙂 Thanks for the music videos everyone. I listen to Bruce Cockburn….amazing guitarist, lyricist, social justice activist and spiritual guy!

    Liked by 4 people

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    1. An Olympian thank you, Katelon 🏔️
      No hunt would be complete without
      Artemis riding shotgun upfront 😎
      As with Dylan, the Poet Laureate of
      Rock ‘n’ Roll, poetry set to music
      is a spiritual doorway for the soul.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

    1. Thank you, Anna 🙏💛
      After much umming and arring
      regarding a life spent ever erring,
      I made this heart rending offering.
      When it comes to soul searching,
      relevance versus reverence?
      That is a question worth asking.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      1. All across the Human Empire,
        as Artemis continues to cast her
        amorous spell, she manifests in
        a multitude of spellings 🤔
        In Hollywood she’s now called
        Wonder Woman, or even Diana
        to those who dare to be overly
        familiar … as they tend to be
        in the U. S. of A. 😎

        Liked by 3 people

      2. Framing her as Wonder Woman is how Hollywood cheapens her and turns into a one dimensional ass kicker. Her depth of love for nature, animals, humanity, herbs, healing is so light based and extends way beyond stars and stripes and swords. Grrr.

        Liked by 2 people

  18. Just as Elvis cranked out those films in the 60s (thank you NOT Colonel Parker for hiding him from live performances), this poetic journey takes us on a final trip with the King. Would anyone like a fried peanut butter and banana sandwich?

    Liked by 4 people

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    1. YUM❗Goodness gracious,
      a whole lotta fryin’ going on 🍳
      Great sandwiches of fire 🔥🍌
      But better skip the Cheeseburger
      Deluxe, as I don’t have a wooden
      heart 💔 Talking of which, those
      Elvis movies were rather cheesy.
      Obviously it took girls, girls, girls,
      and money, to keep the Colonial
      happy 🤠 Especially in Hawaii 🏝️

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. So glad you got a Queen sized
      helping, Lia 💛 No silver spoon
      could handle the heated serving.
      I tried my best, but sadly, many
      melted in the process. May they
      find rest in the cutlery afterlife
      drawer of peace ☮️ 😎

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      1. 😂 the cutlery afterlife drawer of peace!
        That actually sounds like a wonderful place to be…
        👼🧘🏼‍♂️🌤👌 … probably lots of spooning. ;)) 🤓

        Liked by 2 people

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