Pop Rocks

Young Offender starring Jeff Poprocks

Photograph by Michelle Gemma
published in Post Magazine, Winter 1994

Song To The Siren

On the floating, shipless oceans
I did all my best to smile
‘Til your singing eyes and fingers
Drew me loving to your isle
And you sang, Sail to me, sail to me
Let me enfold you,
Here I am, here I am
Waiting to hold you”
Did I dream you dreamed about me?
Were you here when I was full sail?
Now my foolish boat is leaning
Broken lovelorn on your rocks
For you sing, Touch me not, touch me not,
come back tomorrow: O my heart,
O my heart shies from the sorrow
Well I’m as puzzled as the newborn child
I’m as riddled as the tide:
Should I stand amid the breakers?
Or should I lie with death my bride?
Hear me sing, Swim to me, swim to me,
Let me enfold you
Here I am, Here I am,
Waiting to hold you

featuring Model: Titus Abad
Photograph by Michelle Gemma
22 October 2015
Coogan Farm, Mystic, CT  USA

This Mortal Coil was a music collective led by Ivo Watts-Russell, founder of the British record label 4AD. Although Watts-Russell and John Fryer were technically the only two official members, the band’s recorded output featured a large rotating cast of supporting artists, many of whom were otherwise associated with 4AD, including members of Cocteau TwinsPixies, and Dead Can Dance The project became known for its gothic, dream pop sound, and released three full albums beginning in 1984 with It’ll End in Tears.

Song to the Siren” is a song written by Tim Buckley and his writing partner Larry Beckett and was first released on Buckley’s 1970 album Starsailor.  The song has become perhaps Buckley’s most famous due to a number of artists covering the song after his death in 1975, notably This Mortal Coil.

 

Why People Disappear

why people disappear
maybe she couldn’t live like this

 

maybe she couldn’t live at all
will you ever with me this is she
so she made him not want her
how can I say more than that?
whatever brings us together
maybe I know as much as I ever will

featuring Model: Kathryn O’Reilly
Photograph by Michelle Gemma
15 September 2015
Mystic, CT USA

https://michellegemmaphotography.com/

Home Is in Your Head is the second studio album by His Name Is Alive, originally released via 4AD in the UK on September 9, 1991
this post features the lyrics from “Why People Disappear” track 12 of Home is in Your Head.

Let’s Rock!

Let’s rock!
I’ve got good news.
That gum you like is going to come back in style.
She’s my cousin.
But doesn’t she look almost exactly like Laura Palmer?
But… it is Laura Palmer. Are you Laura Palmer?
I feel like I know her, but sometimes my arms bend back.
She’s filled with secrets. Where we’re from, the birds sing a pretty song, and there’s always music in the air.

featuring Model: Morgan Vail
Photographs by Michelle Gemma
11 June 2015
In the Backyard, Mystic, CT  USA

featuring Model: Morgan Vail, age 28 from the ongoing series “Portrait of the Artist as a Young Girl”—
a timeline of photographs over 19 years with the same model
Mystic, CT USA
Photograph by Michelle Gemma

https://michellegemmaphotography.com
https://michellegemmaphotography.wordpress.com/

[Cooper’s dream, sitting in a chair in the red room. The Man from Another Place twitches uncontrollably with his back to Cooper. Cooper stares at a smiling Laura Palmer.]

this post features a narrative sequence from Twin Peaks (TV Show).
Twin Peaks is an American mystery horror drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch that premiered on April 8, 1990, on ABC. Its story follows an investigation headed by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) into the murder of homecoming queen Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) in the fictional suburban town of Twin Peaks, Washington.

Endgame

I had written the letter as an endgame. After a year of subtle negotiations, there did not seem to be a way forward after all that had transpired.

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