Just a couple more from this.
So this has a little bit of a relationship to the Vietnam era
too.
You might know that Francis Ford Coppola movie Apocalypse Now,
which was such a fiasco that there was even a documentary
made by his wife regarding the horrific stories that happened
during that period of time.
One of these stories is focused on in this little poem.
Coppola decided for authenticity that Mr. Kurtz's tribe
would have to be genuine headhunters
from the Philippine jungle.
So at great expense he imported them to the movie set,
and over a period of several weeks
he had an anthropologist teach them, phonetically, to sing
the Doors song "Light My Fire."
And after this elaborate ritual, he
decided that it wasn't exactly right
for the purposes of the movie, so it got cut out of the film.
But anyway, the title of this poem is "Francis Ford Coppola
and Anthropologist Interpreter Teaching Gartewienna Tribesmen
to Sing 'Light My Fire,' Philippine Jungle 1978."
"It's done phonetically, of course, at great expense.
Dr. Singh, the bullhorned anthropologist,
struts with Francis on the peopled set.
Insists on short hours for the warriors, who
must hunt wild pig tomorrow, an annual ritual that should not
be disturbed.
But integrity matters less to him
than his large consulting fee.
Back in Manila, he will buy a Mercedes SL,
and forget about the leader's new double knits.
Leader's number three wife snorting coke
with Dennis Hopper, Brando signing
glossies for the witch doctor to grind into aphrodisiacs.
Caw-mawn bay-be light my fire,' they chant.
What mean, apocalypse now?
asks Leader.
Dr. Singh, mean, everybody die together here."