#2

ELEGANT TOPLESNESS
STONED IN STAIRWELL,
RECICATIVE

Wayne KOESTENBAUM

_{‘In July 2016, HOTEL asked me to make a recording of my poem, “#2 [elegant toplessness
stoned in stairwell],” which is an excerpt from CAMP MARMALADE, to be published by Nightboat Books in 2018.
And so, while seated at the piano, in my apartment's living room in New York
City, I recited my poem and spoke-sang into my handy ZOOM recorder. Sometimes, to
punctuate or accompany the reading, I played fragments from pieces by Robert
SCHUMANN, Sergei RACHMANINOFF, Isaac

ALBÉNIZ, Vincent PERSICHETTI, and David
DIAMOND. At other moments, I improvised rudimentary melodies upon which I
could string the text’s syllables. None of this mélange—except for the
poem’s words—was planned. I am grateful to HOTEL for giving me the chance to improvise.’}
_{_{—W.K., July 17th 2017.}}

^{Wayne KOESTENBAUM has published eighteen books of poetry,
criticism, and fiction, including Notes
on Glaze, The Pink Trance Notebooks, My 1980s & Other Essays, Hotel Theory,
Best-Selling Jewish Porn Films, Andy
Warhol, Humiliation, Jackie Under My Skin, and The Queen’s Throat (a National Book Critics Circle Award
finalist). He has had solo exhibitions
of his paintings at White Columns (New York), 356 Mission (Los Angeles), and the
University of Kentucky Art Museum. His
first piano/vocal record, Lounge Act, was
issued by Ugly Duckling Presse Records this year. He is a Distinguished Professor of English,
Comparative Literature, and French at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York
City.}

^{KOESTENBAUM’s poem ‘#2’

appears in Hotel #2.}

#2

ELEGANT TOPLESNESS STONED IN STAIRWELL, RECICATIVE

Wayne KOESTENBAUM

ELEGANT TOPLESNESS
STONED IN STAIRWELL,
RECICATIVE