The poem was inspired by Edgar A. Poe's "The Man of the Crowd" -- it's not based on it, but uses a similar idea that's been transposed to the world of film noir. The man in the fedora hat has some dark secret of which Poe's concluding words from "The Man of the Crowd" apply: "The worst heart of the world is a grosser book than the 'Hortulus Animæ,' and perhaps it is but one of the great mercies of God that 'er lasst sich nicht lesen.' ('it cannot be read.')"

@ hawk tauh spit on that thang

Thanks Peanut. It's an AI singer.

It's not a glorification, it's acceptance.

@@lemmesay accept of what? mortal death or eternal death? There is no point if on the other side of mortal death is eternal life given by Christ Jesus. The fields are white for the harvest. Jesus Christ paid the penalty of death so that we don't have to. It's a free gift to those born again. Why not take that gift?

@@allenjones4862 The poem isn't about Christ. It's about death. "We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep." -- Shakespeare

@@darkweb6665 i understood that. unless I see the lyrics, I'll stand by my first comment. Death is not something that is poetic and beautiful. It is horrible, ugly, and painful, and I have not even talked about spiritual death yet. the opposite of "cool". just saying.

@@allenjones4862 Oh, you're talking about the physical process of death. Yes, that can often be too horrible for words. My poem isn't about the physical process of death. I can't write about that. My poem is about what I'm assuming you mean by "spiritual death," i.e., the end of self-awareness/consciousness. In the poem, the speaker is saying that they experience a little death each night during periods of dreamless sleep, when they no longer have any awareness that they exist. Because one loses all awareness of one's self, there is no memory of it. We only sense upon waking, that we have come from some far off place where there wasn't any sensation of time, pain, weight, etc. The speaker finds this state of temporary non-existence to be both comforting and desirable -- and, therefore, imagines that Death is like a loved one who takes them comfortingly in their arms. I don't agree with the speaker. I used to long for a state of non-existence, but I have long since come to the conclusion that death is merely an illusion. It's too convoluted a theory to expound here, but suffice to say that if you've read Schopenhauer's "World as Will and Idea," and/or Nietzsche's theory of "Eternal Recurrence," you'll have a pretty fair idea of what I believe. But my poem isn't about what I believe. It's about what I *wish* I still believed in. It's a fairy tale that I tell myself to get me through the day -- even that I know it isn't real. Much as the religiously inclined might do with their dreams of an Afterlife.

The video isn't meant to be about Bettie, James. It's about the relationship between a poet and his Muse. Bettie's just starring in it because I find her exceptionally beautiful... and because she's one of the women whose beauty inspires me.

O.K. then. never much for poetry, but Love to read. hopefully the 666 is just an oversight

@@JamesHadfield-v3t LOL. I'm a small press horror writer and publisher (I published "Penny Dreadful" for about 10 years -- and before the tv series picked up the name). The 666 is just part of the image.

@darkweb6665 it isn't just an image pal. No more. Contact!

@@JamesHadfield-v3t It really is. My spiritual beliefs are pantheistic -- we are all one.

CUTE LIZARD FINGGER IS DIALING

Frankie Laine, Johnnie Ray and Guy Mitchell were my boyhood heroes as well. I never had the chance to see any of them in concert, but have never stopped loving their music.