I don’t want to cry in public
I’ve done it too much
He’ll say to the face
And scurry for the door.
Category: Poems
fictions, speculative dreams, and meditations
The Observable Universe a work in progress
“Imagine a bubble!” he shouts at the audience.
“Imagine I’m surrounded by a bubble
whisper thin and darkness beyond”
He shouts at the void
“My observable universe extends for two feet in all directions
it is populated with me of course and memories of you”
“My observable universe is fueled by love
and ceases up like everything else
in the heat death
a pristine perfect shuttle frozen in position
which, once dislodged, will weave love into the universal constants themselves
which once again will be woven from and through itself”
he shouts at the sublime fabric
Kitchen Sync
Introduction
So, I mentioned it in passing, but haven't written about the poetry reading.
On March 25, I performed at the Kitchen Sync open mic in Denton, TX. The poets in attendance were very welcoming, kind, and talented. I had a blast, and I was on fire.
I'm planning on going back this month, but I'm in Oklahoma City…yeah, weird. Even weirder, I got cast in a couple small bit roles in a community theatre production of The Laramie Project. I'm very excited, I've always wanted to do theatre and here I go, weee! It's a six-to-eight week obligation and so I may not be able to make it down, but I'll try, there's something special happening in Denton.
Here's an approximation of the introduction I performed (I improvised a lot). I'm not sure if it's through, but I suspect it is. I feel good about it.
Main Content
Hello, I’m Franklyn Monk
The one that disappeared a little after every defeat and
slunk down into that hole
where I turned in and around myself
and popped out the other side
The undoing unbeing before you
as convincing as I am
illusionary. I don’t exist!
Except maybe as a ball of calm in a sea of chaos
or a knot of chaos in a sea of calm.
I can’t tell.
The only thing I know with certitude
is I have a voice,
and I like to use it.
Communion
Main Content
“Stop! You must curtail your bizarre behavior,”
says the man with the stick,
“You really must,” he says
adjusting his hat.
But, he’s not talking to me,
he’s talking to the creature we become—
in the stretch back to the first realm.
“Adjust behavior and commiserate elsewhere,”
says the fat man
“You really must,” he says
poking the creature’s chest.
The creature, call us Communion,
howls indignant and turns back to the wall—
string dangling from slippery hands.
“Non-compliance is unacceptable,”
shouts the rigid man,
“Unacceptable and you must stop,” he shouts
and we pay em no mind we pay em no mind.
We are disconnected from that world,
there is only blood here and glue and string—
this creation nothing else.
Endnotes
This poem was released as a
podcast on June 7, 2014.
And now a YouTube Video
How to Blend
I make a show
of looking for a stick
and removing the mud from my feet
because that’s what normal people do
and don’t forget to stretch
people do that too
they stretch at the park
and remove mud from their feet
and you have to breathe all the time
that’s what else real human people do is breathe