Other Issues

 

 

Poetry by

David Donald Schein II

 

 

figmentofimagination Productions


My Pub Song. 4

What Fools We Mortals Be. 4

Haight-Apathy. 5

Who is the Lady in Stairway to Heaven? And other Q-and A. 5

Zephaniah pt. 1 6

Anonymous, a song. 6

December 14 (by M. Elsner). 6

Desire. 7

The Diner, pt.1 7

Recovery, A Poem in Many Parts--. 8

Active. 8

Newcomer. 8

Complacency, Pt. 1 8

Relapse. 9

The Morning After. 9

Return.. 9

Coming Clean.. 9

Complacency, Pt. 2.. 10

Withdrawal and Progress 10

Perpetual Motion of Synapses and Memory. 11

TW:CoaHTR. 11

Perchance to Dream.. 11

Prelude to Evermore. 13

Ill 13

Ideal 14

Determination. 14

29. 15

Reality Bites 15

With all Geographic Changes, a Psychological Change must also Occur 15

The Diner, pt 2. 16

Smoke Signals, Reflections on the Movie. 16

Observations over Breakfast. 17

Alkaline Trio 17

Winter Weeps 18

People’s Paths (by Regina Rose LaMacchia). 18

Why Do You Call?, also The Best Message, also Q- No A. 19

Q.. 20

Q2. 21

Introductions 21

Transient. 21

The fine print: 23


My Pub Song

 

An Irish man walked in with a fiddle

And had himself a drink

Then a fair lass got into the middle

And pushed him o'er the brink

'e said "Dear girl, you're between me and my Guinness,

So you better step out of the way,

But when I get to the bottom, When I get to the finish,

The I'll be yours to stay"

So 'e finished the pint and took to the lady

And they danced around the room

When the night was over, they were both so happy

Soon they were bride and groom

Many a year later they sat by the fire

As he played his cherry fiddle, he said

"I've seen many a lass, and been 'round for a while,

But I love the girl in the middle."

It takes a strong lass to split a man and his pint, but love is stronger than any alcohol.

-----

What Fools We Mortals Be

 

pale skin

impale

artistic minds corroded by conformity

twisted mental-pedophiles

clouding judgment

money

future

annexed souls

nudes, not nukes

karma

dharma

tearing thoughts apart

oblivion

ignoring original intentions

multi-racial kindred spirits

brought together by desire

swept into the cauldron

who knows what the night might bring

into the great unknown

variable

do the titans feel

emotions and fear

do comedy and tragedy

ought wei

the comedy of tragedy

or am I a materialist

do I care for my children

which will be better

god

what should I do

where shall I go

what should I believe

what fools we mortals be

-----

Haight-Apathy

 

I wonder if it will be on the news

Probably not

If so, It will be buried

It would be page 13, not

"TONIGHT AT 10:

BOY AT LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL STABBED IN MOUTH"

Apathy affects us all. It is the most deadly of our

Diseases

Kill and grow and our government does nothing about our

Pain

Is a motivating factor. It motivates us to step into

Action

Reaction Karma

Dharma

Must be reestablished if we are to continue as we

Are

We going to kill ourselves, or will we live to see another day?

-----

Who is the Lady in Stairway to Heaven? And other Q-and A

 

Why do kids worry about money?

What is death?

Why can't I?

I can.

Why is lust?

Who is love?

Why does she have to go?

She must.

Why are addicts?

Why is hurt?

Why no cure?

Cure me.

Why is theft?

Who is rape?

Why is murder?

Suicide.

1+1=2...sometimes.

Breasts and egos grow and sag with time.

We all die.

So do our dogs.

Children are imperfect because their bliss ends.

-----


Zephaniah pt. 1

 

Zephaniah is a friend of mine

He writes of racism and people of his kind.

------

Anonymous, a song

 

CHORUS: And your soul says "No Way"

But you want.

VERSE 1:

Lookin' through all the dreams inside your head

And lookin' over all the lovers from your past

Look at all the aspirations you once had

But you fucked up and now you come in last

{CHORUS}

VERSE 2:

Little girl see yourself inside your room

And remember him while you run around

Just remind yourself he'll be home soon

While you cry to yourself without the sound of his voice

{CHORUS}

BREAKDOWN SECTION:

And through the mist the chain is broken

Your breath is held, your thoughts unspoken

No way to run, to hide, no room

Then in your sickness, you love your doom

You look around; she's all you see

You try to think, but thoughts can't be

{TONE SHIFT}

VIOLENT INTERLUDE:

Is this really what you want?

Is this really what you need?

Why can't you come back to me?

Why is it that you must bleed?

{SHORT INSTRUMENTAL\SOLO SECTION}

 VERSE 3:

Your poison tree has withered died and gone, decay

Yet you still long for that awful lie

But you live to see another day

Still when it hurts, you scream "Why, why, why?"

{CHORUS}

{'TRAIN-WRECK' END}

- - - - -

This is a song about addiction, whether it is narcotics, people, food, or whatever. Your soul screams "NO", but you have that incomprehensible desire. Here's to all suffering addicts, that they may find the help they need. Je vous aimes. -Dave

-----

December 14 (by M. Elsner)

 

Darkness

Breathing

Legs pumping faster and faster until they inevitably slow

I am taken back

And the anger, the rage, that she would dare say that

Colors of the room tinged with pink, just as you've told me they would be

But eventually the pink fades

I am left with no more anger, no more rage

Only the pain

That, too, will fade to a dull memory

All I want is your arms around me

Your kiss, your touch, soothes the most scarred soul

You are not here, but our tears fall together

Waiting

The morning will bring us to each other

-----

Desire

 

supple curves caress that which I cannot have

varying colors, textures, sounds, emotions

amusing and alluring

hidden, yet visible

words cease to exist

inhibitions falling away

I fear the loss of control

I want her

she comes closer

she is near

she is here

I reach to hold her

brush her hair from her face

I lean to kiss

her naked breast

warm in my hand

she arches back, offering herself to me

I partake of her body and soul

our bodies bathed in salty sweat

muscles quivering

time inconsistent

shifting

unconsciousness

lost in the moment

conclusions impossible

-----

The Diner, pt.1

 

the bowl filled with red, white, and blue

the red lights blink as the coffee pots brew

blonde women sit at the bar, writing

he asks what I've been up to: "nothing exciting"

-----


Recovery, A Poem in Many Parts--

- - - - -

Active

 

I stepped outside to see how I feel

Sat down on the steps and saw a drug deal

I was never so open when I got my 'fix'

It was always in private that I got my kicks

Some secluded park or dirty bedroom

were the places I acquired my doom

In addiction, an hour seems like forever

But it made me sneaky, deceptive, and clever

Inside the hot and cold rooms of the world

I threw down my money, and the joints, they were curled

Suck down some pills with some whisky or vodka

Or trip while I read a little Shakespeare or Kafka

- - - - -

Newcomer

 

Though resigned to a life of death

it was given up

at the drop of a hat

a ring of the phone

the thought of sex

the future unknown

At the massing, bug burly bears

embraced the young man

said "I love you"

"Don't worry"

"We're not judges"

"We're no jury"

they told him HIS story

He listened

He was impressed

- - - - -

Complacency, Pt. 1

 

Watch the phone

Sit

Watch the phone

Get some coffee

Watch the phone

Play music

Watch the phone

Read

Watch the phone

Use the restroom

Watch the phone

Hide in the bedroom

Watch the phone

Wonder why they don’t call

Watch the phone

- - - - -

Relapse

 

He sits in a grey fog playing guitar and talking to the daemons in his head.

Jacob and Robert Marley dance around him, their chains swinging wildly in the air, jingling like coins in a purse.

They asked him to join them.

They invited him to join them.

They taunted him to join them.

They talked him into joining them.

- - - - -

The Morning After

 

When he awoke he wondered why he had not left the night before, why he had not stayed upstairs. 

He had gone upstairs before when his daemons had begun to sing, but he went back downstairs to swing with them. 

They had not lied to him. 

He knew the terrors of going down, yet he joined them in the heat of that hell. 

He awoke to that green smell infused in his pores, in his hair, in his clothes, in his lungs. 

He showered to wash his memory clean of the night before.

He lied to wash his face clean of the night before.

He hoped to wash his soul clean of the night before.

He begged to wash his slate clean.

 

He could not wash his hands clean.

- - - - -

Return

 

He walked into the room sat down listened stood up and took a coin in which he placed his lies.  He placed the coin in his pocket and could feel it burning his flesh.  He got on the plane and sat there thinking about the coin.  He entered the room and held up the coin as a shield, as a mask.  They gave him another to wear around his neck, and the weight of it held him down.  To them a medal of honor, to him only Hawthorne’s signature.  He wore it like a tattoo, fearing the naked body would reveal the hole in his chest, the emptiness, the lies, the fear.  He wears gloves now because his hands won’t come clean.

- - - - -

Coming Clean

 

Mediocrity

The word burned in his head as he drove them to the bar. 

Though his glass was free of spirits, his head was full of daemons. 

When he went home, he continued the lie, but he went back to work. 

Soon, he could stand the pain no longer. 

He took off the gloves and showed his stains to the world. 

His brothers took his hands and washed them for him. 

What he could not do alone, they as a group accomplished.

- - - - -


Complacency, Pt. 2

 

Go to a meeting

Listen

Share

Go to coffee

Talk

Go home

Sleep

Go to school

Sleep

Go to work

Watch

Go to a meeting

Listen

Share

The repetition wore

Heavily on him

They began

Carrying him

They bid him farewell and he went to others, but it was still the same

He never looked inside

They looked for him

- - - - -

Withdrawal and Progress

 

They started coming to his house so he stopped going home.

He found a playmate and spent his time with her.

Soon, he abandoned them altogether

He took his things and went away, where others expected him, but he never called.

He Isolated under the guise of self-preservation.

Really, he was tired.

He was tired of doing things that had long since stopped bringing him joy.

The darkness creeped in and he wept often. 

In time, his eyes adjusted, and it didn’t seem so dim.

He found a new circle and he allowed himself to become locked within it.

No doors or windows, but also no corners to hide in.

He found strength and security with them, and soon serenity, too.

God, grant me the serenity

He regrets not saying good-bye

To accept the things I cannot change

If he is brave

The courage

He can go back and make amends

To change the things I can

But he knows that what really matters

And the wisdom

Is his own peace of mind

To know the difference

Knowing they still love him.

-----

Perpetual Motion of Synapses and Memory

 

Perpetual fear creeps sadness longing want desire opiate results attraction alluring beauty fear sex heart mind soul love me kiss the small of my back fingers through wet hair chest bare the fan spins wildly from the ceiling the soft chill of evaporating sweat saliva rub touch hold collapse lust affection infatuation despair heard of sheep tripping consciousness conscience bathed want fear run rain heat ice stars are falling for me they rocket from their nests ignite in the atmosphere friction tension resentment rejection insecurity traction push away landing in a cataclysm forgotten words of forgiveness unable to forget memory remorse regret malice want hurt become evolve exit endgame out walk cry foreign freedom not wanted terror jail warden prisoner captive of the soft touch round security warm wet red frustration pain wait watch spot eye subtle mound hot thighs cold air walk away embrace blinding darkness blackness tres noir excavation exhume one year to the day chip shop life banished escape hide Friar Lawrence be one individual estate sale sold mine envy desire lust mined fragrant pull magnetic feral urges fear bail justification rationale paramount the undiscovered country perpetuity sannathana dharma ahimsa hamsa om tat sat drive out of the rain the butter melts out of habit the toast isn’t even warm exeunt.

-----

TW:CoaHTR

 

The cat perched quietly on the tin-can roof

Its fur being melted by the reflecting sun and heat of the mirrored surface upon which he sits

The birds pass by, blinded by the evidence of Apollo's grace

Charcoal embers setting feathers ablaze with the radiance of the god's glory and imposing presence

The Cheshire grins at Alice, returning home through the gauntlet of metallic beasts and no air conditioning while her leather seats chap and char, scar her skin, mar her complexion

Her hair shimmers as her sweat mixes with the expensive oils and perfumes used as mating calls, but still she is alone in returning home through the looking glass to a still empty house

Absorbing the eccentric patterns of energy given off by the capitalist dream as she watches the stock prices catapult catastrophically upward while the newsman anchorwoman reports another bombing in Northern Ireland

She changes the channel as her cat returns inside, now bald and sun burnt peeling scabs licking wounds blisters forming on his back in places he can't reach with his sandpaper, regardless of his contortionist ability

She is intrigued by his new hair style and pets him anyway, ignoring the screams of pain as she rubs his leper skin

She watches cartoons and ignores ridiculous warnings about the approaching Y2K and tornadoes and instead makes herself a drink to obliterate her fears

She returns to her sofa, unaffected by the feline corpse that is still bleeding on her floor from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head intended to end the pain, but instead causing the pain of a million years without form shape number awareness

Tired, she escapes to the security of her bedroom chamber to block out the scars of the world with her bed sheets

Comfortable upon her down mattress, she retreats to Dian's care

-----

Perchance to Dream

 

And I watch as their heads bob

hair grey with age

But radiating life

Speaking a language

The native tongue of vivacity

Peter Pan syndrome

Telling the capitalistic demon, Hook, to back off

And allow life to the non-working

Those who have earned the right to

Return to the sandlot

Work-time is over

And naptime is fast approaching

But for now,

In these few moments of release

Between the chains and the sleep

Between the whips and sco