Rar

Her

She sits across the tiny room
Legs crossed
Hands folded
Eyebrow cocked
The corner of her mouth pulled up
In an interrogating
sideways
smile
The smile that says:
“There’s more to you
That you’re not telling me”

And that dreaded gaze.
That horrible
Dreaded
Gaze.
It’s friendly
But it’s trying to pick me apart
Piece by piece

No one has ever done that to me

I avoid it
Reading the spines of her books
I almost have their order memorized
Schizophrenia, OCD, Bi-Polar, Multiple Personality Disorder
Anxiety
Depression

But she keeps gazing
Keeps picking

She chips away at the broken edges of my shell
Pulls away the frayed edges of my cover

And she breaks me open

I spill.
All over.
I stain the walls
I stain the carpet.

And then the pill.
The tiny pill

Procedure:
Open mouth
Insert pill
Close mouth
Swallow

Contentment.

Shel Silverstein

THE BATTLE

Would you like to hear
Of the terrible night
When I bravely fought the-
No?
All right.

FORGOTTEN LANGUAGE

Once I spoke the language of the flowers,
Once I understood each word the caterpillar said,
Once I smiled in secret at the gossip of the starlings,
And shared a conversation with the housefly
in my bed.
Once I heard and answered all the questions
of the crickets,
And joined the crying of each falling dying
flake of snow,
Once I spoke the language of the flowers...
How did it go?
How did it go?

THE BAGPIPE WHO DIDN'T SAY NO

It was nine o'clock at midnight at a quarter after three
When a turtle met a bagpipe on the shoreside by the sea,
And the turtle said, "My dearie,
May I sit with you? I'm weary."
And the bagpipe didn't say no.

Said the turtle to the bagpipe, "I have walked this lonely shore,
I have talked to waves and pebbles- but I've never loved before.
Will you marry me today, dear?
Is it 'No' you're going to say, dear?"
But the bagpipe didn't say no.

Said the turtle to his darling, "Please excuse me if I stare,
But you have the plaidest skin, dear,
And you have the strangest hair.
If I begged you pretty please, love,
could I give you just one squeeze, love?"
And the bagpipe didn't say no

Said the turtle to the bagpipe, "Ah, you love me. Then confess!
Let me whisper in your dainty ear and hold you to my chest."
And he cuddled her and teased her
And so lovingly he squeezed her.
And the bagpipe said, "Aaooga."

Said the turtle to the babgpipe, "Did you honk or bray or neigh?
For 'Aaooga' when you're kissed is such a heartless thing to say.
Is it that I have offended?
Is it that our love is ended?"
and the bagpipe didn't say no.

Said the turtle to the bagpipe, "Shall I leave you, darling wife?
Shall I waddle off to Woedom? Shall I crawl out of your life?
Shall I move, depart and go, dear-
Oh, I beg you tell me 'No', dear!"
But the bagpipe didn't say no.

So the turtle crept off crying and he ne'er came back no more,
And he left the bagpipe lying on that smooth and sandy shore.
And some night when the tide is low there,
Just walk up and say, "Hello, there,"
And politely ask the bagpipe if this story's really so.
I assure you, darling children, the the bagpipe won't say "No."

A
POEM IS
IN
THE
EYE OF
THE
BEHOLDER

Here's to You

I cry,
And you remain distant.
I am weary,
And you comfort me with your coldness.
I am hungry,
And you feed me with your hardened presence.
I am bored,
And you entertain me with your silence.

So here's to you
My inanimate friend.

My kitchen floor.

I urge you not to try and find
A deeper meaning to this poem
For there really is none.

What you see is what you get.

What you read is what is meant.

I am just the kind of person
Who will lay on their kitchen floor.

10 Minute Play

[Starts out with Kris in her bedroom, laying on her bed working on homework.]

MARILYN

[knocks on bedroom door]

KRIS

Come in.

MARILYN

Krissy, dear, can you please watch your sister? I need to go to work.

KRIS

Whatever.

MARILYN

Thanks, Sweetie.

[MARILYN leaves. There is a silence and then SAMANTHA jumps in the room, wearing a tattered towel around her shoulders.]

SAMANTHA

Juney B! Watch me fly.

KRIS

[Ignoring SAMANTHA]

Riveting.

SAMANTHA

[flops on bed]

Whatchya doing, Juney B?

KRIS

Stop calling me that.

SAMANTHA

What?

KRIS

Juney B.

SAMANTHA

But it’s your name.

KRIS

No, it’s not! Juney B is the name of some stupid kindergartner in a book.

SAMANTHA

Mom says not to use the ‘S’ word.

KRIS

Mom isn’t here. Now leave me alone so I can do my homework.

SAMANTHA

[Picks up a stuffed fish and sticks between her feet, back fin pointing down.]

Hey Juney B, I’m a mermaid.

KRIS

No you’re not.

SAMANTHA

Yes I am. I have a fishy tail.

[SAMANTHA begins to shuffle around the room with the fish still held between her feet]

KRIS

What are you doing?

SAMANTHA

Exploring my kingdom. [Picks up a stuffed frog] Hello, my lovely prince. Oh no! The evil witch has cast you under a spell? That’s horrible! Don’t worry. Me and Juney B will save you. [Shoves frog in KRIS’ face.]

KRIS

[Pushing frog away from her]

Get that thing out of my face.

SAMANTHA

You have to kiss him. He’s under a spell.

KRIS

He’s your stupid prince. You kiss him.

SAMANTHA

He thinks you should kiss him.

KRIS

What?

SAMANTHA

Antonio. He thinks you should kiss him.

KRIS

Antonio doesn’t think. He’s a stuffed frog. He isn’t alive!

SAMANTHA

Yes he is. He has eyes, and a nose, and ears.

KRIS

So are you saying everything with eyes, noses and ears is alive?

SAMANTHA

Yep. Antonio’s thinking you should kiss him.

KRIS

I’m not kissing him.

SAMANTHA

Do it!

KRIS

[Grabbing the frog and throwing him across the room]

No!

SAMANTHA

[Runs over to pick up the frog, cradling it in her arms]

You hurt him.

KRIS

No, I didn’t.

SAMANTHA

Yes, you did! He’s crying!

KRIS

The only thing in here that’s crying is you!

SAMANTHA

Because I’m sad for him. You aren’t because you don’t listen to him. He’s crying out. He’s in pain. You hurt him.

KRIS

Just shut up, Samantha. I didn’t hurt him.

SAMANTHA

Why do you do that?

KRIS

Do what?

SAMANTHA

Ignore people’s feelings.

KRIS

I’m not ignoring anybody’s feelings. I’m just trying to do my homework.

SAMANTHA

But Juney B-

KRIS

Kris! Say Kris!

SAMANTHA

Kris. But Juney B, you do ignore people’s feelings. You can’t hear Antonio crying. You can’t even see the fairies.

KRIS

Maybe that’s because fairies don’t exist.

SAMANTHA

Don’t say that! They’ll die!

KRIS

That’s Peter Pan talking to you.

SAMANTHA

It’s true though.

KRIS

Oh really?

SAMANTHA

Yes.

KRIS.

Well then. Fairies. Don’t. Exist.

SAMANTHA

[cries out]

No! You’re going to kill her! Isabella! She’s sitting right there, on your bed!

KRIS

So what happens if I do this? [Swats at random spot on her bed]

SAMANTHA

Stop hurting her! First you hurt Antonio, now you’re trying to squash Isabella?

KRIS

Samantha, listen to me, Antonio is a stuffed frog. He has no feelings. Isabella is a patch of air. She has no feelings. They aren’t real. They don’t exist.

SAMANTHA

This is what I mean! You don’t pay attention to anyone’s feelings!

KRIS

I pay plenty of attention to everybody! Everybody that matters!

SAMANTHA

Nuh uh.

KRIS

Get out!

SAMANTHA

Mommy told me-

KRIS

I don’t care! Get out!

SAMANTHA

But-

KRIS

You are the only one here who doesn’t pay attention! You don’t pay attention to the world! The real world!

SAMANTHA

Yes I-

KRIS

No, you don’t! You can’t fly, you aren’t a mermaid, fairies don’t exist, and just because something has eyes and ears doesn’t mean it’s alive!

SAMANTHA

Juney B, you’re being mean. Just like I said.

KRIS

No I’m not. I’m being real. Where does Mom work?

SAMANTHA

Mommy works in a big building with crystal chandeliers. She wears fancy suits and works with kings and queens so she can get enough money to buy us a castle.

KRIS

Wrong! She works at Burger King. Where’s Dad, Samantha?

SAMANTHA

Mommy says he’s on vacation.

KRIS

He’s not! He’s gone! He left! All because of you! He couldn’t take you because you were the child mom wasn’t supposed to have because your dad should have been my dad. But he’s not! Your dad is off flaunting his stuff and probably spreading AIDS, not caring about you at all. Now get out! [Shoves SAMANTHA out of her bedroom and slams the door.]

SAMANTHA

Juney B? Krissy? Kris?

Emo-shun

So suck it up honey.
Pull up a smile for that brand new day
Don't let them see you break
Because you're stronger then that
No one wants a train wreck
clinging to their side.
And that's your new goal in life.
Don't be that train wreck.

Good Morning America

So then. I'm in class. While blogging. I'm a rebel! (In more ways then one.) hehe.

God I'm witty.