A segway, 20 days later

I meant to post this right after the bit about One Hundred Years of Solitude but then there was Fable and X-Men Legends... so there you are.

I found this old, way too long poem on a floppy a few weeks back and because of its title I thought it would make a nice segway from the book. I cannot explain the poem or defend it but I will only say this: it's hella long and was written all in one sitting and so this publishing is a celebration of proliferation when I was a Senior at Lane Tech.

A crowd of people
and I want them all to go away
and my lips still feel the bitterness
a hope of love
and my thinking denies me that
a vision of peace
and I am growing extremely impatient

Present
because the past
is a teacher’s aid
and the future
is a dreamer’s picture
so get some love
and keep feelin’ fine

A sea of hostility
and I’m caught in its current
a hurricane of bad feelings
and it’s blowing me away
a tidal wave of stress
and I’m being drown
a whirlpool of guilt
and its getting really dizzy in here

Life
because death
is unknown
and inaction
is equivalent to death
life is moving
so be one with the stream
and let the current take you

An earthquake of rage
and I just broke a window
a volcano of frustration
and I’m thinking about erupting
a tornado of indecisiveness
and I’ll keep spinning around
a landslide of trials
and I’m pleading nolo contendere

Time
because nothing
lasts forever
and your imagination
is your deadliest enemy
so relax
and calm yourself

a thunderstorm of acid
and it’s burning me on the outside
a cloud-formation of fire
and that’s burning me from the inside
an eclipse of reason
and my brain’s being suffocated
a star of truth
and I see it but it’s too far away

One night I stood, agasp, as I stared
skyward, and as I sat mesmerized I
felt the blue moon frowning
it frowned at me
and frowned at all
it seemed as if it was disappointed in
me, it seemed to follow and brood upon
me as I walked along the beach
the shore was calm that night but
the temperature grew colder with every
step I took and in every
direction I went
it grew colder
the moon was upon me
as I looked up toward the sky
and it really was blue
it had mountains and oceans
it had flora and fauna
but it had no people
the moon, still blue, frowning still
at me, made a prodding motion
and I, being weak, consented
to transferring my titan’s weight
to its green surface
the moon shivered a little
at contact and then
again at my first few steps
it seemed to be happy now
and so I seemed too.
for everywhere I looked
there were no people
and in every place that I took lodging
there were no people
and at every turn where I got food
there were no people
there were no people upon this land
there were no people at all
there were no people to understand
there were no people at all
I sang as I frolicked about the moon
and we two shot back into orbit
now both contented, both consumed
with peace and life
for I had nothing
and the moon blue had me
in perfect synchronization
we sleep and fed and thought
but no sound was made
no concrete connection made
but I knew of it
and it knew of me
as if our minds
had concocted telepathy
we stayed and sat
for hours on end
thinking things never spoken
and then I would go to sleep
and the moon would roll over
I thought about everything
about me, the trees
the streams, the fish
I thought about its birds
and how silly they looked
and how silly I looked at them
I hunted its deer
and feasted upon its corn
I drank up all the wine
I could make
and then I turned to brew
tea for I had access to
hot water and leaves so plentiful
around me and I drank the
tea and thought about
how nicely it tasted
as it flowed hot down
my throat and intestines
the tea soothed me as
I thought and I thought
about how the tea soothed me
then my attention grew
skyward as it was night time
here on my blue moon
and I saw my old home
the gray earth
how
dead
it
looked
was it dead without me?
Then in turn was I dead without it?
I saw no life upon my old home
I saw no life at all
I saw only death and solitude
and wondered over this vision
I looked around my blue moon
and I saw people growing
NO!
There are no people upon this land!
There are no people at all!
There are no people, you understand?
There are no people,
but now there were people
and they grew out from
the blue moon
and soon all was abrupt with life
but not like it was before with
my birds and plants and trees
my frogs who so funnily hopped
around and lived on both land
and in sea, my frogs who were
so superior for their adaptability
my frogs who caught flies
in their long winding tongue
my frogs who dinned upon
said flies to keep the balance
and I loved these frogs
because they were mine
as I loved all upon this land
but I cannot love its people
now, I cannot interact with them
I cannot think quietly with them
for they have mouths to speak
and use their mouths too often
for it’s their natural nature
I cannot love these people
and as I saw there people grow
I grew colder
and I looked up
I felt the gray earth frowning
it frowned at me
and frowned at all
it seemed as if it was disappointed in
me, it seemed to follow and brood upon
me as I walked among these people
and then the gray earth called to me
called me with its mind
in my mind I heard it call
I heard it sing to me
“Embrace your death dear solemn
fellow, give up your life to me.”
And in every direction I went
it grew colder
the earth was upon me
as I looked up toward the sky
and it really was gray
it had nothing but death
it had no life
it had no animals
it had no plants
it had no people, to my pleasure
the earth, still gray, frowning still
at me, made a prodding motion
but I still felt obligation
to my moon, my moon how lovely
it was when it was peopleless
so I remained on my moon
but the gray earth prodded
once more, yet adamant
was I to her I
yearned to leave but
my duty left me not
I would remain on the moon
till some breach of contract
occur and then, oh then
I might be able to embrace
my love... death on the gray
earth, and I communicated
that to terra with my mind
but as I thought of my
problems and looked up into the sky
the blue moon spoke to me
it, the moon, still blue, spoke
and it really was blue and it
really was speaking to me
the trees were not speaking
the animals were not speaking
my frogs were not speaking
it wasn’t my wonderful
frogs talking to me, my
wonderful, wonderful frogs
how I wished they would’ve spoke to me
the horrible people weren’t speaking to me
those horrible wretched things
who’ve taken my land
my space those
thrice horrible dastardly
creatures. But I
really wouldn’t have
minded as much if
the horrible people
would’ve talked to me
after all that’s what
people do, people talk
and talk they did
but not to me
the blue moon spoke
to me. It spoke now
after all these years
and all these mental
exchanges. “my love
don’t leave me, not now
not as our children are
just growing, my love, help
me raise our children.”
The moon blue said
and I looked all around
and I saw my children
and I saw it all
I saw the place where
I slept with my lover
I saw my frogs
who were essentially her
reproductive organs
I saw my children
I saw it all
and all of it
scared me, it enraged me
“My children, I never
wanted children, I never
wished to speak again,
you helped me once
you helped me
be free, you helped me
in solitude
without a word
without a sound
between the two of us
how could you
speak to me now!
How could you
break my healing solitude
with your speech and
children!”
shattered I looked at my
children, I looked at my
moon blue and I gazed
upon her life in
sheer disgust, I looked
up to the sky and
spotted the gray earth, smiling
the gray earth made a prodding motion
and I, being weak, consented
to transferring my titan’s weight
to its dead surface
I shivered a little
at contact and then
felt no more
it seemed to be happy now
and so I seemed too