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Open Poetry #35
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Dr. Ward Edition 2005
| Open Poetry #35 |
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Dr. Ward Edition 2005 |
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Jaime Fradera Senior Member
since 2000-11-25
Posts 843Where no tyranny is tolerable |
Jaime's e-mail is not working. Doctor Ward Edition 2005 1: It is evening, And we are having dinner at the Ark. Then my ride picks me up, Takes me to a church function; But after he drives off, I realize That I don't know where I am. It is now fully night And I am lost and disoriented. Everything is strange and unfamiliar. I hear a jet fly low above And muse That I must be near the airport. I walk into a rundown gutted building, Looking for info or directions. A girl asks If I am coming To the "clothes" program on girdles. I mechanically say yes, And she leads me to a room Where a ceremony seems to be in progress. The room is filled with people Sitting on bleachers in a circle, And in the center Candles are burning in a chalice. I am suddenly very tired, Sink into the benches or a couch And then pass out. 2: I wake up in a hospital room. Through a hazy stupor, I hear someone asking where I am, And can I hear her can I hear her ... And can I say my name, And recite the alphabet, And do I know How many toes I have, And what about my nose? And can I count backwards to zero? ... When she is satisfied I am awake, She tells me she is Dr. Ward. When I ask: how did I get here? She says I had had a seizure at the meeting And that they brought me to Emergency. She says her name is Dr. Ward, But when I so address her, She is annoyed and says to me just call her Doctor. 3: I am at a very loud, Cacophonous, Teenage drugs and drinking party But have no idea how I got there. Amid the raucous and demented blare Of heavy-metal rock The kids are standing around, Being crazy, Smoking dope. Then a roomer, A whispered something starts to circulate: Police ... the police! ... The police are coming! They're gonna make a bust! ... This sets everybody Running round and round To frantically Get rid of all the stuff Before the cops arrive. I follow the crowd and the excitement Outside to the front lawn, And just then A patrol car pulls up, Radio crackling. An officer gets out And says we're in violation Of City Ordinance 46, Excessive noise, And will have to pay a fine. The officer isn't looking for drugs Until my sister, Who has been smoking dope, Gaily offers him a reefer. She is promptly arrested And told to "get behind the wheel!" And it is she Who drives them both Down to the "station-house." As they roar off into the night, Tires screeching, I call out to her Be sure she has her notebook So she can keep a diary Of her jail experience. My travel cane is gone, So very carefully, I slowly feel my way Into the now deserted house. 4: I am talking With my father on a payphone , Or maybe it is more than one. It seems that we've been talking For some time by telephone. In fact, It seems we have been years like this, Relationship via telephone; And indeed We saw each other seldom After the divorce. And through all the years, All the first times of my life, He was there, Giving me his scoops, His articles, his commentaries, ... My being Too far away to hear the broadcasts, Sprinkled with bits Of father-son advice; Broadcasting to me by telephone. Now, this was his last broadcast. And like Walter saying: that's the way it is; It was time to say: so long, It was time to say: goodbye. As I hang up the phone, I feel a wave of sickening loss And paralyzing sadness. I sink heavily into a chair, My mind reeling. It is almost as if my dad were dead ... Wasn't he? ... ... ... 5: And then it comes to me That, as I remember it, Father had died in 1983. And I remembered the emergency, The plane trip, How we had to leave the country; The gather of his children In the face of the onrushing inevitable. And I remembered the cancer ward; The antiseptic gowns They said we had to wear, Sense his immune system was gone; And the open toilet down the hall. And I remembered Asking the doctors how he was, Being careful Not to do it too insistently, Hoping they would sense I didn’t really want to know. And I remembered how cold his hands were When I held them: The IV’s in both his arms, Sustaining him, Confining him; And how his eyes, his skin were turning yellow. And I remembered How he told me he was sorry For the peaceful home That he had never given me, For the father he had never been, For the beatings and the spankings, For all those things that happened So very long ago; Because both he and Mother Were themselves still children When they had me. And I told him not to worry, That I was at peace, That he had only done The best he knew. And I remembered When, at last, it came, The end. 6: Then Mother comes to me And she is crying. She says that she is joining A Zen-Buddhist-hippie commune Out in California, That she has come to say goodbye. I ask her: How could Father be dead, When I just finished talking to him? But she just turns And walks away. 7: And now, the rest of this nocturnal dream I can not write; Except that I emerge Into the topside world again, A place Where there is Life, and Hope, and Light. There’s got to be a morning after. We’re moving closer to the shore. I know we’ll be there by tomorrow. And we’ll escape the darkness. We won’t be searching anymore. Maureen Mg-Govern Used without permission!! SC The improviser improvises on an improvisee. |
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| © Copyright 2005 The Sun - All Rights Reserved | |||
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
Dang it Jaime, I wish you would stop, please stop moving me to tears... there was so much in this one that I could relate to.... all I can say is, please check your mail... even if it's not working... I think you'll hear me, regardless.... Sunshine |
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Midnitesun
since 2001-05-18
Posts 28647Gaia |
Jaime, it's a good write, muy amigo, and I know it was not an easy one. LOL, it just occurred to me...maybe you called her Doctor Wart? (as in an unsightly skin growth) laughing here, as I really think that's what happened, why she was so upset with you when you called her by name. Ward and Wart sound much alike. |
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Earth Angel Member Empyrean
since 2002-08-27
Posts 40215Realms of Light |
What a marvellous raconteur you are. If this was indeed fiction ~ a dream ~ you made it sound so real with your talented writing. I have to admit that tears were welling in my eyes and my heart strings were being tugged! You have the ability to do that with your skillfully crafted vignets. You held my interest from the beginning to the end. You have a gift my friend. Hugs with love, Linda |
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suthern
since 1999-07-29
Posts 20723Louisiana |
And I told him not to worry, That I was at peace, That he had only done The best he knew. Every line made an impact... these particularly touched my heart. |
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LeeJ Member Patricius
since 2003-06-19
Posts 13296 |
agree here with all the above Exceptional write |
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Jaime Fradera Senior Member
since 2000-11-25
Posts 843Where no tyranny is tolerable |
Sunshine, I know you will always get through. Like cold, pure air and snow. EA: I love being able to take you directly into my dream life ... and back into the topside world, again. Midnitesun. Ever heard the story of Walter Wart, The Freaky Frog? Jaime couldn't hear it either!!! It was just croaking and a lot of noise. It was on Dr. Demento. This was in April, 1975. Remember 1975? ... Sc |
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Midnitesun
since 2001-05-18
Posts 28647Gaia |
LOL, good old Demento. Now, when will that email be working??? |
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Ratleader
since 2003-01-23
Posts 7026Visiting Earth on a Guest Pass |
I couldn't help thinking all the way down this poem, of that old song: "Making the best of a bad situation....." ~~(¸¸¸¸ºº> ~~(¸¸¸¸ºº> ~~(¸¸ ¸¸ºº> ~~~(¸¸ER¸¸ºº> |
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