Sunday, January 17, 2010

the wanderer





icy lights
behind black

glass. come on
buddy, you

have to go
someplace else

can i stay
until i

finish my
candy bar

let's go - now!
i went to

harvard, i'm
a teacher

at berkeley
the candy

bar's made of
coconut

it will freeze
and break my

teeth, all right
make it hard

on me, do
you really

want to make
me fill out

a report
and take you

downtown in
this weather?



then i won't
be your friend

any more
i went to

harvard. i'm
a science

professor
at berkeley

berkeley is
three thousand

miles away
i know, i.m

waiting for
the bus, but

i lost my
ticket, and

besides, you
are not a

real cop, just
a transit

cop, oh just
a transit

cop, and this
is what, your

private bed
room, icy

lights. sudden
blast of air

goodbye. lost
my ticket






5 comments:

Akeith Walters said...

Brilliant writing here.

Anders Enochsson said...

Menacing, very efficient writing and as last full of dread.

Jenny said...

I like the structure a lot. You have a real talent for writing dialogs that are both thrilling and natural. I am sure you would be a very good theater- and screenplay writer (perhaps you already do that). But anyways, your poems and short stories are great as well!

timmy said...

akeith, ande and jenny thank you all very much.
jenny, i have never tried writing either plays or screenplays - and don't plan to any time soon. i have thought of trying to do animations - but so far the thought of the time and work involved have daunted me.
thanks again!
p s this poem - the wanderer - was printed in a little magazine in england around 1991. the pictures are new.

Megan Duffy said...

Timmy, this also made me think of a micro-play. I just love the end:

"...icy

lights. sudden
blast of air

goodbye."

Wonderfully original, as always.