Morning Raid
they fan out through the store
as if on a search and destroy mission
these warriors of the retail war
feign and attack
knock off a pair of sneakers here
a pair of ladies heels there
or if the defenses are too good
a can of saddle soap and a pair of socks
something to take back behind their lines
a victory is after all a victory
and this is beyond hostility
now it’s down to economics
and that’s where they hurt you the most
Vaudeville
you say watch the floor
and they both look down and ask
why, is it moving
or they hold out a balloon for a kid
and when he reaches for it
they let it go to sputter through the air
and laugh as the kid’s smile melts away
or when Steve asks them to unload everything from his car trunk
they pack his spare and jack in shoe cases
and watch as he unpacks them in the store
they howl at each other’s antics
and you watch thinking
this is the Little Rascals grown-up
or perhaps the Little Rascals taller
would be better
and when Jack’s brother joins them
one does think of the Three Stooges
they will climb in a box and kick each other around
or move the safe on an unsuspecting manager
or clip off the tips of the paper cups by the water cooler
or tell as many bad jokes as you’ll stand for
before you walk away
then follow you to tell a few more
Zaida watches Ish’s attempt at Costello
and shakes her head thinking
such a waste
Ish continues though
with Jack as straight man
even sticking his face in an ice cream cake
for something resembling an effect
and even Gerry can feel superior to that
how can someone respect themself
Luz asks
and do that
you don’t know
Zaida doesn’t know
Stacey stopped asking the question
Julie just wants to know where the ham in her sandwich went
and Ish toys with a water gun
thinking dark thoughts concerning Jack
life is one secondhand routine after another
and maybe if one does enough
another movie will come on the screen
a second feature
so to speak
and what will his role be in that
one wonders
if there will be a role for him
at all
Voids
Stacey says oh fuck
and writes in Zaida’s name as cashier
Julie explains how her last void wasn’t really a void
but a non-sale
there are times you think they’re competing
and other times when you wonder if all days will be like this
Stacey says it’s because people keep changing their minds
Julie explains it’s easier than doing refunds
but somehow
somehow you think there should be a Miss Void contest
and if there was
you’d put your money on Stacey
with a few bucks on Julie
to show
The Window
holes keep popping up everywhere
they just won’t leave the shoes alone
if it’s in the window
it must be better than what’s on the shelves
and even size 10s try to cram into the 7s on display
Mike goes crazy
don’t sell out of the window
he says
don’t let the slobs near my window
but they descend anyway
where’s this
they ask
pointing to a shoe and knocking over what’s on the cubes
where’s that
what size is it anyway
you got it in 8 1/2
and Mike chews the carpet
the hours spent
the pride felt
the beauty of it all
gone
and he wonders if moving the counter would help
or perhaps barbed wire
or a mine field
maybe Ish could rig something up
maybe perhaps
when mistakes are made
in heaven
love blooms
on earth
and even the dead
get a second chance
at life
Zaida & Ish On Break
they move around each other
two kids on a first date
tentatively pawing the ground
playing with their fingers
talking about prom dates
and problems with boyfriends/girlfriends
always in the third person
they want to talk about each other
but don’t dare
disappointment reigns today
there are commitments
compromises
conflicting circumstances
and something passes away from them
as they stand helplessly watching it go
a word could change it
but the word was needed long ago
too many other words clutter the air
a garden overgrown with weeds
a phone ringing in an empty house
a tree a forest
and no one there to watch it fall
so it falls
it falls
crushing their hopes for each other
you watch though
and sigh remembering
other such situations
while they continue to move about in the stockroom
though not so much from the energy
of the present
but from what’s left of the momentum
of the past
and though they’ll move on to other places
the memory of what almost was
will haunt their nights
a lesson
you want to say
for the next time
but who can think of the next time
when the last time
still hangs in the air
Stacy
she’s seen Raiders of the Lost Ark
nine times
but that doesn’t stop her
from going again
it’s pure escapism she says
and you don’t ask from what
the men she deals with are boys
doing one sick routine
after another
and she indulges them
at the store
and at work on the EMS
handling stretchers and pints of blood
she knows they’re all crazy
and sometimes wonders if she is too
and though she tires of it occasionally
she does find it amusing often enough
to let it pass
like the jobs
that she doesn’t take seriously
yet she does so well
she surprises herself
even Mike
like Steve like Gerry
thinks her attitude is excellent
and Stacy lets it roll
she’s irreverent at best
at worst she’s telling dead baby jokes
she sees the humor in everything
so she can’t help smiling
as living goes on around her
she’ll survive the craziness
because she was born to rise above
and as she rises
she’ll shake her head
try to hold back the smirk
and watch it go
with an appreciative eye
Julie
the questions
what does petulant mean
what’s a dow jones average
you feel like you’re on a tv game show
and know you’re going to blow your chance
for the grand prize
but watching her delight in words amazes you
there is enough curiosity there
to kill several thousand cats
you didn’t know about Julie
Luz says
she’s the intelligent one
and Julie sighs and says
I am pretty smart for a fourteen year old
Zaida worries about her
that she’s learning too much too soon
and tells you to watch what you fill her head with
and you have to look away
before you start babbling
the past the present the future
will all come streaming out
a leak in the dam
the volcano erupting
the madman on the loose
so you play with your tie
and think the boys her own age must be in total confusion
especially when she destroys them
with a word a look a smile
there are times even you wonder
if perhaps she isn’t really thirty
and you shake your head as she changes the radio station to XLO
and explains to Steve who objects
that it’s the balance of nature
yin and yang at work
and she dances in the aisles
while Steve looks at you and says
who’s yin and yang anyway
and what do they have to do with disco
no sleep
for a restless mind
faces swirl
around
with eyes closed
or open
reminding me
of where
of what
I’ve been
Zaida
she can’t help it
but she takes on the world’s problems
as if they were her own
she’s a den mother
a source of constant compassion
and a little bit avenging angel
if there’s a strike to call
she’ll call it
if there’s an inequity to right
she’ll right it
if there’s a better way to do something
she’ll suggest it
she’ll talk about quitting her boyfriend
while she tells you all the reasons she shouldn’t
including the fact that he has exams that week
then in the same breath tell you how annoying Ishmael is
and yet wonders what it would be like
to try to change him
she’d save the world if she could
and she might
for wherever she goes
people will at least know she passed by
spewing philosophy and love in one breath
and breathing everywhere at once
Being Present for the Moment
Website storys
Illustration, Concept Art & Comics/Manga
Singer, Songwriter and Author from Kyoto, Japan.
Singer, Songwriter and Author from Kyoto, Japan.
An online activist from Bosnia and Herzegovina, based in Sarajevo, standing on the right side of the history - for free Palestine.
A place where I post unscripted, unedited, soulless rants of a insomniac madman
Dennis Mantin is a Toronto-based writer, artist, and filmmaker.
Finding Inspiration
Off the wall, under the freeway, over the rainbow, nothin' but net.
Erm, what am I doing with my life?
Artist by choice, photographer by default, poet by accident.
At Least Trying Too
A Journey of Spiritual Significance
Life in islamic point of view
Through the view point of camera...
L'essenziale è invisibile e agli occhi e al cuore. Beccarlo è pura questione di culo
In Kate's World
Leonard Durso 