Something in the dark has to become visible.
All those things that do become visible
Are what people call the stars.
translated by Fang Dai, Dennis Ding, & Edward Morin
Author: zdunno03
morning prayer
morning prayer
in darkness still
oh hope
of a better day
when the sun
finally comes
to light this world
from Steinway Street: portraits from the past: my life in retail: Playing The Holes
Playing The Holes
it’s the old pea and shell game
or a variation of the saying
a hole on the rack
means a shoe under a coat
what you can’t see could be missing
the main thing here is to account for every hole
much like life
too much like life
Damaged Goods and Discrediting Women
I’m reblogging this for two reasons: one, because what M says should be heard, and two, in memory of some women I’ve known whose voice M has become.
I’ve now lived completely clean and drug free for 15 months. 1 and 1/4 years.
It was just about a year ago I started my first “fearless moral inventory” of myself. I started with a simple last of my values, what I hold dear as moral principles. I inventoried my morals. Then I inventoried myself and compared the list. One of the most startling things I uncovered in that process was how often I would be silent in the face of terrible injustices and then get high to deal with my own cowardice. Not to be too hard on myself there were times where in spite of varying states of inebriation and drug-influence I did still manage to do the right thing. But over and over and over I turned away. I did nothing. I made excuses to be silent and be “safe.”
I can’t live a sober life and be…
View original post 1,027 more words
from Steinway Street: portraits from the past: my life in retail: Morning Raid
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
from Steinway Street: portraits from the past: my life in retail: Vaudeville
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
from Steinway Street: portraits from the past: my life in retail: Voids
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
from Steinway Street: portraits from the past: my life in retail: The Window
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
on watching A Matter of Life and Death (or in the US: Staircase to Heaven) by Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger
when mistakes are made
in heaven
love blooms
on earth
and even the dead
get a second chance
at life
from Steinway Street: portraits from the past: my life in retail: Zaida & Ish On Break
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
Leonard Durso 