All Alone, an uncompleted script.

(Kid shoulders his backpack.  The end of another school day.  The bells are ringing in the hallway and kids are zooming every which way, trying to get out of Berrymill Elementary School as fast as their legs can carry them.  The kid slowly drags his feet.  He didn’t want to go home, to see his sick, bed-ridden mother.  It was too scary, too real.  He shoulders his backpack again, sighs, and hurries out the double doors of the school.)
(Kid starts to walk home.  It is a pleasant day outside; the birds are singing; the sun is high in the sky.  He goes past Rite Aid, and walks two more blocks before finally reaching home.  He takes a deep breath, and opens the door.  He steps inside, his heart beating a mile a minute-will his mother be better, or worse?  His heart sinks.  She’s still laying in bed.  Kid walks over to her and kisses her cheek.  Then, he rearranges her blankets so they’re tucked under her chin.)  Hi, Mom.
Mom:  Hello, sweetie, how was school?
Kid (a bit sharply):  Fine.
Mom:  Do you have homework?
(Kid bobs his head):  Lots.
Mom:  I have an errand for you.  I need you to go to the store and help me get the groceries.  We’re almost out of everything.
Kid:  You can’t go to the store in your condition.  I’ll get Dad-
Mom:  No, no.  I’ll do it.  Doctor says I have to get up and about anyway.  Good, your coat is still on.  (She throws the covers off of her and drags herself off the couch.  She goes to the coat closet and puts on a blue jacket.)  Let’s go, honey.
Kid (sighs):  All right, Mom, if this is what you want.
Mom (sharply):  You’re starting to sound a lot like your dad.
Kid:  Takes one to know one!  (He hops into the car and his mother slides behind the wheel in the driver’s seat.)
(Soon, they reach the grocery store.  His mother pulls the car into a parking spot-close to the door-and turns around to face her son.)  Fill it up as much as you can.  Here’s two hundred dollars.
(Kid takes the money):  All right, Mom, if you say so.
Mom:  I say so.
(Kid hurries out of the car and into the store.  It is bustling with activity.  He grabs a cart and starts going down the aisles.  Halfway down the flour aisle, a man approaches him.)
Man:  What are you doing in here, kid?
Kid:  I’m shopping for my mother.
Man:  I’m sorry I asked.
(Kid takes the cart and hurries down another aisle.)
(Kid makes his purchases and takes the groceries out to the car.  His mother gets out of the front seat and helps put the groceries in the trunk.  Then, he hops into the car again and they head home.)
*
Dad:  Thanks for helping your mother today, son.  It was a big help.
Kid:  It was no problem.  Except this guy asked me what I was doing in the grocery store by myself.
Dad:  Just tell him the truth, son.  That’s all you can do.
Kid:  I guess so.
Dad:  Have you done your homework yet?
Kid:  No, not yet.  It’s not a lot, really.
Dad:  Get to it, son.  We want you to be a learned person, not illiterate like some folk.
Kid:  Okay, Dad.

See & Hear.

I see and hear differently.  I make my mark.
Tomorrow will be a better day than today.
Tomorrow the sky will be blue, not rainy like it is
Today.  This is what I’m doing:  fishing, hoping
To catch a whale.  They are massive in size,
And twice as hungry-maybe the whale will
Eat me instead.  I can’t think about that right now.
I have to hurry and get packing, so I will be
Ready to get on that boat that is going to launch
Soon.  Hurry, hurry, it needs to get here fast.
I hope my good times last.  This is not what I’m
Thinking.  Better days, better ways-sit now on
Sunflowers, looking at the soft rain, dreaming
Of the whale.  The boat needs to be fixed.  I’ll call
Dale and have him come fix it-he’s a master of
Fixing the broken and the sad-it’s why I love him.
Different ways, soft, caramel days.  That’s why I’m here.
The muse is clear.  Nothing but tomorrow to ease me
Forward-this is night, now, and stars fill the sky with
Barren ease, and the ease comes when I’m ready-
Nothing will last.  I hope it will.

Nowhere.

My mind is ready
To be healed
I am ready for the forlorn
Look my grandmother will give me
at the funeral

I am not steady.  My heart is not
Steady.
Where do I belong?  I have found nowhere
Will suffice.  Nowhere, nowhere,
The ground I walk upon.

Forgotten.

I share the reason beyond reason-
I take my heart with me.
Everything is bound to be something different,
Don’t take yourself to the highest point.
The highest point is ready or not,
My life has been forgotten.  Everyone is staring
At me, I don’t know what to do about it.
My life is a crowd.  People crowd in my house
And won’t let me live.  They crowd on the stairs,
In the basement-I can’t get up the stairs.  Tell me,
What is it you seek, do you wish for reasons unknown,
The breakfast bunny has come to take me home,
I have forgotten what it is I believe in.

That Girl is Poison.

a song

That girl is poison, poison, poison
She rolls around like a dice in the sky

The wind comes back and here I cry,
A warthog sings a lullabye

Do you know what time is worth?
This silly man thinks poorly of birth.

I ate a hamburger all alone,
One hand on my xylophone.

That girl is poison, poison, poison,
I see her for who she is.

She waves at me from a distance.
Her hair is in a fritz.

Say lullabye and goodnight,
We hold together all through the night.

Each of us have our own,
Her hands are still as stone.

That girl is poison, poison, poison,
That girl is poison, poison, poison.

Jasper's Place, a short play

Jasper:  How long did it take you to get here?
Sam:  About fifteen minutes.
Jasper:  That’s not too bad, is it?
Sam:  No, it’s not.
Jasper:  Do you want to go fishing?
Sam:  No, it’s freezing out there!  I wouldn’t go fishing for a million dollars in this weather.
Jasper:  You’re crazy.  It’s not cold out.  (he grabs his coat from off the coach and puts it on.)  There.  Now, I’m ready.
Sam:  I thought we were going to hang out, not go ice fishing?
Jasper:  I’m not going ice fishing, I’m going regular fishing.
Sam:  Oh, that makes a big difference.  Let’s have some beers.
Jasper:  Okay, but going ice fishing is better than a beer.
(Sam gaasps.):  Oh, no, you did not just say that!
Jasper:  I did and I mean every word of it.
Sam:  You take that back!
Jasper:  I will not.
Sam:  Yes, you will.  Take it back, I said!
(The front door opens and closes.  A teenager steps inside the house.  She has long, dark hair and blue eyes.)  Hi, Dad.
Jasper:  Hi, pumpkin.
Sara:  Don’t call me pumpkin, you know I hate that.
Jasper:  None of your friends are around.
Sara:  That’s true, that’s true…why do you have your coat on, are you going somewhere?
Jasper:  I was going to go ice fishing, but Sam wouldn’t let me.
Sam:  It’s for your own good.

Where Was I?

March is settling in.  There is still snow on
The ground.  I am the cheese and macaroni you have for dinner.
I am the great Ghandi.  Don’t tell me March isn’t settling in,

I didn’t know it the first time before we woke at dawn
And the world came crashing down on our heads.  Sometimes,
I wait for you in the middle of the night, dreaming of your soft,

Silken hands and nose.  This is what I see:  a guy belonging
To me, seeing me for who I am, not what I can do for him.

I look outside the window and see the rain falling on the windowpane,
Rain scares me like violence scares others.  The patter of rain is like
Gunshots going off.  The patter of rain is like birds’ wings flying

North to Florida or Alabama.  I see better now.  I seek better resolutions.
I see myself crying.  It is what it is, born before us of greatness,

And words, round and clear as glass.

Where was I?

Left Me.

He left me like a warthog leaves a sunrise
He left me in the middle of the purple night
He left me like flowers growing
He left me
He left me
Still I see him standing near the sea shore,
Smiling at the open sky
He left me unattended
He left me without my purse and nakedness