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on the cliffs of Java |
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BY PAUL HERTELENDY
of TheColumnists.com
Grievously,
I slipped and fell.
At best half-cured now, undeserving of a medal.
Life was saved.
Samaritans appeared and kicked my lead-foot off the pedal.
The road to ruin was averted, thanks to angels kind enough to
meddle.
Eyes wired open,
giddy vacillating,
Still I tremble uncontrollably
While eyelids flutter
And the lights and stars go pinwheel, all around.
Stop this madly spinning world’s elation
And get me down from tremors, onto solid ground!
Check my pupils for dilation!
Make me stop that frenzied table-tapping
And the sing-song nonsense rapping.
Don’t think
me beyond salvation, don’t reproach me.
I just made that one mistake, one lapse, one boo-boo,
Buying, then imbibing, what intrinsically should be taboo.
I fantasize….
I think I’m boxing in the bloody rounds of “Rambo,”
And I visualize
The oil-paint vertigos of Vince van Gogh.
Against my will, I sense the swirling, druggy poems of Rimbaud.
Please, listen
to my plea, docs!
Don’t imprison me in detox.
Did you see me mend my ways this year?
I’m clean as virgin snow, I swear,
(Ignore those shudders fraught with ecstasy and guilt.)
More I cannot bear!
Imploring you,
friend, I will need your help to calm these shell-shocked nerves.
Avoiding raw repeats will be the keynote.
Pour a calming glass of pinot,
Draw the shades, and say a prayer.
My oath, intoned most solemnly:
I’ll never, ever drink another double cappuccino.
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©2003 by Paul Hertelendy. The illustration is from IMSI's Master Clips Collection, 1895 Francisco Blvd. E., San Rafael, CA, 94901-5506, USA. Paul Hertelendy
is a critic with the San Francisco Bay Area arts website
www.artssf.com |
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