July 24, 2008

vulnerable

i stand before you
take off my clothing
piece by piece
you see my imperfect body
bared to you
its scars and bruises and freckles
stretch marks and moles
not at all vulnerable

i tear open my chest
reveal my pumping heart
in the bloody gaping wound
peel off the suit of my skin
nerves and muscles
nothing
i stand before you
bared
not at all vulnerable

but your knowledge of the invisible
scars and bruises
old wounds scabbed over
scabby wounds unhealed
you see them all
you know where to kick and scratch
and you do
you want nothing of me
take nothing with you when you leave
you see the tears i hide
you cultivate and harvest them
to crush into a sour wine
you later throw into my face
and you laugh
and you laugh

even though i am not prostrated
by your feet
even though i do not beg or plea
i am vulnerable then



7th February 2007
(edited 24th July 2008)

July 22, 2008

Even Shorter Really Short Short Stories: The Scraped Scenes From Shakespeare Series

or
The To Be Or Not To Be Series
or
The One Monologue Fits All Series
or
The Misplaced Monologue Series
or
The Same Old Soliloquy Series




I
Juliet wakes up in the tomb and finds Romeo sprawled across her bosom. She spots an empty vial in his hand and immediately (and correctly) deduces what has happened. She takes Romeo's dagger and positions it at her breast, saying, "Oh happy dagger – to be or not to be, that is the question. Whether 'tis nobler ..."

But before she could finish her existential ramble, the Friar enters the tomb ...

Then the Capulets ...

Then the Montagues ...

Thus the feud does not end. Juliet takes the veil and spends the rest of her life contemplating, "To be or not to be ..."



II
Othello is torn deciding whether or not to kill Desdemona: On one hand, he is unable to disbelieve Iago; on the other, he cannot completely believe his beloved wife.

With the pillow poised, Othello begins, "To be or not to be ..."

Halfway through, Emillia (who happens in on the scene) goes mad from the tediousness of Othello's meditation, and Desdemona, to keep from screaming out loud from boredom, claps her hands over her mouth, and eventually smothers herself to death.



III
Caesar happens upon a secret gathering of members of his senate, and, to his horror, realizes they are all wannabe-actors, and all of them have chosen Hamlet's monologue for their audition. As the lot of them begins to murmur in one voice, "To be or not to be ...", Caesar lets slip a tortured groan, and is thus found out.

To prevent Caesar from letting the cat out of the bag, they decide to stab him to death. When Caesar sees his pal Brutus, who is the last in line to stab him, in scandalized disappointment with his dying breath, he utters, "Et tu, Brute – an actor?!"



IV
Macbeth deliberates over Lady Macbeth's suggestion to vanquish Banquo to fulfill the witches' prophesy.

"To be or not to be ..." he begins, and the ghost of the dead king of Denmark whispers, offstage, "Wrong play, asshole ..."



V
Hamlet forgets.



Fin.

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