The Stanford Prison Experiment, Laptop, Split over an Evening
Why not bother to understand
no one wants to be happy
and you are meat
that was afraid to rot
that's singing to itself
the same song until the song is walking
until the song hatches from its melody’s weight
and becomes marches
then the fruit of looking
or rashes
or red bulls in ochre
fading from the walls of your skull
you sink into sleep
the lake skin banks repeat
and the posture dignifies
or embarrasses
or invents dignity
let's not claim independence from anything
there's no tunnel between us
only telephones and microwaves
fill me with dry leaves
or pull me to your side by my teeth
the taste of your clay fingers
your boggy ankle somewhere else
your belly singing
like a whale
in a sea of blood
Jaws, Laptop, Split Over a Meal and Some Carpentry
My kids were on that beach too
and I’d put them out there again
I’d drown them with my own hands
if it meant I could stay their father forever
death isn’t permanent
death aint like some personal insult
give me death or give me liberty
but just for a little while
give me a deep long death
and come to me in two pieces
you and the radio mother
you and the undersea misfit
you and the missing parts
and I’ll speak softly and show no fear
drink and love
with firmness only
but with love
all black eyed monsters
are full of steaming milk
all scars and nightmares turn beautiful
that live long enough
inside one finds license plates
rubber hoses
tin cans
but no children’s limbs
so on to the radio mother’s dream
three lovers held in the palm of a wooden god
in painful yearning for the undersea misfit
the hidden giant come to paint the water red
smart fish
once he’s free we can all go home
to the sand
where we never sing
and the birds eat the turtles in their shells
-
Justin William Evans is a poet and playwright from Charlotte, NC. He has been working with and producing exclusively original theatre since 2011. Currently he is a member of the Charlotte theatre ensemble, XOXO. Past writing credits include A Tonguey Kiss for Samuel Davidson (Anam Cara Theatre Co.), Satan v. Laundry (ACTC), I Wont Hurt You (XOXO), and The 30th Annual Bernstein Family Christmas Spectacular (The Magnetic Theatre). He is former co-editor of Vanilla Sex Magazine. His poetry has been published by Five2One, Metabolism (as Valentina Tereskova), and The Peal. He frequently performs with Asheville's Poetry Cabaret, and is the creator and editor of the sound collage podcast Mystery Meat. He organizes and hosts the America's Pastime reading series, a reading of un-original poetry and fiction.