Tagged: adventure
5-1-15
Monotony – A Story, Part 4
We bought ninja stars and throwing knives online and hurled them like major league pitchers at anything that we could puncture. Nothing was safe from our alcohol infused ninja wrath, as boxes, bags, and everything in between fell victim to our onslaught. We fancied as ourselves blue collar sportsmen as well, and developed our own Olympic caliber games, such as the legendary sports of Warehouse Tennis, Wall Ball, and the venerated Quarterback Challenge. We shoved hunks of raw meat and random bits of leftover lunch under a broken crevice in the concrete floor one entire summer just to see how many maggots and critters that we could attract to it. Needless to say, we succeeded in attracting a city’s worth of bugs to that hole like animals to the Ark. You name it, we did it; nothing was off limits, no dare was too great, no joke was unworthy. Great cardboard tubes that once held monstrous fabric rolls became fabled swords and wicked spears, and hole-riddled boxes stood as a testament to the epic battles and wars that we waged against each other to pass the hours. I was an Obi Wan with a cardboard tube. And the time did fly, let me tell you. It passed in a drunken haze; we spent untold fortunes of cash nearly every day on bottles of booze, bottles that we’d skillfully guzzle throughout the day by the cupful, right before the eyes of management and the front office. We toted our red Solo cups around with pride in fact, and downed our spirits in front of all who dared enter our sanctuary. We practically dared them to approach us about it. And we only got busted once. Our livers suffered greatly while playing the role of a Brita filter that summer, yet we became remarkably adept at getting the job done while being loaded to the gills on whiskey, rum, and whatever other distilled goodness we could muster. The very definition of functioning alcoholics. We were a well-oiled machine, though our gears were greased with Jack and Coke.
Monotony – A Story – Part 3
I slowly (and hesitantly) approached that prisoner of war camp on the daily, that Chernobyl-esque monument to Eastern Bloc deterioration, that shit stained hell that seemingly owned my life. I say seemingly, because at the time, it defined who and how I was. You’ve got to feel the monotony; you’ve got to feel it in order to truly understand it. Up the steps I went, through the door, and with that, each day (and the story) begins. The warehouse itself was pretty damned massive; a deep, cavernous structure stacked to the gills with weathered boxes, bags, makeshift shelving, and various pallet loads of goods for sale. It was an older building, crammed tight with little sold products, all of them well coated with a thick blanket of dust. In any case, the structure was well lit, as the many skylights provided good light where the fluorescents didn’t reach. What a joint to be in, though. Under the rusty tin roof, the place became Congo crotch hot in the summer; guaranteed and absolute sweat drenched bayou balls for all who dared to enter, and winters that would make you feel like you were setting up base camp in Antarctica. The towering shelf walls were lined with various crude drawings, and were peppered with random graffiti of tits, asses, cocks, explicit acts of sex, violence and a sprinkling of cuss words. Don’t ask why. We brandished the humor of a bunch of giggle infested twelve year olds, and we wore that childishness with pride. Our debauched state of mind was a direct product of the boredom that we faced head on, like warriors facing a great foe. Yes, it was very much like middle school all over again. And we reveled in it.
4-2-15
3-30-15
Meet me where the blue sky ends,
where the tree line tumbles into the arms
of tomorrow-
meet me where the citrus sun kisses the
earth on its slow retreat,
the blue place where the moon yawns and
rises each night from its slumber-
meet me at the point of imagination,
the spot where wonder blends with
awe,
where there is no beginning,
no end…
meet me at the point where all things
are possible,
those beautiful coordinates that
tie all paths together-
lose yourself with me on those roads-
meet me where the sky ends…
walk beside me on that trail,
and let us tumble together into the
arms of tomorrow*
3-23-15
The old man lay there, nearly unconscious,
awake, but absorbing the sounds and emotions
spent nearby-
a failure to thrive, they said it was,
a failure to adapt,
a failure to grow,
to reinvent-
he always felt as if he’d walked along the beach
wearing dense rubber boots,
so close to beauty but unable to touch it-
so close…yet just out of reach-
he felt the minutes slip away into the
vastness of eternity,
tick by tick, just as they’d always gone,
and he felt sleepy…
tired,
threadbare-
he lay there…conscious but unconscious,
present, but absent,
one foot planted in this world, and yet one
stepping into the next,
he lay there alone with his thoughts,
without the strength to don his mask once more-
he breathed deeply, quietly, awake but absorbing the sounds
and emotions spent nearby,
and with silent eyes watched as the dawn absorbed the stars,
until the blue made way for the reds and yellows
and greens of the new-
a failure to thrive, they said it was,
to adapt, to grow, to reinvent-
the smell of the ocean crept in like a vine
and clung to him then..
how he longed to walk along the beach without his boots,
sand beneath his feet and the cool waves crashing against his skin…
the smell of the ocean crept in and clung to him,
as did a buoyant hope and promise that his
failure to thrive would be enveloped by his strength
to overcome*

