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filling a void

by Laura Doom

Her mouth is full
a swell of undigested words
fickle fingers taking the rap
for crimes against humility

Her sordid affair with seclusion
sinks a thousand friendships
Face to face with an absent expression
the existential mind plays hiatus interruptus

Her actions speak louder than words
and if you were to touch
she would blow you away
in a featherlite volley of giggles and screams

But in this disembodied soulmarket
where intimacy is negotiated
and paranoia passes for currency
a word is the only action to be seen

She feels the numb of atmosphere
expand to fill her passive void
and a chorus of frigid angels whispers
You know, you really should get out more

04/06/2005

Posted on 04/06/2005
Copyright © 2024 Laura Doom

Member Comments on this Poem
Posted by Ashok Sharda on 04/06/05 at 04:54 PM

Well, '"You know, you really should get out more"' is a CROWDS response to an INDIVIDUIALS existential problem. How does one 'get out' when one is 'pushed in' by the very CROWD? And will this propounder of the common belief system recognize, acknowledge this INDIVIDUAL? Is he capable? So, the role playing continues. Let the show run. hahahahahaah

Posted by Rula Shin on 04/06/05 at 06:35 PM

Ha! Incredible Laura. This deserves POTD and is my pick for today. Ashok is so right in what he says, but I don’t know how anyone could have put it more eloquently or cleverly than in this piece you have written. “filling a void” – one would think this an easy task since voids are so ideal for filling. But what happens if you choose the ‘wrong filling’, that which is unacceptable or unacknowledged by the crowd? The answer is ACTION when the masses have deemed “WORD” in its place. Words not Action is what they SAY and not what they mean. Yes, these days “intimacy is negotiated and paranoia passes for currency” – what a splendid line Laura, how insightful and clear you see your surroundings. I think the ending is brilliant as this one line brings one to the height/climax of frustration and madness, “you know, you really should get out more” – Oh it makes one want to scream at the top of their lungs, he who knows what this really means! As Ashok says, it is ALL OF YOU who push me IN then have the audacity to tell me I should ‘get out’ hahahahaha What a joke, is it not? But still, she whose “mouth is full of swelling…undigested words” must swallow them whole if only to play her role so that she may acquire a path OUT of this dilemma. She must avoid “her bitter friendship with seclusion” in order to save and seclude herself from the meaningless ranting and twisted self-serving logic of the CROWD and so-called friends. She must allow the “show to go on” as Ashok says, if she is to keep herself alive and free of those CROWD-spun obstacles. Her only way to freedom is to play a role, though always remembering never to allow it to change into her own skin. This is a wonderful piece Laura. I sympathize and relate in every way. At least to the way I interpreted it. Thank you for sharing this.

Posted by Rula Shin on 04/06/05 at 06:36 PM

Ooops...I mean "action not words is what they SAY but not what they mean" :-)

Posted by Glenn Currier on 04/10/05 at 03:08 AM

You create a new vista in the ever-present tension and conflict between the individual and the group. My favorite phrase: "crimes against humility" But that 4th verse is smashing and powerful. It gave me one of those "I wish I had thought of that!" moments. Brilliant poem.

Posted by Chris Sorrenti on 04/11/05 at 06:30 PM

Confident expression of inner turmoil. Good one Laura. Congrats on POTD...well deserved!

Posted by Philip F De Pinto on 05/03/05 at 07:57 PM

keen observation + a sensitive and not overly tyrannical control and manipulation of words via the method whereby quill gets dipped fresh in well, a quill which is obviously given a chance to come up for air = or results in this.

Posted by Max Bouillet on 05/13/05 at 02:05 AM

Paranoia is a survival skill. Getting out more... I get out every day. The more I get out, the more I realize I don't want too. You'll never get rid o' me. You can walk away for years --and as soon as you wanna talk -just talk. I'll be listening. No judgments. No hurt feelings. Just an ear that's almost always on. Great read.

Posted by Angela Stevens on 03/28/14 at 07:11 PM

I absolutely love the first two lines (the rest is good too though).

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