Monday, September 21, 2015

Mel Waldman- Two Poems


SCHADENFREUDE

IN

THE RAIN


 

&
when the rain returns

almost invisible
imperceptible

just a few drops
a drizzle

she wishes for more,
much more

to kill her sadness
to make her smile;

come forth, rain
raw & relentless

reveal yourself
ravage,

she screams
silently;

come forth, rain
with

fire & ice,
ferociously & mercilessly

come forth,
heavy & harrowing
explode & flood
pound & pummel

thresh, thrash, & flail their
spirit,

take away their fleeting joy
give them swirling rain & sorrow,

she shrieks
secretly

&
when the rain returns

&
the storm arrives

the sun dies
&

with
the sudden downpour

the others suffer
&

knowing this
she feels a malicious joy

the lovely delirious lady
smiles sardonically

schadenfreude
in the rain




DON QUIXOTE,

THE BARKING BOY

OF

CONEY ISLAND


  

An unknown boy,
ghostly,

phantom leptosome,
possessed, perhaps,

ordained
Don Quixote

by
an unknown source

staggers & stumbles
along the old wooden boardwalk,

stops abruptly,
twirls around & around

drunk with dazzling dreams-
intoxicated with heroic fantasies,

we imagine,
&

the boy with a pale face gazes at
the Wonder Wheel,

turquoise eyes roll back & forth
in waves of chaos,

2 arms outstretched like sword & lance
of a noble knight

&
Don Quixote tilts at windmills,

whirls & swirls
&

barks incessantly,
yelps & barks, snorts & sniffs,

&
curses chimerical foes.

Don Quixote,
the barking boy of Coney Island,

is
possessed, we speculate,

but
why?

“It’s the soul of Cervantes!”

“No, it’s a dybbuk, a malicious spirit!”

“It’s Tourette’s Disorder!”

But an unknown source says soothingly,

“It’s a full moon looming above,
illuminating our coruscating brain cells,

releasing
all lunatics,

freeing us
tonight…”


 

Dr. Mel Waldman is a psychologist, poet, and writer whose stories have appeared in numerous magazines including HARDBOILED DETECTIVE, ESPIONAGE, THE SAINT, PULP METAL MAGAZINE, YELLOW MAMA, and AUDIENCE. His poems have been widely published in magazines and books including LIQUID IMAGINATION, A NEW ULSTER, THE BROOKLYN LITERARY REVIEW, THE BROOKLYN VOICE, BRICKPLIGHT, THE BITCHIN’ KITSCH, CRAB FAT MAGAZINE, DEAD SNAKES, SKIVE MAGAZINE, ODDBALL MAGAZINE, ON THE RUSK, POETRY PACIFIC, POETICA, RED FEZ, SOUL-LIT, SQUAWK BACK, SWEET ANNIE & SWEET PEA REVIEW, THE JEWISH LITERARY JOURNAL, THE JEWISH PRESS, THE JERUSALEM POST, HOTMETAL PRESS, MAD SWIRL, HAGGARD & HALLOO, ASCENT ASPIRATIONS, and NAMASTE FIJI: THE INTERNATIONAL ANTHOLOGY OF POETRY. A past winner of the literary GRADIVA AWARD in Psychoanalysis, he was nominated for a PUSHCART PRIZE in literature and is the author of 11 books.


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