Tag: friendship

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The Open Mic Series – “none”

Here’s a really neat project that I’m pretty excited about!

I asked some of my friends to make recordings of themselves reading my poems. Quite a few thought it was a great idea and were more than happy to contribute.

The link here is the .mp3 of the first one I’ve chosen to present to you. You can click on it and just listen or right-click and save, if you want to keep it. It’s free!

Recording of “none” by Kevin Trent Boswell

By the way, if you want to help out and support more cool stuff like this, see my Patreon page, Magus72.

I’ll be posting them here, one at a time. I’ve had a lot of fun putting this together and I hope you enjoy listening to them.

The main thing I wanted to achieve here is get a variety of people, reading the pieces… in the way that they hear them.

None of the readers were given any prompts about how to read. A few people preferred to have something assigned to them and so I picked for them. But in most cases, they chose their own pieces to read.

This first poem is called “none” and it’s from my book in the current.

Our guest reader is Xander and he did a great job with it.

Recording of “none” by Kevin Trent Boswell

I’m posting the text, as well. That way, you can follow along or read it first, then listen or just listen and find out where it takes you… your choice. Enjoy.

none

mandala being nightmare…

nothing being curse…

still we strive for

something!

she cries

in her

elliptical

orbit

cycle of nothingness

somethingness

separation

dance

eros

chance

death,

arousal and

denial

correct,

of course

the role being

after all

seductress

how could one say

that she was wrong?

how could one argue

that anything

was ever

wrong?

polarities

cry of response

no avail

she is

in heat

hears

nothing

of my

dharma

portions of

infinity

etc.

no wrong

only difference

how must one

proceed in

seeking

to curse

the void?

from the book, in the current

Support the work at my Patreon page:

https://www.patreon.com/magus72

I cross-post the public works here. Patrons-only content is available, there.

Liber ex Liberi; The Book of Children

2020

Death’s message heralded on dragonfly wings

Silent trumpet sounding, the whole day long

Loss, now the winner of so many things,

Lords over the grieving, threatening the strong

Kevin Trent Boswell

Now available, on Amazon:

Support the work at my Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/magus72

I cross-post the public works here. Patrons-only content is available, on my Patreon.

Enthusiasm

The Divine Healer works through their hands
Those hands wrapped in latex,
Connecting and disconnecting tubes,
Wires, IVs, pushing gurneys, handing out tools,
Pulling charts close to see through the tears
Holding up those who are no longer able
To stand for themselves
Holding the hands of the terrified mothers,
Fathers, brothers, sisters, wives and husbands
As they check the vitals
Wiping away the sweat from patient’s brows
Giving their colleagues a thumbs up
When they manage to wrestle one back,
However briefly,
From the infinite void
Wringing those hands into fists
As the frustration and fear and
Righteous anger hit the boiling point
Stroking the cheeks of those who are
In the very throes of death

Through those nauseated nostrils,
God endures the stench of bleach, blood,
Latex, alcohol and unidentifiable cleaners
Pushing through that palpable sense of fear,
Usually noted only by dogs
Now an ever present part of
The olfactory landscape
The scent of patients who have
Shit themselves or pissed themselves
The nervous farts in close quarters
That somehow make their way past the masks
The strange, surreal scent of fresh flowers
Coming from out of nowhere,
As the Angel of Death slips quietly,
Unseen into room 318
Those noses that itch but cannot be scratched
That need desperately to wipe away the snot
But cannot be wiped

God moves through their legs,
Running them down the halls
For the fifteenth time, just this morning,
To answer the incessant, mad calls of
Code after code after code after code after…
Lifting patients from gurney to bed
Then from bed to stretcher, go the dead
Those muscles holding them up,
Refusing to quiver and wilt
Under the weight of an
Obvious abandonment
Refusing to crumple up into a ball
And cry themselves to sleep
Because supplies are needed on the next floor
And someone must take them and
There is no one else to do it
Walking on eggshells at home,
Careful not to touch anything
That their loved ones might touch
Resting those weary limbs on
Uncomfortable cots and pullout couches,
Instead of resting in between those soft,
Cotton sheets on memory foam mattresses,
For the dread fear of infecting their families

God speaks through those mouths,
Slipping into their cars to go home,
After impossibly long shifts
After inscrutable regimens of scrubbing,
Decontaminating, full of the mortal terror
That some spot might be missed…
Out, out! The invisible blood,
Staining the hands, full of imagined guilt
Which is not truly theirs, to bear
Screaming in those parking lots,
Inside otherwise normal cars,
Station wagons and sedans
Minivans and trucks,
Bloodcurdling moans of sadness
A helpless sense of futility,
Beginning as words but crumbling
At last, into spirals of gibberish
A chasm of meaningless mumbles
And heartbroken sobs
God speaks through those mouths,
Calmly reassuring those who have come,
Reluctantly into the belly of the beast itself
Knowing the dread shock of lying side by side
With those who are almost certainly doomed
Speaking softly in friendly tones,
Half for the benefit of the patient and
Half to convince themselves that
“Everything is going to be ok.
We just have to put this tube in,
So you can breathe”
God makes stupid jokes
Through those mouths,
Little, ridiculous comments,
In an attempt to keep everyone’s
Spirits up and to keep them focused
To keep them from completely collapsing
The Angels prophesy through those tongues
Whispering discreetly to one another
In those sullen hallways
“This one won’t last much longer.
We need to discuss who gets that machine next”
The Spirit of love talks through those mouths,
Insisting to themselves that after only a few,
Restless hours of tortured sleep,
Full of sweat and nightmares,
That they MUST roll out of bed and
Force something into their bellies,
To strengthen them for the fight
Assuring themselves that yes,
It is the right thing to do,
To walk back into the mouth of the whale,
To surrender themselves
To its insatiable hunger for more bodies
Those hungry mouths, that cannot eat
Until the end of a 12 or 16 hour shift
Those mouths, full of the
Acid of a gut that produces inordinate
Amounts of stress
Those mouths, dry and thirsty,
Unable to stop at the water fountain
Because they cannot touch their mask
The tongues of insane healers, willing
To dwell in Death’s living room,
For complete strangers
Informing dosages, calling out instructions,
Calling for tools and esoteric medicines,
Strange cyphers, in languages
That only the minds of Angels
Could ever comprehend
God whispers,
One Holy mouth to another Divine ear
“I know.
You did your best.
There was nothing more you could have done”
The Holy Spirit delivers
Those impossibly awful messages
To the bereaved
Speaking the
Unspeakable news to the families,
Telling them how truly sorry they are
For their loss and how
They so desperately wish they
Could have done
More

God sits behind the eyes of them…
Those bloodshot, horror-stricken eyes
Watching, through the tears
Through the sweat that cannot be wiped away
Filling up the goggles that shield them
Against everything except the misery
Those itchy, swollen eyes
That gaze upon the convulsions
Of those who are drowning
Inside their own lungs
God looks with infinite empathy
Upon those who stare the
Thousand yard stare of
A battle-scarred soldier,
One who has been too long in the shit
And has lost too many friends
Who has witnessed entirely too much
Death
And suffering
God looks into the panicked eyes
Of each person on each bed
And knows full well
Of their very real and very reasonable fear
God cries through those eyes
And yet, upon losing so many children
Looks not backward to the dead
But ahead to those
Who might still be saved

The God who is beyond All Names
Shines total love on you,
All ye sacred brothers and sisters
Of the caduceus, the Divine Staff
Which heals those struck by the
Serpent of Death
In the lost and lonely desert

You, who are possessed by God’s essence
Are illumined in the LVX of the All…
The God who is benevolence itself,
Far more loving than even
Those most generous, kind and
Merciful ones,
Those whose Names we all know well
The God who is is beyond
The idea of God
Is touching us,
Through you

after the crying

It is truly strange, our choices

In the certain light of death

Each of us inclined to

A different manner

Of dispensing or dealing with

The final breath

One will merely smile

And go for a long walk

Another gathers the family

And prepares a meal,

Over which they might talk

Some will scream silently,

Slumping down and over slow,

Into nothingness

While a newly widowed spouse,

Enflamed, seeks out a final fling

with some sexy piece of dress

The bitter recite litanies of pain and

Assign all manner of important blame

The fighters assault random strangers

Beat them into the ground

And assign them terrible names

Priests herd sheep into house of prayer

To deliver the last rites

Of final sleep

Lovers kiss and promise;

This living briefly with the awareness

of impending loss

causes them to cling and to

relentlessly weep

Children huddle, whimper and

Meekly question

What thing comes next…

After the crying…

The bony, white lady

Walks the streets of night,

She sweeps up the losses

And calls it dying

Magus

(Kevin Trent Boswell)

Take a look at my Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/magus72

I’ll be cross-posting here, what I publicly post, over there. Patrons-only content will be available, over there.

Battle Against the Public

I think what this pandemic was lacking is a song, a tune that the people can hum. Therefore, to fill the current need, I have adapted an old favorite, with new (improved) lyrics.

I present to you, “Battle Against The Public”.

[sung to the tune of the famous song, Battle Hymn of the Republic]

Mine ears have heard the glory of the

Omniscient, Orange Lord

He is trampling on the facts

About the PPE we’ve stored

He hath loosed the fateful virus

By the terrible signs, ignored

His untruth is marching on!

(Chorus)

Story, story, tell it to ya!

It ain’t no worse than the flu… duh!

Praise him or he’ll remove ya!

Our Nonsense marching on!

I have seen His message echoed in the

Online, Right-Wing camps,

They have builded Him an altar

Where truth‘s secured with iron clamps;

See through His dimwit message

By the light of Logic’s lamps

His toupée is marching on!

(Chorus)

Friends, who you thought really knew ya!

Tell you it’s a hoax, come to screw ya!

Sit and wait at home, like Buddha!

His Orange is marching on!

I have read a fiery gospel, writ

In CAPS of angry steel:

“Those who deal with My opponents,

Get respirators that might heal”

Let the Orange Nero, play the fiddle

Let Americans all kneel

Trump is God and nothing’s wrong!

(Chorus)

Derogatory, press is unfair to ya!

Common sense has got the blues-a!

From Miami and NY to Chattanooga!

The virus marches on!

He has sounded forth the trumpet

By Easter, we will have it beat;

Well, never mind… but admit,

That the idea was pretty neat!

Doctors say… he’s a mo-ron!

(Chorus)

Gory, the doctors all conclude-a!

Fateful end, you’ll come to-a!

On breath machine, you’ll turn blue-a!

The buck He’s passing on!

In reports that came from China,

South Korea, Italy

The Donald was duly warned

Of illness, born across the sea,

With mighty golf club in his hand,

He said “Let’s wait and see”

As He lied to make men wealthy,

Let us try to make men see,

While the President blathers on!

(Chorus)

Glory, brave souls who blew the!

Whistle, sorry no supplies get to ya!

Your on your own, He never knew ya!

Our health care, shat upon!

Kevin Trent Boswell

The new book is out now, on Amazon:

Chaos Comes Apart

Take a look at my Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/magus72

I’ll be cross-posting here, what I publicly post, over there. Patrons-only content will be available, over there.

Morning Flies Far

Confounding the stupefied senses, the

syllabus, schedules of uninformed winner

you’ve reliably opened a festering wound,

spending lunch money upon trinkets of dinner

Empty the cup that was never quite full,

all the seats cold and audience, waiting

there’s no more rind or gristle to eat

and no one left, to hear the debating

Slink down now into entertaining covers

and call it all finally done, for a life

wasted and somehow full of wonder,

no loud report, but fish round for a knife

And instantly recall, in blissful drudgery,

some things can’t be cut by the cannon gun

whether eight more lines or only a million

some faces watch, from which you don’t run

Quiet cannibals, eating your sorrows

angels who lift any plagues from your land

mouths that sit, ready for morsels

morsels that come from only your hand

Sing now, with wretched rooster of morning

sing loud of his majesty and curse his name

take small solace in dimwitted knowledge…

no one is salvation and no one’s to blame

Magus

(Kevin Trent Boswell)

Take a look at my Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/magus72

I’ll be cross-posting here, what I publicly post, over there. Patrons-only content will be available, over there.

the old gal

she angles for the

best seat in the house

if you don’t watch her,

she’ll own that retirement home

she’s got to have the comfiest chair

clueless, tactless, all bad breath and

weak knees

white hair stained teeth brittle bones

poor me looks and

sighs of discontent,

her current frailty betrays memory

of the once upon a time,

when she leapt over tall dreams

never one for small talk,

you always know exactly

where you stand with her

she puts her charms to work on men

and the women all want to be her friend

now she snores the lazy day long

on infomercial couch

perpetual, old codger thirst

it takes precious time and strength

to get off the sofa

so, she always manages to

trick someone into getting

a drink for her

there are no children, no grandchildren

no brothers or sisters

there is only the waiting

waiting for company to arrive

and for dinner time

she still appreciates touch

but tires of it easily;

retreats to early bedtime

old woman has no cats,

she doesn’t like them

television holds no interest for her

she’s always been more of a

nature lover,

walking for hours, anywhere

but even this is no longer suitable

as the heat gets to her fast, these days

and her weak legs

no longer do their part

when strangers come around,

she is discourteous,

barking cliches at them,

to get off her damned lawn,

even though she

doesn’t even have a lawn

her mind doesn’t work like yours or mine

it’s as if she thinks she’s in charge

but old friends are always welcome and

she loves on their familiar faces,

kissing them on the cheek

and sitting close to them,

imploring to make up for lost time

she fails to recognize

some people’s need

for personal space

old woman was fierce in her day

but her day is no more dawning

and sun sets slowly on her

throwing dim light on her white hair

the old gal needs help sometimes,

going up and down the stairs

even needs help getting into bed,

she has a male nurse that softly

raises her legs up and tucks her in

she must be bathed,

because left to her own devices,

she won’t do it herself

her caretaker gently puts her in the tub,

soaps her up and washes her clean,

towel dries her and brings her a snack

that old people smacking sound

happens more than ever before,

that thing they do

that makes it sound like

a stoner just ate a bunch of

peanut butter but lost their soda,

so they can’t wash it down

her appetite is still strong;

she eats virtually

anything you put in front of her,

she’ll even steal food from your plate,

if you leave the room

the old broad just ain’t got no manners

or shame

she’s too old to worry what anyone

thinks of her and far too busy

with her endless naps

to notice the things they say…

she’s half deaf and half blind, anyhow

the gal has skills, though

while she never had

any formal schooling,

she’s learned a great deal

over the years in the school of life

and people are always

impressed with her intelligence

she’s been through good times and bad

she’s smart enough to know

when to sit still, when to run

and when to just play dead

and wait it out

while she ain’t too proud to beg

for what she wants,

she can still flatter you out of

just about anything you’ve got,

with her aged eyes and soft company,

winning you over to her side,

every time

despite the pitiful, poor manners,

when this old woman sits next to you,

you know that you’re in the presence

of a real, true friend,

the type that will defend you

and tell you no lies

you feel love pouring off of her

and your every arrival at her house

is met with her rising up

on those creaky old bones,

coming straight to the door,

to welcome you inside

she wears ridiculous things,

things designed for a girl

half her age

as if she doesn’t understand her decline

or just refuses to accept it,

or both

and don’t be too alarmed

if you catch her walking around naked

she’s not ashamed of her body,

in the least

she’s capable of being a mean old bitch

when necessary

but she won’t spare the energy for it

her nature is that of the lover, anyway

she really got around, back in the day,

let everyone touch her, all over

it’s not always obvious

but a lot of the old birds

were good girls in name only,

they let every guy in town rub them

in that special spot,

the one they open their legs for

but we don’t judge her,

for its in her genetics to be

loose in the streets, running wild

and accepting attention from all comers

loneliness is what she fears most,

she doesn’t tire of her friends company

always wants them to stay longer,

becomes anxious if she has to be alone

the old gal is cemented into my heart,

I love her,

even though she rarely speaks

she is a warm companion and

they just don’t make ’em like that,

no more

I talk to her and stroke her cheek and

she lets me know with her eyes

that it means the whole world to her

when she goes down for another nap,

I curl up beside her

no jello or cookies for her,

just like a proper, English lady,

she takes biscuits, instead

she doesn’t like hot coffee or hot tea,

she usually just drinks

room temperature water

despite all her demands for

attention and her lack of

personal hygiene

and her being completely

devoid of any social grace,

she’s a kind old gal

and she’s this man’s best friend

Magus

(Kevin Trent Boswell)

Take a look at my Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/magus72

I’ll be cross-posting here, what I publicly post, over there. Patrons-only content will be available, over there.