He said: "I had this friend in the late '60s in San Francisco who had been living too long in San Fran. He was there when all of the crazy stuff was going on, and being a person who believed in living life fully, he fully experienced the poets and the "hippies" and the strange young men with full mustaches and leather pants in San Francisco and, everything else as well. All of this is to say that if there was ever a scientific experiment to be done on the effects of advanced pharmaceuticals on young men at that time, he would have been a prime example. He didn't work, but, rather, "Experienced the Life Force, Man". His job was to feel "the vibe" and act accordingly. Now, I don't want to put him down for that because I believe that was his true calling. Anyway, I dropped in to see him one afternoon after my part-time job was done and I found him in the kitchen of his flat with a group of Seventh Day folks. He was sitting there, nodding his head as they told him the story that was theirs to tell. I, as politely as I could, suggested that my friend "needed his rest", and the Seventh Dayers left us. My friend looked a little more spooked that normally and I tried to find out where he was "at" at that moment. He looked up at me and didn't say anything for a while. When he finally got it together he let me know that he had had a revelation of sorts. He now knew, he told me, that we were. all of us, really dead. We had, all of us entered into another realm and that what we were currently experiencing as our "life" was really just the "After Flash" and that the "After Flash" was like a huge "rush" that filled up our brains and left us ready to complete our mission on Earth, which was to be beautiful, luminous, and away. It was probably five or more years before I saw him again. He didn't look any different, but he still felt like this was still the "After Flash."

Stumble It!

Certain Sequences of Integers Set the World on Fire

The honeymoon began to sour.
A desperate woman, demure in a turtleneck,
secretly taped a conversation. A broken wine glass, several knives
were found in the kitchen. Disappointment, loss and death.

An honest man.
Two wars raging.
Three grown daughters.

Antifreeze, fireworks, pop corn, cigarettes and light bulbs.
A dozen assailants remained at large.

03/05/09

From "Random Reports", Barbara Henry (harsimuspress@Yahoo.com)
A collaboration between "Random Reports" and "Music From The Film".

Stumble It!

She said: "I remember things, events, that never happened. It's like some kind of sixth sense or something; like looking into a future that never comes around. This "talent" or whatever you want to call it wouldn't be a problem if the memories were not so detailed and so real. It is sometimes a cause for embarrassment when I recall a sunny afternoon in Paris with a friend and that friend let's me know that he has never been in Paris; that it must be someone else I'm thinking of. Its like waking up with a vivid dream still playing out in your head and it keeps on playing out while you are awake. I have this whole other life that I am living that I think that I share with the people I know and love, but really I'm not because this dream world that is so real to me is only for me for some reason. Its like being the only person to be able read your handwriting. And its like always being alone."

Stumble It!

A Green Hue

Art blurs
vast stretches of green

the travel writer in the produce aisle
broadcasts slogans in ornate calligraphy

seven sheepherders and a black fedora
posed for photographs

some cabbage and cooking oil
unspoiled

the nice thing about holding a belated parade
she looked younger and more beautiful

a number of sheep
lumbered across the antique stage

a flag in the rain

02/22/09

From "Random Reports" Barbara Henry (harsimuspress@yahoo.com)
A collaboration between "Random Reports" and "Music From The Film".

Stumble It!

He said: "I have a disease that will eventually kill me. I'm not afraid, because this disease is slow in working its wonder. It isn't written on my face so sharply that anyone who knew me would know that I am ill. I walk among healthy people who do not turn around to give me a second look or a second thought. I am becoming ill a little bit each day, yet I am the only one who knows. Me, and the doctors who attempt, vainly, to cure me. I am becoming comfortable at the idea of death. Maybe it will be a welcomed relief when it comes. But, for the moment, for today I am as well as I can be and that is a gift. Looking at your smile is a gift. The touch of you hand is a gift. This breath that I breathe is a gift. The comfort of friends is a gift. Even remembering is a gift now. I am ill, but I possess many gifts and as long as you grant me that, I will be a lucky man."

Stumble It!

Goose Egg

She would have to avoid bitterness
to close the circle, bridge
the orange glow and stifling heat,
the filthy, shattered streets still
eerily reflected in your own glass skin.
I played piano, not interested in revenge.
You build alliances on the road.
Some quiet confessions flash in your mind:
awkward positions not-entirely-altogether,
off-label uses for plenary indulgences–
a spiritual benefit of reading and writing.

02/10/09
From "Random Reports" Barbara Henry (harsimuspress@yahoo.com)
A collaboration between "Random Reports" and "Music From The Film".

Stumble It!

She said: "This is what I am not: I am not a gender, I am not a color, I am not a race, I am not an authority on anything. This is what I am: I am a voice, I am a whisper, I am a curtain set in motion by a Summer breeze, I am the air that brushes against your skin when day is done and the sun has almost set; I am the thing you are looking for but will not easily find because you do not yet know where to look."

Stumble It!

The Shock of the River

In the most costly city in the country,
millions of flag-wavers, banking peacefully
side-by-side in close contact with the water,
overturned, took a plunge.
Police divers searched for miles
with only a little air, rainwater
and a few raw fish, pots, pans, knives and an oxtail fly whisk.
Farmers by the river bank stand their sleeping children
in the wheat and potato fields, for fences meet
opposed, at the shock of the river, under a watchful eye.

01/21/09
From "Random Reports" Barbara Henry (harsimuspress@yahoo.com)
A collaboration between "Random Reports" and "Music From The Film".

Stumble It!

He said: "I don't know who you are, but I love you. I don't know where I am, but I am not afraid. I don't understand where I am going, but I know the journey will be better if you are there with me. I don't know why it should be this way, but I embrace it because there is no other choice and I don't know who you are."

Stumble It!