Feature: Marc Mannheimer Day 4

stolen illumination

dharma readings,
heart murmurs, heart bleatings,
blaze of sunlight,
hard through
balcony doorway
harrowing down
on my two close friends --
Aloe and white African violet plants,
petals and potions,
stalks and stolen moments,
beauty and chastity and clarity
shining back up out the doorway,
filling the face of the sun.

© Marc Mannheimer

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my scream

my scream these days
is -- RRAUGGGGGHHHHHH!,

I am frustrated that this life
is not a straight line
but a tender
self-disassembly.

I just want to walk to the horizon,
I just want to take a walk,
enjoy a nice walk
to a nice sunset,
or to a nice sumptuous meal,
or to bed with a someone akin to desirable.

but we're not here to
get what we want,
are we?
some of the time?
weeeellll, never what you REALLY want!

"take yourself apart --
your pride,
your lust,
your anger,
your selfishness;

examine each one
and understand how
it builds fortresses
around your true fulfillment."

well, excuse me,
but your “true fulfillment”
is cramping the shit out of my
true fulfillment.

for me, I'd rather walk a straight line
any straight line,
a straight line into a brick wall, let’s say,
or into heavy traffic,
or round and round in circles
until they come to get me.
RRRRRAUUUUUGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

© Marc Mannheimer

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Q&A

Q: Do you have rituals or habits when you write?

A: More like a compulsion. I will often read a page of a meditation book and then write a poem, read a page of something else, write, etc. Though I enjoy writing most when it’s spontaneous, when a thought hits me or something I see strikes me and I pull out the notebook and write.

Q: Where does your inspiration come from? (Family? Nature? Music? Friends? Famous Poets?)

A: Nature, street scenes, friends, my schmo-mantic life (love-never-found), my own psychological processes, and, yes, famous writers.

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Photo © Marc Mannheimer