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Sunday, November 25, 2012

Literary suicide

She asks me, Can you perform literary suicide by writing yourself out of existence?

Then explains,
suicide is, in reality, a messy and problematic thing to do.

There is no guarantee in drinking gallons of Gallo or gin
fights that bust dental work and cause permanent joint pain,
may or may not take you to the other side
motorcycle crashes, guns, a slow moving waltz towards a semi
do not provide a money back guarantee
and after all your efforts
you may still have to explain to friends and family why
you woke up spooning a shotgun.

It takes a lot of energy to override survival instincts 
fight or flight wrestling for control
your body tossed around like a seagull in a jet air stream


it’s exhausting
this struggle to not be here


there was a moment
an intolerable moment, that lasted forever
even after it ended
she lives with that moment
hovering always
she has tried to make it disappear
has decided, she will try to disappear
belletristic self-immolation
writing a fictional world where she doesn’t exist

How will you live in a world where you don’t exist?  I ask her.

Precisely.  She replies.

If you scream who will hear it?
If you crystallize then shatter into a million pieces, who will notice? 
If you slowly disappear, limbs dissipating like clouds, no one will pay any attention. 
If you cut yourself nobody will look at you with sad eyes. 


Maybe that’s the point
no one listened when she screamed
or noticed when she disappeared inside herself like a tumor 
left alone for so long, while
being paid attention to in the worst possible ways
she stopped struggling outright
turned inward
focused on how to not be
in the moment
not be there, then

She smiles wide
at me
It will be so much better there,
action figures with realistic body proportions and flat feet
a killer sound track
they never played X when I had to pull down my panties and play ride the horsey,
here, I can crank out Exene Cervenka and Corrosion of Conformity any time


What is the soundtrack to a literary suicide
a graphic novel kamikaze?
You make the play list 
construct the dialogue
call the plays
edit, loop, cut
end.

Exist by not existing
invisible puppeteer
no longer struggling to subdue
invasive memories
bashed into momentary non-existence by bare-knuckled fistfights with your hippocampus.

Lexiconic Seppuku
available to anyone with an imagination
a willingness to use language, a syntax placebo effect
it’s free
you don’t get arrested
wake up on a parking strip in the middle of Yakima 
no hangovers
no overdraft fees
no std’s, or cracked teeth
no awkward smiles at the person you wake up with
just you
plot lines
a parade of characters
and endless possibilities