{"id":159838,"date":"2020-05-18T12:00:16","date_gmt":"2020-05-18T11:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=159838"},"modified":"2020-05-13T08:26:56","modified_gmt":"2020-05-13T07:26:56","slug":"monologists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2020\/05\/monologists\/","title":{"rendered":"Monologists"},"content":{"rendered":"

I do not find it profitable to talk to the dead!
\nThey are so single-minded!<\/p>\n

They repeat old stories over and over
\nUntil one feels like screaming: \u201cPLEASE MOVE ON!\u201d<\/p>\n

The dead are ventriloquists.
\nAs soon as you think they\u2019re silent,
\nA living soul takes up their mantle,
\nSuddenly nudging you:<\/p>\n

\u201cDid you hear the one about\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n

(And\u2026you\u2019ve heard it 50 zillion times!)<\/p>\n

\u201cWould you please shut up?!\u201d you want to cry,
\n\u201cOr at least get out of your funereal duds?
\nCan\u2019t you see, we\u2019re trying to forget you?
\nCan\u2019t you see, you\u2019re ruining our day?\u201d<\/p>\n

But the dead just keep yammering:<\/p>\n

Yackety-yack, yackety-yack,
\n<\/em>blah, blah, blah, blah, blah\u2026.<\/em><\/p>\n

And, finally, you realize
\nwhat they\u2019ve been trying to tell you\u2014<\/p>\n

something indefinable\u2026
\nsomething ineluctable\u2026.<\/p>\n

You listen\u2026.
\nYou remember\u2026.
\nYou understand\u2026.<\/p>\n

And\u2026<\/p>\n

you cry\u2026.<\/p>\n

1 May 2020<\/em><\/p>\n

______________________________________________<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/em>Dr. <\/em>Gary Steven Corseri <\/em>is a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment.<\/a> He <\/em>has published novels and poetry collections, and published\/posted poetry, prose and dramas at hundreds of periodicals and websites worldwide, including <\/em>Transcend Media Service<\/a>, Countercurrents, Counterpunch, Village Voice and<\/em> The New York Times.\u00a0 He has performed his work at the Carter Presidential Library, and his dramas have been presented on <\/em>PBS-Atlanta and elsewhere.\u00a0 He has taught at universities in the U.S. and Japan and in US public schools and prisons. <\/em>Contact: Gary_Corseri@comcast.net<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I do not find it profitable to talk to the dead!
\nThey are so single-minded!
\nThey repeat old stories over and over
\nUntil one feels like screaming: \u201cPLEASE MOVE ON!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":115838,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[182],"tags":[868],"class_list":["post-159838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poetry-format","tag-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159838\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}