Mel Waldman- Two Poems

SCHADENFREUDE

IN

THE RAIN

 

&

when the rain returns

almost invisible

imperceptible

just a few drops

a drizzle

she wishes for more,

much more

to kill her sadness

to make her smile;

come forth, rain

raw & relentless

reveal yourself

ravage,

she screams

silently;

come forth, rain

with

fire & ice,

ferociously & mercilessly

come forth,

heavy & harrowing

explode & flood

pound & pummel

thresh, thrash, & flail their

spirit,

take away their fleeting joy

give them swirling rain & sorrow,

she shrieks

secretly

&

when the rain returns

&

the storm arrives

the sun dies

&

with

the sudden downpour

the others suffer

&

knowing this

she feels a malicious joy

the lovely delirious lady

smiles sardonically

schadenfreude

in the rain

DON QUIXOTE,

THE BARKING BOY

OF

CONEY ISLAND

  

An unknown boy,

ghostly,

phantom leptosome,

possessed, perhaps,

ordained

Don Quixote

by

an unknown source

staggers & stumbles

along the old wooden boardwalk,

stops abruptly,

twirls around & around

drunk with dazzling dreams-

intoxicated with heroic fantasies,

we imagine,

&

the boy with a pale face gazes at

the Wonder Wheel,

turquoise eyes roll back & forth

in waves of chaos,

2 arms outstretched like sword & lance

of a noble knight

&

Don Quixote tilts at windmills,

whirls & swirls

&

barks incessantly,

yelps & barks, snorts & sniffs,

&

curses chimerical foes.

Don Quixote,

the barking boy of Coney Island,

is

possessed, we speculate,

but

why?

“It’s the soul of Cervantes!”

“No, it’s a dybbuk, a malicious spirit!”

“It’s Tourette’s Disorder!”

But an unknown source says soothingly,

“It’s a full moon looming above,

illuminating our coruscating brain cells,

releasing

all lunatics,

freeing us

tonight…”

 

Dr. Mel Waldman is a psychologist, poet, and writer whose stories have appeared in numerous magazines including HARDBOILED DETECTIVE, ESPIONAGE, THE SAINT, PULP METAL MAGAZINE, YELLOW MAMA, and AUDIENCE. His poems have been widely published in magazines and books including LIQUID IMAGINATION, A NEW ULSTER, THE BROOKLYN LITERARY REVIEW, THE BROOKLYN VOICE, BRICKPLIGHT, THE BITCHIN’ KITSCH, CRAB FAT MAGAZINE, DEAD SNAKES, SKIVE MAGAZINE, ODDBALL MAGAZINE, ON THE RUSK, POETRY PACIFIC, POETICA, RED FEZ, SOUL-LIT, SQUAWK BACK, SWEET ANNIE & SWEET PEA REVIEW, THE JEWISH LITERARY JOURNAL, THE JEWISH PRESS, THE JERUSALEM POST, HOTMETAL PRESS, MAD SWIRL, HAGGARD & HALLOO, ASCENT ASPIRATIONS, and NAMASTE FIJI: THE INTERNATIONAL ANTHOLOGY OF POETRY. A past winner of the literary GRADIVA AWARD in Psychoanalysis, he was nominated for a PUSHCART PRIZE in literature and is the author of 11 books.