Saturday, December 13, 2008

The Weekend Was Cancelled

Saturday, December 13, 2008

THE WEEKEND WAS CANCELLED

Copyright 2008 by Philip Cairns


Slithering, withering, frightening, foe.

Blue ectoplasm morphing across dreams

Of past imagined triumphs.

The shimmering form, looking like the Phantom of the Opera,

Standing beside my bed when I was ten years old.

Pastel pink and mauve washing across acid-free paper.

Pipedreams of glory sitting tight inside my left brain.


Halloween goblins jumping out to scare me.

Janet Leigh being stabbed in the “Psycho” shower.

The theatre director demanded that I use a real knife

When I slit my fellow actor’s throat.

A similar incident mistakenly drew real blood

In a silly play in Italy.

Thank God I have more sense and control.


Soothing music seeping into my clean-as-a-whistle ears.

Fantasizing about Tony,

With the innocent face

And bad breath and long nose hairs.

Nothing has come of it

For that’s the ways it always seems to work out.


Stuck in the red brick well,

Like the plus-size woman in “Silence of the Lambs”.

Some asshole is hammering on a sub-zero day.

Give the fucker a sketchbook and crayons

Or tie him to a chair, for Christ sake.


Painting barefoot in the sand on a hot day at the Big Sur,

Just like Liz Taylor in “The Sandpiper”.

She’s had a glorious life, Liz has,

For the most part,

And now she’s on death’s door.

I want her to leave me her jewellery collection

But fat chance!


Old friends drift away

But they still send Christmas cards.

No cheque enclosed, this time,

Part of Daddy’s estate.

Lucky bitch!


Is life one big disappointment or do I simply expect too much?

There’s got to be more than

Aloneness and television,

Credit cards and telemarketing jobs.

Listen to more Joni Mitchell.

That’ll make you want to slit your wrists.


Van Johnson and Odetta just died.

They probably never met down here.

Neither will come back to haunt me

Since they don’t know me from Adam.

The hammering is pissing me off.


There’s nothing to be done

But to continue the day

And try to fill it with joy and pleasant activities,

As best I can.

There’s always so many thoughts rushing through my head.


Last night, the full moon was so bright, big and beautiful.

It hasn’t been that close to Earth in 15 years.

That’s worth the price of admission

On this run down movie screen planet.

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