III.- A return to normalcy

On the street

sweltering fumes rose from block after block

and our heads swam with beer.

The dark kind, less like beer and more liquor.

I can smell the smoke on you, I said.

A long drag of summer.

A return to normalcy -

the other seasons, deviant.

Dead, dying or diseased.

My breathing set side by side with coughing.

Your dress hung off you like curtains

and you concealed your bagged eyes

with concealer and sunglasses.

You mourned, the days passed by without you noticing.

Our trysts revolved around sport

food and pieces of Orbit.

In rapid succession

our own orbit was elliptical -

at times close and others distant.

I wake up removed.

Clove clinging to cilia,

scotch served clean

and always regretful of the past.

Like putting on a sad song

and walking away from the music

unwilling to listen but needing it to be playing.

Scene bars with PBR.

Text messages and penitence.

II.-An ill-fitting dress

When people emerge from Winter

bleak eyes three months dimmer from

florescent lights

they open their cores to the thought

that their gametes could converge with another's.

But like the worst night of a show's run,

where the New York Times reviewer sits in row two

and stares down his nose, through his glasses, 

and chortles. CHORTLES! -

I shaved a forest of growth

and she put on an ill-fitting dress.

We walked down to the corner 

(or we met there, I can't remember. Damn the cold.)

and bellied up to the bar.

The spring threatened, but wavered.

It was warm, but it wasn't.

It was nice, but it was snowing.

It rained for three days straight.

But inside, my Blackberry still went off.

Her iPhone tempted her to better company.

Maybe the promise of a better time, with better people

and more attractive mates.

She told me how wonderful the springtime was

and I remarked on how tree pollen made me feel lightheaded, but not high.

My phone went off and hers did too.

I laughed, and though of how the poor rely on their technology.

The trick to being rich, I said finally, is to be above your phone and e-mail.

Be there, but not there. Be so there that you are unable to be found.

Like Jesus. 

(If there was ever a fellow above it all, it was Jesus. Body and mind.)

Jesus' would have never answered his cellphone.

The Legend of El Misti

Continued...

CAMERA SHOT THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD OF AN ON-COMING PASSENGER BUS APPROACHING THE FOUR MEN.

BUS APPROACHES. CAMERA PANS TO RIGHT. WIDENS TO SHOW ALL FOUR. 

The four men stand outside the local agency were they began their day fresh from the overnight bus ride from the east coast of Peru. The sun is shinning brightly. The dry air sets the stage of a truly epic adventure. The clock reads 1:43PM. 

KYLE

This must be the 4x4. I imagined something a bit more...4x4.

MATT

What? Never underestimate the power of a...

He leans to the right side to take a look at the manufacture of the aged and wore white multi-passenger bus. 

...umm, 1974 hot-pickle bus.

VICTOR

This is going to be awesome!

The driver hops out of the driver's side and comes over to the curb where the four stand and starts to load the hiker's bags and equipment. The owner comes out of the store and assists the driver and gives him instructions in spanish.

DRIVER

Hola. 

MATT, ZACH, VICTOR

Hola. 

KYLE

Hi.

OWNER

We wait for guide. On his way down. Just a few minutes. Not Long. 

The four sit in the bus. The bags tightly packed in front. Kyle and Zach sit in the middle seats next to the bags. Victor sits in the back with Matt as he stretches his legs out. The four relax in the van and await the guide. It's 2:02PM. 

ALL FOUR LOUNGE IN THE VAN. CAMERA SHOT FROM OUTSIDE SLIDING DOOR. 

Time passes. The clock now reads 2:34PM. The owner and the driver stand outside the store talking. The four remain in the van.

KYLE

Where not going anywhere.

ZACH

This sucks... 

Where is the guide?

 Didn't he say he was on the way down the mountain?

MATT

That's what he said. I bet he's calling one right now.

VICTOR

He'll be here.

KYLE

You're so glass half full. 

I love it...

 But I don't think we are going anywhere today. 

FOCUSED ON THE CONVERSATION OF THE OWNER AND DRIVER AND FOLLOW AS THE DRIVER APPROACHES THE VAN AND GETS IN.

The owner comes to the door of the van and speaks to the four who still sit in the van very relaxed and visibly tired and low. 

OWNER

We are going to meet the guide and pick him up on the way. 

Ok? He is on his way.

MATT

Alright.

ZACH

Are we going to have enough time to make it to the top?

OWNER

You said you were strong. You hike fast.

The four laugh but the expressions on their faces show that they know the owner's words are only half jokingly. Excitement again fills the faces as the van starts and rolls towards the volcano.

The van continues to make turn after turn through the city streets. The four pier through the van's windows looking for their destination. The van comes to a stop at an intersection. 

DRIVER

We wait for the guide.

ZACH

Again?

KYLE

We aren't going anywhere.

MATT

I am starting to believe you.

VICTOR

My glass is half empty.

The clock now reads 3:27PM and still no guide. Matt and Zach are standing outside the van looking over a brick wall that separates a school's play area from the town streets. They make faces at the staring children. Kyle stretched out in the van is falling asleep and Victor is playing with his iphone. 

DRIVER

He's here!

A small blue pickup truck pulls up behind the van and a man wearing a hat and a pair of sunglasses gets out of the passenger seat and walks towards the van. His pack is the size of the small blue pickup.

GUIDE

Hola.

He continues to speak in spanish to the driver and they pile back into the van and head towards the volcano. Conversation banters between the guide and driver in spanish. 

KYLE

Did anyone ask to see if the guide speaks english?

ZACH

I am sure he speaks a little.

KYLE

He hasn't said an english word yet.

 This is getting more interesting by the minute. 

CAMERA TURNS FROM CONVERSATION BETWEEN DRIVER AND GUIDE TO KYLE AND ZACH AND THEN FOCUSES ON MATT AS HE STARES OUT THE VAN'S WINDOW.

MATT

Domination... might have to wait a few days.

The van turns onto a dirt road and as the van makes a quick left the volcano stands alone with a bright blue sky. It's huge. The clock on the dashboard reads 3:43PM.

VICTOR

Oh, shit...

That's big. 

Victor turning from looking out the window reaches down for his water bottle. Grabbing it and then lifting it to his mouth to take a drink. He realizes his bottle is empty.

ZOOM IN ON BOTTLE AND VICTOR AS HE TURNS TO HIS VAN MATES HOLDING HIS WATER BOTTLE AS TO TELL EVERYONE THE ADVENTURE HAS BEGUN. CAMERA TURNS TO FOCUS ON THE BACK SEAT WHERE MATT AND ZACH SIT. THEY STARE AT THE BOTTLE AND THEN AT EACH OTHER. 

Kyle grabs his water bottle from his bag. He holds it and turns to the three others then to Victor. 

KYLE

Quick! Fill it up!

to be continued...

I.- Systems Of Commerce

Snow falls in February

and people on their way to work

crash their cars,

choking systems of commerce.

It's a good thing mag chloride

(not just good for making tofu)

stopped the metal monster

from sliding across the median.

Unprepared and unready

for the thing February is known for.

What did you expect, I told her

it snows and people die.

We haven't evolved past dying,

yet.

She doesn't care,

she just walked across the courtyard,

picking up after her dog.

They'll give you a ticket you know.

She didn't hear a word I said to her,

and she should have been paying attention, too.

But she thinks she knows it all.

And what do I know? She could be God,

we all could 

and she's never convinced me of anything less.

Inside the apartment building, 

she keeps a candle lit.

The landlord doesn't know,

and never will. They can't take it away from me.

Remember the dorm? Remember the no candle rule?

It's inhuman to make man live without fire.

The first technology.

Take away my cell phone, then. My Macbook.

They run my life. 

I suppose we've always

centered our lives around our newest technology,

she said, rubbing her hands together.

She blew the candle out,

turned off the computer, and her cell phone.

Left the bed, naked, without covering herself.

Cruelest Month

This is not poetry. This is prose, explaining my new radminds project, available, like most everything, in easy-to-digest installments. 

Like Kaili, who is going to be posting parts of a screenplay he's been working on, I'm going to work on and post parts of a poem.

I'll be posting the first part later tonight.

We're still looking for people to contribute. Would you like to?

The old Facebook flame

I don't think there's anything I like more than when an old flame friends me on Facebook.

I always feel like I won some sort of competition.

"Hey, I won because I didn't give in and request to see your Facebook first."

"I've pretended you don't exist longer than you could."

And it always ends up backfiring.

Not because I get jealous when I see she's moved on.

Started dating other people.

Or is *gasp* pregnant again, happily married or growing each day in the Lord.

It backfires because I remember the good and the bad.

So the lesson is this -

if you can't ignore a friend request,

can you ignore your past?

The Legend of El Misti

The Legend of El Misti

By Kaili Purviance

FADE IN.

EXT SMALL LOCAL TRAVEL AGENCY IN A SMALL PERUVIAN TOWN 

Four foreign travels stand with gear on their backs and tired from a long overnight bus trip looking at advertisements of local hiking trips in the area. Conversation banter between them about their fatigue.

MATT HANSON rests this hands on his hips looking up at the local agency's banners trying to translate the writing. 

KYLE JACKSON currently on one knee tying his shoe glancing down the streets taking in the surroundings. 

TWIN BROTHERS, ZACH AND VICTOR MADISON, are flipping through a travel guild researching about their local surroundings and scoping out their next move.

The four together step into the small local agency and begin conversation with the local business owner. The twins take the lead as they are the most versed in the foreign language. 

ZACH

Hola! Do you have any day hikes in the area this morning?

VICTOR

The canyons or the volcano? We only have today.

OWNER

Si. 

The four, with their tired smiles, are happy that one thing seems to be easy and effortless. After an overnight bus ride with a overflowing bathroom, they welcome the thought of an easy sell.

FLASH BACK TO OVERNIGHT BUS TRIP.

VICTOR LEANING BACK IN HIS BUS SEAT, MATT LEANING AGAINST THE WINDOW. BOTH MOVING AROUND TO FIND A COMFORTABLE POSITION. BATHROOM JUST TO THEIR LEFT, THE DOOR CRACKS OPEN AFTER EVERY SLIGHT MOVEMENT OF THE BUS. 

AIR FRESHENER IS SPRAYED TO MASK THE SMELL BUT ONLY SEEMS TO MAKE IT WORSE AS THE FACES OF THE FOUR OUR OBVIOUSLY AFFECTED BY THEIR GROTESQUE ENVIRONMENT. 

FORWARD TO PRESENT. SMILES ALL AROUND.

ZACH

Great! Which one can we go on?

OWNER

You leave tomorrow morning at 8 o'clock am. Meet you here. Take you to the volcano.

MATT

We only have today! Can we leave today? Anything right now?

The four can see the confusion on the owner's face and the smiles that once lit their faces have disappeared. There shoulders begin to slouch and the fatigue finds it's way back to their faces. 

KYLE

Yeah. Can we leave right now? 

OWNER

No. Nothing until tomorrow. Last group left at 9 o'clock am.

Knowing that they can not just sit around an do nothing. MATT had mentioned before that "we came here to dominate!" They continued to talk with the owner and try and persuade him to create another trip.

MATT

We're very strong. We can catch the early group! We just need a ride to the volcano. 

The brilliance of Kyle shows as he flexes and points to his biceps. It gets a laugh from the twins knowing that his spanish vocabulary is very limited. 

Zach leans to his brother and whispers that we will pay more if we have to. Matt overhears them and offers the owner more money.

MATT

How much for the trip? 

OWNER

40 US Dollars! Tomorrow. 

MATT

We will pay you 50 US dollars each if we can go today. Right now! Can you call another guide?

OWNER

Ok. One moment. 

Excited by the offer on the table the owner doesn't hesitate to run over to the pay phone and make a call. 

PAN BACK TO FOUR TOURISTS. THEY CONVERSE AND ROAM THE TRAVEL SHOP LOOKING AT HANGING PICTURES OF TOURS AND PACKAGES. 

THE OWNER SPEAKS INTO THE PHONE AND CONVERSES WITH WHOMEVER IS ON THE OTHER LINE. 

The conversation between the owner and the other person on the phone ends with a quick "si" "si" and then the owner hangs up the phone and walks towards the wondering four. 

CAMERA BACK TO THE FOUR AS THE OWNER WALKS BACK TO THEM IN A QUICK MANNER. 

OWNER

I have a guide at 1:30pm. Pick you up here and take you to the EL MISTI VOLCANO. Do you have tent or sleeping bag?

MATT

Ok but we don't have any gear. Can we rent?

ZACH

So we can leave today and come back tomorrow?

OWNER

Si. Pick up here at 1:30pm. Hike and camp today. Come back tomorrow early.

Victor

Alright! Lets do it!

The excitement fills the small one room agency. Victor high-fives Matt. Matt high-fives Zach. Kyle has made his way outside the small shop and into the street dancing around like the tourist he is. The owner gives the details to the remaining three.

CAMERA FOLLOWS KYLE TO STREET AND THEN PAN BACK TO GROUP LISTENING TO DIRECTIONS.

OWNER

Four sleeping bags. Two tents. Four sleeping mats. You carry. 

VICTOR

Ok. Quanto?

OWNER

50 U.S. Dollars. Each.

ZACH

Great! We'll do it! 

The four start to count their money. Each pulling money out of pockets, shoes, bags and any other places that might have been a stashing spot through their travels. 

PAN SHOT ALONG WALLS OF TRAVEL AGENCY. HANGING PICTURES OF PAST TRAVELERS AND ROUTES OF MULTI-DAY HIKES FINALLY FOCUSING ON THE HIKE OF EL MISTI.

to be continued...