scarecrow poetics/essays
Monday, February 27, 2006
Trapped...
do their best work inside a trap. Whether it’s a wheelchair
a bottle
a needle
or a bad marriage with a few kids thrown in for good measure
Everybody knows their names
but for the hell of it, here are a few:
Dostoyevsky (his own epileptic brain and gambling compulsion)
Bukowski (the bottle)
Hitchcock (fat)
etc., etc.
The thing is that we’re all trapped
Whether it’s the decent job that turns sour
or the lawn that you have to mow
or the wife who devours us
We’re all in our own little prisons
Even the maniac flying down the highway on a Harley is in his own cage.
Maybe it’s best if you know from the get-go that you’re
caught
Because that way the pressure’s off
You know you’re finished, and you don’t waste time and
energy trying to thrash your way out
and into another snare
Some call it resignation
Others call it enlightenment
I prefer the truth:
Ever see a fly trapped between a window and a screen?
Ask him.
Mark SaFranko's stories have appeared in dozens of magazines and journals internationally, including the renowned Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and The Savage Kick. He was cited in Best American Mystery Stories 2000 and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. In 2005 he won the Frank O'Connor award. Mister SaFranko is also a playwright. The Bitch-Goddess was selected Best Play of the Village Gate One-Act Festival in New York in 1992. An evening of his one-acts which included The Bitch-Goddess recently made its European debut at the Derry Playhouse in Northern Ireland. The production then moved south to the Cork Arts Theatre to strong reviews.
Another play, The Promise, was produced at the Millenium Forum in Derry in June, 2003. Other plays have also been seen at such New York venues as the Samuel Beckett Theater, Belmont Italian American Playhouse, the Harold Clurman Theater, the Creative Place Theater, Wings Theater, the Madison Avenue Theater, and the Riant Theater.As an actor he has appeared in several independent films, including A Better Place, Shoot George, and The Road From Erebus.His novels are Hopler's Statement and The Favor, both available through all the dotcoms. His novel, Hating Olivia, is published by Murder Slim Press. The sequel to Hating Olivia, entitled Lounge Lizard, will be published soon.
