2004
Pez Poetry Slam (continued) top
of page | cover page
The
Raven Pez
By Joe Durrant
Once
while in the town of Erie, on a day so bright and cheery,
I saw a book by Richard Geary at the local used bookstore.
There on Page the Forty-Second, something to me starkly
beckoned,
With such power that I reckoned that I couldn't dare ignore.
''Tis a silly thing,' I whispered, closed the book, walked
on, ignored.
And with that, I left the store.
Ah,
how I recall the dream from which I woke with such a scream,
so
Clear and vivid did it seem, it shook me to my very core:
It was in the Seventies, a summer day, a gentle breeze,
And the local pharmacy had no Pez, alas, no more.
Though I looked so ardently, Pez was not there, alas no
more.
I ran out crying from that store.
I'm
not one who's good at gleaning from my dreams their hidden
meanings,
But it was so clearly seeming that I'd had this one before.
Yes, it happened after stopping at that bookstore for some
shopping,
And that picture which was hopping off the page with such
galore
Oh, that picture, it was hopping off the page with such
galore!
Oh, to take it in once more.
Two
long hours I had driven, so that I could be forgiven
For the woeful, pained misgiving that I had at that bookstore.
Yes, it took more than a while, but I had a growing smile
As I headed down that aisle, towards the book that I came
for
Yes, I headed down that aisle, towards the book that I came
for.
Towards that picture I adored.
At that
place my journey ended, but not how I had intended,
For the Geary book so splendid wasn't there, not anymore.
In that dark, forever moment, I was hit with pangs of torment,
For my dreams had tried to warn me that this pain would
be in store.
O, I should have seen it coming that this pain would be
in store,
But instead I had ignored.
Months
went by since that occasion; time had hid the devastation
Of the woeful situation I was in at that bookstore.
I moved past the deep regretting, past those dreams I found
upsetting,
Till I nearly was forgetting what was once but was no more.
Yes, I almost had forgotten what was once but was no more,
Almost swept it out the door.
But
there's no way of erasing that one image, so embracing,
That somehow I have been chasing ever since that day of
yore.
And my trite defense, so brittle, was just like a flower
petal,
Destined for a harsh submittal to the whims of the downpour.
I could not escape relenting to the whims of that downpour.
Relenting once, forevermore.
Still,
how could I have expected I again would be subjected
To the brilliance that affected me right to my very core?
But when came that auction listing, there was no point in
resisting
That my passion, still existing, turned from whisper into
roar.
At that moment something in me turned from whisper into
roar,
No longer to be ignored.
Like
a moth drawn to the fire, I was blindingly inspired,
So determined to acquire what that picture showed before.
In my way there did stand nothing, so I clicked that magic
button,
But soon after, in a sudden, I was in a bidding war.
It went on for hours long, this awful, brutal bidding war.
And I did not make that score.
"Cursed
piece of plastic! How could you deny me, even now, when
I did all within my power to invite you to my shore?
Am I doomed to days of trying to obtain you, only finding
That my quest would be denied as it has been so done before?
Must this be my endless fate, to repeat pains I felt before?"
Something whispered, "Nevermore."
"Cursed
piece of plastic! Who could ever hope to get to you, when
Time and time again you ruin any visage of rapport?
Am I better off assuming never will the day be looming
When I find you there, illuminating in that way of yours?
Will I always play the victim to that cruel way of yours?"
And again, "No, nevermore."
On the
verge of outright weeping, I heard that familiar beeping,
E-mail, always towards me creeping, can't escape it anymore.
This one came from my good pal, a college friend from Palo
Alto,
Who could boost my low morale whenever it was on the floor.
Oh, how I could use that boost, for I was nearly on the
floor!
Nearly lost forevermore.
Reading
his quite lively stories always brought to mind the glory
Of that college dormitory and those times from long before.
But this time his sole intention was to pass along the mention
That he heard a Pez convention was to be in Baltimore.
What was this? A Pez convention to be held in Baltimore?
This, I thought, I should explore.
When
it came, the day was sunny, as I packed my clothes and money,
Hopping like a little bunny, heading towards my front door.
But when I hopped in my Saturn, I recalled the tragic pattern
That had left me bruised and battered time and time again
before.
Would this be a rerun of the episodes that played before?
One last time, "No, nevermore."
Morning
broke and doors did open, as I stood there, waiting, hoping
That my days of constant moping would soon be just mere
folklore.
As I wandered through that ballroom, in a state of pure
enthrallment,
There was Pez from wall to wall, but would there be what
I came for?
Would I be denied the only single one I came here for?
Not today, not anymore.
In between
the Cow and Panda was where I had seen it standing-
Somehow it looked even grander than the picture could afford.
Stem of blue and beak of yellow, eyes at once alive and
mellow,
I leaned down and whispered "hello," not a victim
anymore.
Oh, how my heart was so lifted, not a victim anymore!
Yea, I needed nothing more.
On my
desk there stands a Raven,
once a distant, formless craving,
Now a constant source of haven and a true ambassador.
When my days are dark and dreary, Raven Pez takes me to
Erie
To that book by Richard Geary I once saw at that bookstore,
To the day I wandered to the aisle of that used bookstore.
I wander there forevermore.
There's
a dream I'm oft retelling, so serene and so compelling,
Set exactly where that hellish one was set so long before.
In that pharmacy, a man does stock the racks full of Pez
candy,
And when I look in my hand, yes, there it is, what I came
for,
In my hand, this Raven Pez, this treasure that I came in
for,
In my hand, forevermore!
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