Phil Kaye's "Beginning, Middle & End"

please give a big round of applause to your future performance tonight Phil okay every great story as a beginning middle and end not necessarily in that order we are all great stories chapter 389 the boy hair still long fingers still too short is 98 years old he sits at a restaurant alone the stranger next to him is eating something that looks vaguely delicious the boy takes his fork sticks it in his meal and takes a bite he says I'm 98 years old go ahead say something hey [ __ ] chapter 14 the boy is eight years old he and his best friend come up with a great idea for a prank they are sure they will not get caught the next morning every house on the street except his own as toilet paper on the front yard they get caught chapter 146 and the boy and the girl live happily ever after chapter 231 and the boy and the girl not never to speak to each other again every great story is a beginning middle and ending not necessarily in that order we are all great stories but not all written as chapter books I know there are moments that are not meant to be bound that we scribble too much in the margins to read our own page numbers like the night you thought you were invincible ran out into the lightning storm with a million keys tied to a million kites and a clench in your jaw and said take me with you goddammit I dare you hey are the weeks when you finally reach out to fill your father's cheeks and just found the paper cups I know the nights we shatter our glasses to fall asleep the afternoons we take photographs of our own shadows just to prove that we left a mark another witness of your lips know that you are a leaf of the tree of your parents first kiss if you hold your shrubs to the sky you can see their veins know that in later chapters you will complain about how things were better back in your day give yourself lots to complain about know the your legs were made to run your bones are made to heal so let yourself fall so deeply into somebody else you do not know which way is up knowing that one day you may fall out know exactly which way is down call your mother crying like the first day you were born baby she will call you baby it is okay every great story is a beginning middle and ending not necessarily in that order chapter 189 the boy too old now to celebrate his birthdays and too young to treasure them uses his fists punches his own reflection to see if it is real breaks his hand back into the opposite of the fist a conch shell of sinew he holds it to his ear and can hear the ocean of his own bloodline stare that boy not just with your legs you be your own story six hundred birds per minute you glasses by age seven you never stop to read the back cover even though you know it happens at the end chapter 431 once upon a time there was a boy he's not here anymore but the branches he left all their leaves to the sky you can see the outline of his shadow on the sidewalk chapter one once upon a time there was a woman and a man the first night they kissed a seedling blossomed from the back of her neck you you

Channel: speakeasynyc

Views: 528,597

Keywords: PhilKaye, ProjectVoice, SarahKay, louderArts, BoweryPoetryClub, SpokenWOrd

Id: qvNWzkzFWvM

Length: 4min 20sec (260 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 07 2012