ACT V
(The Bard steps out from behind the closed curtain and stands in front of it, center stage)
Bard: Behold as Adam rises through the human and
Beyond. From where he was he has descended through
The moods of time and now he has ascended back
To rise again to where he was in human time
And even take a step beyond. The human is
Indeed a bridge, and Adam will now dance across
To come out more than he had been before. So watch
And hear him rise into a place he never knew
Existed or was possible. We’ll watch him dance
In circles, cycles, lines and pairs and groups
And then dance with himself in such a way that he’ll
Embody all these ways to dance and make a brand
New form. Oh, Muses, who can join this man, who will
Come up with him and see the sun atop
The mountain, realizing what he sees is now
His equal, shining down upon the seas, a light
To guide to help people to see what they can be?
Scene 1
(The Bard gestures with his hand and follows the curtain offstage as it opens to Adam, Eva, and Marie standing in the woods. There are several rocks and trees behind which Rock- and Tree-Spirits hide)
Eva: I’m frightened by the darkness of these woods.
I’m waiting for some hoods
To leap out at us and then rob us three.
Is that some movement in that tree?
Marie: Nothing’s moving. Just stay calm. Trees won’t hurt you,
Eva. Animals are the only living
Things out here. I think that these woods saw humans
Decades ago, hon.
Adam: I have seen these woods once before. I’m sure of
It. But when? I look and the woods, familiar,
Nonetheless seem strange and are unfamiliar.
Look! Was that movement?
(Everyone goes on guard. Chanting voices – quiet at first, but getting louder over a few seconds – come from behind every rock and tree)
Voices: A-dum-a-dum-a-dum-a-dum-a-dum-a-dum-a-dum-a-dum-a-dum-a-dum-a-dum-a-dum-a-dum- a-dum-a-dum-a-dum- a-dum-a-dum-a-dum-a-dum-a-dum-a-dum
(Lights dim. Lightning and thunder. The Dryad steps out from behind a tree)
Dryad: I see you have returned from foreign lands,
Returning to our woods. You’re welcome here
Amongst us. Travel through, but take our hands
Of friendship first and join our dance, for we’re
Prepared to celebrate the coming year.
We hope you three will join us as we prance
Around to celebrate all we hold dear –
A magic-space is opened when we dance.
(Tree- and Rock-Sprites emerge from behind their trees and rocks)
See, everyone is dressed up in their bands
Of color and they all are full of cheer –
They’re ready for the ritual demands
That take on time and dissipate the fear
That often fill our lives and let us peer
At possibilities that could enhance
Our lives. For us it’s very, very clear
A magic-space is opened when we dance.
(The Tree- and Rock-Sprites grab Adam, Eva, and Marie by their hands and begin dancing)
Yes, dance until you feel the spirits near
Your heart and you begin to feel the trance
Take over you so you’ll rise up a tier –
A magic-space is opened when we dance.
(The Dryad joins the dancing)
Everyone: Let’s dance until the earth is born again
And trees and rocks all come alive
And speak to each and every one – begin
To listen so that we will thrive.
Oh dance and dance and feel the rhythmic beat!
Yes, feel it in your very bones!
Now lift your arms and lift and stamp your feet
And wake the very earth and stones.
(Everyone dances for a few more seconds, then stops)
Tree Spirit 1: Oh tell us why you’ve come again?
How did we ever come to win
A second visit here?
Did you come by to visit kin,
To show us that you’ve balanced yin
And yang, or join our sphere?
Adam: I’ve come to visit, knowing that I can
And should not skip a step along
My way back up. I had
To come and visit you, my kin. No man
Can learn to sing a perfect song
Before he sings a fad.
You have to start with what is known to fan
Into another world. It’s wrong
To disrespect your dad.
Rock Spirit 1: Well, welcome home our son who’s wandered far
And chose to come back home to see us here.
You seem much brighter now, more like a star
Than when we saw you last. We saw the fear
That filled your face, but now I see the spark
Of joy behind your eyes, a flame that lurks
Beneath the surface. You have grown a bark
That keeps the living wood alive. That works
For now, but you will have to shed that too.
You’re not alone, but you will have to be –
You have a lovely friend, a lover who
Won’t be around for long. Then you’ll be free.
Spirits: Oh, Adam, Adam, Adam dear
We have to make it very clear
That we mean well and will not steer
From helping you. No, we won’t veer
From that. The time is very near
For you to leave us. We’ll appear
Throughout your life to lend an ear
Or maybe sit and have a beer
If you should find you need our sphere
Which will support you, calm your fear
And gently wipe away each tear.
Eva: I don’t know why it seems
That everyone is trying to get rid of me. Well, teams
Of horses won’t get rid of me,
No rock or tree
Will run
Me off, for he’s the one
For me and I will stand and fight
And claw and bite
To stay with him, my love, my heart –
No, we will never part.
Adam: I could not dream of leaving you –
This body must be fully satisfied.
I wouldn’t know what I would do
If you weren’t with me. I’d have died.
Of loneliness, self-pity, or some strife
That would have surely gone and fried
My brain for good. I need a wife
To keep me on an even keel, it’s true,
So I can keep on loving life.
(Eva gets excited and hugs Adam)
Tree Spirit 2: Now that’s the worst idea that I
Have heard all year. Oh Adam, buy
Some time and do not rush to make
A marriage which I known won’t take.
If you are single, she can leave
Alone, without your things. Don’t cleave
To her like that. Don’t buy a ring –
I would not give her anything.
Eva: He will not listen to advice
From lice
Like you. I hate
You all ‘cause all you ever do’s berate
Me, try to break
Us up, for goodness sake!
Marie: I’d advise him if we were not together.
Strife is something we must avoid so long as
We are friends, like the three of us. I remain his
Soul; she’s his body.
Adam: Let’s stick together. Eva and
Marie and I remain a solid house
Where three create a solid band
And Eva, once she is my spouse,
Will surely come to fit all I demand
Of someone who’s more than a mouse.
Rock Spirit 2: Well, that should plant the seed of doubt in her.
We’ll see it grow must larger than a fir,
And she will leave him, for she’ll never meet
The goals he’ll set for her. She will be beat.
Eva: Come on, let’s go. I do not want to stay
Another single day
Where people tell you I
Must go or why
You are too good for me.
I know you are, but with Marie
I hope
That you can come to cope
With all the ways I know that I will fail
To measure up. I know I’m pale
Compared to you,
But I believe I can be true
And be the kind of woman who can give
Herself to you alone, so long as we both live.
(Adam kisses Eva and grabs her and Marie each by the hand)
Adam: I am afraid we cannot stay –
I have to keep on traveling until
I reach that lovely final day
When I’ve recovered and I’ve gone
Beyond myself. I hope you all will pray
That at long last I’ll see the dawn.
Be good and trust me that I will
Do what is truly best for me, a pawn
To no one, I don’t care how shrill.
(Adam, Eva, and Marie exit stage right)
Dryad: Good-bye, good luck. We hope that you are right.
(aside) He’s not, of course; with love he’s not that bright.
(Lights go down)
Scene 2
(Five Trolls are standing in front of the mouth of a cave, weapons out, arguing)
Troll 1: My honor is at stake and the fact is that
I must insist on having you make up what
You did to me or else I will be
Forced to defend it. You will restore it.
Troll 2: Your pride’s misplaced you honorless imbecile!
False ‘possums have more honor in playing their
Deaths! Hognosed snakes with tongues uncurled are
Brave and an honor to snakes beside you!
(The Trolls glare at each other and prepare to fight. Adam, Eva, Marie, and Peter enter stage left)
Adam: Such gratefulness cannot be expressed as that
I felt when I set eyes on your figure as
You broke the fog bank. I have needed
You for a time my good friend. You’re welcome.
Peter: I’m here to lead you when you need me to.
I’m here to give you guidance when it’s due.
(Adam, Eva, Marie, and Peter notice the Trolls at the same time the Trolls notice them)
Troll 3: Invaders here to take from us all we have.
Draw swords and rob and kill and then take both the
Sluts. Girls are good to keep around to
Entertain us with their naked dancing.
(Adam and Peter draw their swords)
Eva: I will not do that any more –
I will not play the whore
For trolls
Whose only goals
Are drinking, fighting, whoring, taking offense at
Each little thing, just like a brat,
And honor-killing left and right. They’ll mug
You for your shoes just like a thug.
Marie: You will find a serpent that’s stronger and more
Dangerous than hognosed snakes playing dead in
Gardens if you try to attack the likes of
Me. You should back off.
(The Trolls rush forward and seize Eva and Marie before anyone can react. Adam and Peter fight a pair of Trolls as the others drag Eva and Marie, struggling, to the other side of the stage)
Troll 1: Trolls! Trolls! Our fellow trolls, come defend all your
Great country from the hateful invaders or
Your land will be lost forever.
Help us before it’s too late! Please help us!
Adam: You’ll die before they come for you.
The only thing you’d better do
Is let those women go before I kill
Each one of you, cause I won’t have my fill
Of blood until they are let go –
I’ve killed trolls once before, you know.
(As the fighting continues, Eva and Marie continue to struggle. One slaps Eva, getting her to stop, but Marie fights even more, causing a Troll to draw his sword and stab her in the belly. She crumples to the floor)
Eva: Marie’s been murdered, murdered, killed!
My dream has been fulfilled
Much to my grief.
A dream is only brief
And is not meant to come to life –
And now I will be rife
With guilt
For what my mind had built.
I never meant to see you lie
In your own blood and die.
(When Adam and Peter see Marie fall, they fight harder, killing the two Trolls. They rush the Trolls with Eva and Marie. One tries to protect himself with Eva, but Adam stabs him under Eva’s arm. She rushes behind Adam)
Adam: Death’s too good for what you have done today to
Someone who’s your better. But death is all I
Have to give so I will be happy dealing
Death to you, coward!
(Adam kills the Troll who killed Marie. The last Troll runs to the other end of the stage)
Troll: Don’t think I’m running off. I’ll return with more
Death-dealing trolls to take our revenge on you.
Dark days are all you have to face for
Life for the deaths you have caused today, men.
Adam: Bring them here and I will deal death to them as
Well as I just dealt it to these dead corpses.
I will kill as many as you can bring to
Me to be slaughtered.
(The Troll runs off stage left. Adam looks down at Marie)
Adam: Dear Marie, what have these cruel, thuggish trolls done?
Life is taken by those who don’t respect it –
Someone who was better than all of them, whose
Soul had been better.
Peter: I fear to tell you how you could revive
Marie. I fear that you would do what could
Be done to bring her back and yet I feel
I must if you are to continue on.
Adam: Tell me what it is that I have to do to
Save her life and I will be sure to do it.
My own life is worth it to give to bring her
Back to the living.
Peter: The blood of your own heart into her wound
Would being her back to life. But only yours
Will work to bring her back. That’s what you have
To do to bring her back to life. The blood
That comes out of your heart can bring the dead
To life again. You have that power now.
(Adam looks to Peter, then to Marie. Several Trolls rush in stage left, but stop and watch as Adam gets down on his knees, bends over Marie, takes his sword, and pierces his chest and heart. He falls over Marie. As he dies, she comes to life. The Trolls are deeply impressed)
Eva: I can’t believe he’d do
That, kill himself for her. I know it’s true
He’d never do a thing
Like that for me. I cannot bring
Myself to stay
And watch his death today.
(Eva runs off stage right)
Marie: What just happened? Why is it Adam’s over
Me and why am I on the ground and bloody?
Adam? What? Is Adam now dead? What happened?
Peter, please tell me.
Peter: That troll there killed you. Adam sacrificed
His life to bring you back. The blood of his
Good heart can bring a person back to life.
Troll: Such men as he are awesome to look upon.
Look, trolls, at what he did and lament that you
Have not had opportunity or
Strength to do such a fair deed as Adam’s.
(The Trolls bow down)
Peter: We thank you for such gracious words. Now let
Us take his body off so we can give
Him all the honors that he’s due from us.
(The Trolls nod. Marie gets out from under Adam’s body, and she and Peter carry his body off stage right. Lights go down)
Scene 3
(Lights come up. The Borak is standing in the center of the stage, tail down. To his right are three Knights; to his left are three Angels. Adam’s lifeless body lies in front of him, with Peter to his left, Marie to his right)
Peter: We brought you Adam’s body, Borak. Life
Was given so that life could then return
To someone Adam valued deeply. Adam
Deserves another life, a resurrection
So he can do what he was born to do.
If this, his sacrifice, is not sufficient
To prove his worth, I don’t know what could be.
Knight 1: He’s shown his bravery before and we
Would stand beside him for eternity.
Angel 1: He’s proven that he’s just, intelligent,
And beauty’s lover. He is neither poor
In spirit nor a hard ascetic bent
On pain instead of pleasure – such a boor
Could never enter Paradise because
He’d never understand the pleasures there.
It’s not that people like them all have flaws
That send them all to Hell – their Heaven’s bare
Of beauty, that is all, and thus it can’t
Achieve the true complexity and hard
Concreteness that it could have been. They shan’t
Enjoy the fruits available – no bard
Will sing to them. But Adam will enjoy
It all – he’ll get what Heaven can employ.
Borak: Behold the man who lies before us here –
He’s dead because in life he had no fear
Of death, and thus he’s worthy of his life,
A life he’s learned to love and hold most dear.
(The Borak spreads its wings)
Because he’s learned to love and cherish strife,
And recognized that peace is its good wife,
A serpent’s poison will revive the man –
A little poison will reverse the knife.
(An Angel produces a serpent and brings it to Adam’s side and allows the serpent to bite Adam on the wrist. Adam takes a deep breath and sits up)
Adam: Am I in Heaven? What is this? I can
Not understand why Peter’s here. I ran
My heart through so Marie could live, but she
Is here. Did I finish what I began?
(Adam looks up at the Angel, who stands)
An angel looking over me, I see.
But I’ve seen angels once before. Those three
I saw when I was certainly alive.
Am I alive or in eternity?
(The Angel steps away and the Borak looks down at Adam. Adam looks surprised. The Borak closes its wings. The Angel returns to his place)
Borak: Don’t look surprised to see me, Adam. Strive
Instead to understand yourself – arrive
At where you’ve been so that you come to know
How very far you still will have to drive.
Marie: Adam, I’m so glad you returned to me. My
Life is half of yours and you sacrificed it
Still for mine. I’ll love you forever, Adam –
You’ve earned my friendship.
Knight 1: All hail, for Adam has returned – a grail
For others who would learn of true life –
Knights: Hail!
Angel 2: The poet is the one true teacher who
Can teach humanity about itself –
But he himself must be both just and true
Or he’ll remain unread upon the shelf.
When beauty speaks through poets’ lips or pen,
The word becomes alive again, the milk
That nurtures humankind so what has been
Will feed all that we have, dress it in silk
Of royal blue and purple. Poets make
The laws we live by, so we must be sure
Our poets truly know the world – the fake,
The prophet who is false and is not pure
Must be rejected, meaning we must learn
The good from bad so that we will not burn.
(Adam stands. Peter and Marie stand with him)
Adam: I’ve been reborn – I think that I should show
Appreciation for this second go
At life. A poet’s life is hard to take,
But such a gift will only make me grow.
Borak: The keys to Paradise are given – make
The best of all your gifts. Don’t ever break
The trust that you’ve been given. If you do,
You’ll face a hot and painful fiery lake.
Adam: I know you, Borak. You’re the one who flew
The Prophet once to Heaven. I hope you
Can take me there as well so I can look
At Paradise myself and see what’s true.
Borak: I’ve taken up to heaven who I took
And I can’t bring another – I forsook
The trip by going once before. I’d grant
You it if I could access Heaven’s book.
Peter: You will not need the sword the Laméd Wufnik
Bestowed on you. The shield is useless too.
You’re leaving danger far behind and now
Are entering more civilized terrain.
(An Angel approaches Adam to accept the sword and shield)
Adam: I’m glad to hear that I won’t need these. Can’t
We leave these weapons for some future ant
Who must become a lion in the wild,
Or sit in some dark corner just to rant?
Borak: The lion must become a happy child
Before the transformation from a mild
And antish man becomes complete. But these
We’ll keep to give the next one we have riled.
Adam: With this rebirth I feel like I could seize
On anything in life just as I please,
That I am whole enough, that I’m complete
And ready now to live life off my knees.
Angel 3: When you are whole it’s only then that you
Are ready for a mate for you to love.
A single angel’s made when there are two
Who love each other here on earth. The Dove
Is always anywhere an angel looks –
And thus when two find love, then they will see
Sweet God wherever they may look. The brooks
Begin to flow with milk and honey, free
To nourish your true love. But only when
You’re whole and do not need another one
To make you feel complete will you find men
Or women who will love you. There are none
Who find this kind of love who aren’t complete –
To try will only result in defeat.
Peter: You’re not quite whole, but you’re well on your way.
You have to take a bit of every place
You’ve been before you learn to be a whole,
Without a missing piece or hole, so you
Will find the peace you need to do your work.
Marie: Do I have a place in this life prepared for
Him? I want to have a small role at least in
Adam’s life. Or will he outgrow me and quickly
Move to new pastures?
Peter: You’ll always have a role, my dear. He’ll need
Your friendship all his life like you’ll need his,
But he is destined for another’s love.
Knight 2: He’ll live a life where unrequited love
Lives in his past alone. He’ll rise above
It as he mines it, digging up the past
So he can make a future that will last.
Borak: Now Adam bow before me and repeat
The blessing that I give so you’ll complete
The transformation that will make you whole
And ready to accomplish any feat.
(Adam bows. The Borak raises his peacock tail up over them)
Adam & Borak: Oh, God, accept this blessing and this soul
Who comes before you like a newborn foal
Who struggles just to stand up in the grass.
Please bless the journey and the final goal.
(Adam stands)
Borak: Now go and finish up your trip. The crass
But value-loving gnome waits at his pass
For you. He asked if you would soon appear
Again. His love for you’s as clear as glass.
(Adam nods)
Peter: It’s time to go Marie and Adam. Let
Us get back on our way. Your journey will
Be over soon – but first we have to see
The gnome and fairies once again before
You’re where you’ll need to be to go beyond
The man you were. But first you must be whole.
Knight 3: All hail, for Adam will return a grail
For others who would learn of beauty –
Knights: Hail!
(Adam bows to them, then follows Peter and Marie off stage right. Lights go down)
Scene 4
(Lights come up. The Gnome is overseeing the mining Dwarves)
Gnome: The gold is there. You have to keep
On digging if we are
To find the vein. It isn’t deep –
We haven’t very far.
(Adam, Peter, and Marie enter stage left)
You’re here at last. I’ve waited such
A long, long time for you
To come back through. I want to touch
You just to prove it’s true
That you’ve returned. I felt so bad
About my selling Lily
And what you went through. I went mad
And just a little silly
To find a gift that I could give
To make up what I did
I do not think that I could live
With what I did. I bid
And got a really splendid price
On this spyglass which shows
Reality as rolling dice
And everything that grows
And changes, waves which grow and move,
And systems which emerge
To make new objects. This will prove
That we live on the verge
Of order and of chaos, time
Is bare before your pair
Of wizened eyes. With this you’ll climb
Into a world laid bare.
(The Gnome hands the spyglass to Adam, who accepts it)
Adam: I thank you for this splendid gift.
I cannot wait to see
What all exists within the rift
We call reality.
(Adam puts it to his eye and looks around through it)
Remarkable. I see unfurled
Before my very eyes
A whole entire other world
No longer in disguise.
Gnome: Yes, that spyglass will show to you
The world that science knows –
Just look and you’ll see all that’s true
As far as nature goes.
Marie: Splendid! Let me see through it. Life as it is
Truly must be something to see. I’ll quickly
Give it back to you. It’s a marvelous gift
You have received.
(Adam hands the spyglass to Marie, who puts it to her eye and wonders at what she sees)
Peter: A splendid gift indeed. But don’t forget
That it’s a way for you to see the facts
Which then allow the truth of life to be
Available to you for poetry,
For that’s were all truth lies beyond mere fact.
Marie: What a place of order I see before me.
Chaos tamed and channeled to make the world
Structured, more complex. I see order growing,
Splitting, creating.
Gnome: And who is this? What happened to
That girl we went to save?
This one is not the one which you
Went off and nearly gave
Your life to rescue. Who is this?
Did she replace the one
I sold? You seemed intent on bliss
With Lily. Was there none?
Adam: It turns out she was never who
I thought she was, my friend.
Marie is just my friend. I’d do
A lot for her. I’d end
My life to rescue hers again.
But I discovered that
I’d only live a life of sin
If I’d stayed with that brat.
Gnome: If you are happy, I am too.
Perhaps one day you’ll find
A woman beautiful and true,
Intelligent and kind.
Adam: I’m sure I will, but I will live
If I remain alone.
I’ve learned that I have more to give
When I become my own.
Dwarf 1: We hit the gold!
There is untold
Amounts. We’re sold!
Good gnome, you’re bold –
We thought this cold
Hill’d never hold
This kind of gold.
Gnome: I know just where to look for it –
I always sniff it out.
I never had a single bit
Of worry or of doubt.
(The Gnome walks over to where the Dwarf struck gold and picks up three pieces. He walks back and hands one each to Adam, Marie, and Peter)
Gnome: Another gift for each of you –
The first of all the gold
That I found here with this good crew.
The rest will soon be sold.
Peter: We thank you for this gift. We never thought
To get a gift like this. You’re generous
Beyond belief. I honestly once thought
You far too greedy and the kind who would
Do anything to make a buck. But here
I see your generosity is clear.
Gnome: I’m happy that you changed your mind.
I’m generous with friends
And I am sure that you will find
That just because it ends
With you that that just shows that you
Are what I value. I
Am generous with friends, it’s true,
But I will never try
To take from others to pretend
That generosity
Is spending others’ money. Lend
Your own, but leave me free.
Peter: Don’t let the fairies hear you say those things.
Gnome: Those fairies make no sense to me.
Thy seem to make up words
And blabber on incessantly,
And try to make men herds.
Adam: They’re not too bad. I once was just
Like them. Thank God I’ve grown
And see that they are just the crust
Of what mankind has sown.
Peter: Well, thank you once again, but we must go.
The fairies are indeed the stop that looms
Ahead of us – the final step before
We witness Adam become more than he
Knew possible. And it is thanks to you
And this, your gift, and all that he went through.
Come on, let’s go. We’ve almost reached our goal.
Adam: Well, thanks again for this great gift.
You’ve shown that you’re a true
Good friend. Keep working so you’ll lift
Us all into the blue.
(Adam waves good-bye to the Gnome, takes the spyglass from Marie, and he and Marie follow Peter off stage right. Lights go down)
Scene 5
(Lights come up. Todd is center stage. The Fairies are behind him. None look like Lily. The background looks like a college campus)
Todd: Marie
Is so lovely.
I’d bend upon my knee –
I’d like to have her just for me.
That woman’s lovelier than a fairy,
More fertile than a honeybee.
Oh, will she hear my plea?
I hope that she
Is free.
Fairies: Go away you silly fox. And take that elitist versification with you. Rhyme and rhythm are so aristocratic. And your notions of women! What are you, some kind of animal?
Todd: I’d call
An animal
One having far less gall
Than you, each one a mindless doll.
You are the ones who rose before the fall
Because you hang out at the mall
And never see the pall
That hides the wall
To y’all.
Fairies: How rude. If we weren’t animal rights supporters, we’d lock you up. If we weren’t anti-violence, we’d beat you up. If we weren’t anti-death penalty, we’d have you killed. You’re both too old and far too young for us to do a thing to you. Now go away, you audacious creature.
(Todd the Fox does a half-salute and exits stage right. As he leaves, Adam, Peter, and Marie enter stage left. Adam is carrying the lotus flower in one hand, the spyglass in the other)
Fairies: Peter! Adam! Welcome back. Oh look! You lost your lovely orchid and have a lotus flower instead. Are you becoming Buddhist? All of us are New Agers, you know? Ohm . . . !
(The Fairies keep the “Ohm” up for several seconds, touching their thumbs to their forefingers as they hold their hands out in front of them, palms up)
Peter: Dear fairy ladies, yes, he has been given
The lotus flower by the Norns so he
Can soon transcend the mental state he’s in.
Fairies: Oh! The Norns! They’re scary. They’re always going on and on about time and we don’t really like time – well, except relativistic time, which shows us any time at all, or none, whatever time will please us will do, and it’s entirely up to you. We want an unchanging world and nature and economy, a college campus life. We want to share and dance in an open ring that closes off the meanness of the world. You should have heard the fox just now talking in poetic verse, in rhythms that remind us of our beating hearts and our deaths that come too soon, a violation if there ever was one. If we can stop all change, then we will never ever die!
Adam: What are they rambling on about?
Marie: Don’t you stray too far from the poetry you
Learned. Their easy prose can be tempting, but you
Can’t forget that poems alone can tap the
Brain’s deepest rhythms.
Fairies: What is she talking about? And who is this girl? Is she the one Adam went after the last time we saw him?
Peter: We brought him here and through the things that he
Went through so Adam would become a poet.
And this is Adam’s friend Marie, not Lily.
Fairies: A poet? We like poetry too, you know. Observe:
Fairy 1: Fragmented acumen that
The rhizome deconstructs in this versification
Of the polyphonic moment
That constructs, instructs, destructs to
Conform, inform, deform and even reform the form/structure
Dissolving into the probabilities
Collapsing the wave function of our thoughts.
Fairies: Now that’s a poem. A real thinker, that one.
Peter: I do not have the foggiest idea
What you just said. I think it’s best for you
To speak in prose instead if that is what
You think is poetry. We want his verse
To give us more, not less, if we should want
To try to understand his poetry
At ever-deeper levels with each read.
Fairies: It’s the end of poetry, the end of art, the end of history, so don’t make a big deal of it. Everything’s dissolved into the democracy of prose. I mean, can you imagine an epic poem about the poor? We want reality in our so-called art. We want art democratized. Art should be what everyone can do equally.
(Peter turns to Adam)
Peter: You haven’t said a word since we arrived.
Adam: That’s not quite true, you know. I’m just absorbing.
(Adam spins the lotus between his thumb and finger and watches the petals)
Fairies: What’s that spyglass in your other hand?
Adam: A gift the gnome gave me so I could see
Reality as science shows it is.
Fairies: Then we should make a gift to you of this that fits one end and shows reality in its plurality. Science isn’t the only way of understanding the world, you know. Just push the button and you’ll get a different view based on some other culture or disciplinary world view. It even has religious views, though everyone knows that religious views are just silly and aren’t really legitimate. People just use religion to get power over others, you know.
Marie: Almost as absurd as believing fairies
Actually exist, don’t you think? Elitist
Atheists annoy me to death. Your groundless
Hatred belies you.
(Adam holds out his hand and accepts the gift from a Fairy and attaches it to the spyglass)
Adam: I’d like to thank you for this gift. There’s more
To life than science shows. There’s more to me
And who I learned to be than just a poet
In all the things that I went through. I’ve learned
Of love and friendship and that I cannot
Have either one until I become whole.
This isolationist community
Of pluralistic world views will not
Make any person whole. It fragments us
And makes us turn to drugs and men who both
Will promise us utopias. But that
Is not an option, being nowhere, so
We sit, despair, and don’t know why we do.
I thank you for this gift, but I must go.
I’ve been here once before in life and it
Was not enough. There must be more than this,
A world of unconnected insights which
Just cause despair that we can never know
Or understand a thing. Where meaning’s gone
And wisdom’s ridiculed. I have to go.
Peter: The next step is the loneliest because
So few have gone before. The first ape to
Emerge into a man went mad, as did
The first to take the step that you’ll soon take.
The next step is the highest step, unlike
The ones you took before, where many tread
The path down smooth and wide. The path
Before you is more lightly tread, but you
Can show the way to many more to come.
To take it, first look through the altered spyglass.
(Adam puts the spyglass to his eye and looks around, clicking the buttons on the side)
Adam: I see the fairies turn to people, then
They disappear, and then return to fairies.
And Peter, you’re a fox, a harpy too,
A set of Norns, a fairy. You’re a gnome,
the Laméd Wufnik, knights, and angels too.
I see a troll and object spirits, satyrs,
The basilisk. You’re now the dragon and
Keteh Merriri, salamanders, Eva,
And Corybantes too. You’re animals,
The Borak and yourself. I see Marie.
I do not understand what all I’m seeing.
(Adam takes the spyglass from his eye)
Peter: I’m Peter, rock on which you stand, and I
Am Proteus as well, who changes shape.
I’m your reflection – who you have to be.
Now follow me to become who you are.
As I dissolve in you and you in me,
You’ll become one in unity, prepared
To create beauty, beautiful yourself.
(Peter grabs Adam by the hand and leads him off stage right. Marie remains behind with the Fairies. Lights go down)
Scene 6
(A spotlight on Adam, who is alone on the stage. He spins the lotus flower in his hands as he speaks. The antique mirror is on the right edge of the stage, in darkness)
Adam: I am alone. But who, besides an animal or God,
Could live alone? Is anybody else out there with me?
I feel as though I’m looking down on all humanity
And yet I do not feel I’m better than you men. How odd
That I should feel serenity like this for all of you
When all I felt before was cold resentment. All the stages
Of man now live inside me, healthy and aligned in pages
Of harmony, a unity in me. I have a true
Perspective on perspectives, vision unified, complex.
I now see time in hierarchies, evolving over time.
I now see man in hierarchies, emerging in their climb.
I’ve learned to love my body with my mind and enjoy sex
As what it is: a swift descent into the animal
That elevates us up beyond the human realm, for it
Is true that the way up and down are both the same. I sit
And see that time is bared before me now. I see that all
The world has a voice with which to speak – I only have
To listen to the waves that flow upon and over me.
The gentle nudging I once felt that told me what to be
And do has now become a crystal voice, a gentle salve
That I must listen to. Perhaps I hear the voice of God;
Perhaps it’s future times who need my actions to be born –
Perhaps the two are each the same and travel the same worn-
New path. I am alone, but never quite alone. How odd.
(The lights come up and the Norns enter stage left)
Norns: All hail! The prophet has arrived!
We hope you do not feel deprived
In life, but now have learned instead
That life’s not something you should dread.
Adam: I feel if man’s the golden mean of animal and angel,
Then I’ve become the golden mean of man and angel through
The spiral journey that I took. But how can it be true?
I’m not the first man to descend or been sent out to travel.
Norn 1: When Homer, Virgil, Dante too
Went to the places you went through
They did so in the middle of
Man’s journey – thus they rose above.
Morn 2: But you descended at the end
Of man’s complexity, to send
You up beyond where any man
Could set his eyes or have them scan.
Norn 3: You weren’t the first, but many more
Will follow you. You’ll prop the door
So others can come through to see
A world of time that’s truly free.
Adam: It’s odd, I seem to understand your riddles now. They make
More sense to me. I see the world for what it is and not
For what I think that it should be. I see that ought has got
To come from is – that is the only choice that’s not a fake.
Norn 3: I think the boy is ready now –
There’s nothing that will make him bow –
But still, your life will always be
One that will push you to your knee.
Norn 2: You see the world in such a way
That you will find it hard to play
The games that men all play. You see
Their games in their simplicity.
Norn 1: And everyone who knew you once
Before won’t understand your wants
Or intellectual needs or how
You think. You’ll always cause a row.
Adam: I’m ready for all that, to learn survival in this new,
Exciting world that I’ve been granted by my pain and fate.
I have no fear – it fell away – and without fear no hate
Exists for anyone. I only don’t know what to do.
Norn 2: Well, we’re not here to tell you that –
You’ve landed deftly, like a cat –
And now our job with you is through.
Your life hereafter’s up to you.
(Norn 1 points at the mirror)
Norn 1: You see, you’re back. You have returned
To where you started from. We burned
Your dregs to purify your gold,
So now it’s time to go be bold.
Norn 3: You’ll go home to a place where no
One understands you. You will go
To find a people hostile to
All you will do – just know it’s true.
A prophet will be scorned by all
Who knew him once, and he will fall
Into disfavor with those who
Will lose their power due to you.
Norn 2: You do not need the lotus now –
You do not need a sacred cow –
You have transcended the mere man
You were. You’re on a different plan.
(Adam hands the lotus flower to Norn 2)
Adam: Divested now of everything, I step into the life
I left, a different man today. I cannot ever know
What life will bring – my only choice I ever had was grow
Or die a bit whenever I am faced with any strife.
(Without looking back, Adam walks over to the mirror and steps through it. Lights go down)
Scene 7
(Lights come up. Adam and Roland, a poet, are standing in Adam’s living room. There is a couch, the mirror, the table with the C.D. player and the spyglass on it, and a door on the left side of the stage. Roland is reading from a sheet of paper)
Roland: I love this new connected space we make
With every keystroke. I could have a friend
Or lover pining for my presence send
An invitation via e-mail, take
Me to a foreign land so we could break
Some bread and drink some wine and sit and blend
Our souls with conversations that won’t end
While sitting at a table by a lake.
Yet others I will never see, just be
A set of pixels to. And arguments
Will spark that would not happen in the real.
But still, I joy in knowing that I’ll see
Far more than generations past – the tents
We spread encompass more to let us heal.
(Roland looks up from the poem)
Interesting. I mean, it’s a sonnet about the internet. The subject is okay, I guess, but why a sonnet? Who writes sonnets anymore? It’s a style any real poet has thankfully forgotten.
Adam: Scorn not the sonnet! Critic, you have frowned
Mindless of its just honors. With this key
Shakespeare unlocked his heart, the melody
Of this small lute gave ease to Petrarch’s wound;
A thousand times this pipe did Tasso sound;
With it Camöens soothed an exile’s grief.
The sonnet glittered a gay myrtle-leaf
Amid the cypress with which Dante crowned
His visionary brow – a glow-worm lamp.
It cheered mild Spencer, called from Faery-land
To struggle through dark ways, and, when a damp
Fell round the path of Milton, in his hand
The thing became a trumpet, whence he blew
Soul-animating strains – alas, too few!
Roland: Seriously? Just because you make your argument in sonnet form, that doesn’t make it persuasive. Especially since you list a bunch of people nobody even reads. It shows you’re clever, but that’s about it.
Adam: Are you serious? I quoted Wordsworth now, a famous one at that.
Roland: I’ve never read a Wordsworth poem.
Adam: You teach poetry!
Roland: But not the old stuff. It’s old and dusty and of little use in modern poetry or the modern world. Knowing history only dooms you to repeat it. Why else would you have written a sonnet except you’ve obviously been reading and, worse, memorizing so many? I neither clutter my nor my students’ minds with others’ works. That keeps us fresh.
Adam: It seems to me that all my sonnet-reading did for me was show me that the form is far from being an exhausted one. There’s so much more that can be done with it.
Roland: Well, that’s my advice and my opinion, as good as yours. You asked me what I thought, and there it is.
Adam: I never thought you hadn’t read a Wordsworth poem – or, I’d guess from what you’ve said, much else.
Roland: I’m sorry, but I don’t think you’d be a good addition to our staff. You’re stuck in the past and we’re writing poetry for the future.
Adam: I’d rather say you’re stuck in present-times and teach a poetry which has no future. Your rejection of my services harms you, not me.
(Roland hands Adam back his poem)
Roland: Well, good luck with that attitude and these poems no one will ever publish. I won’t be seeing you around – or in print.
(Roland turns and walks out through the door)
Adam: You’d think that creativity has died
Since all I hear is I cannot fit in
Since I am always overqualified.
No matter what I do I am denied,
No matter if it’s strangers or it’s kin –
You’d think that creativity has died.
I find myself alone, without a guide,
And facing each rejection with a grin
Since I am always overqualified.
I look around and give the earth a wide
Glance. When did beauty turn into a sin?
You’d think that creativity has died.
On looking back, I’m sure I would have cried
To be rejected here, and once again,
Since I am always overqualified.
Oh, people, tell me, where did beauty hide
From you? Oh, did you lose it in the din?
You’d think that creativity has died
Since I am always overqualified.
(A knock on the door. Adam walks over and opens it to Marie and Todd. Todd is wearing a long coat)
Marie: Adam! It’s so wonderful seeing you! I’m
Sorry I have been off the map for quite a
While. This is Todd, my new boyfriend. This is
Adam, my best friend.
(Todd shakes Adam’s hand)
Todd: I’m glad
To meet you, lad.
I really like your pad.
It goes beyond the current fad,
A way of decorating I think’s sad.
I’m sorry, but I’m really bad
At this. I feel a cad –
It makes my dad
Real mad.
Adam: You look familiar. I’m not sure. I could have seen you somewhere once.
Marie: Todd is such a wonderful person, Adam.
He is a successful professional who
Organizes meetings with interesting
Speakers. That’s cool, right?
Adam: I’m sure it is. But tell me how you met? I know you don’t go out that much.
Marie: Oh e-Harmony. It’s a great new way for
People just like us to make time to meet new
People. I’m so happy with Todd. I cannot
See life without him.
Adam: Well, I am glad you two have found your happiness.
Todd: You do
Not look like you
Are happy for the two
Of us. I do not want to rue
Our coming over here. I’m willing to
Believe that what I think’s not true:
That seeing us will brew
Up feelings new
And blue.
Adam: Not at all. You only caught me after I just met a poet who, though not a poet anyone would ever read, has power over teaching students and the power not to hire me. It’s frustrating is all, and should not matter when it comes to my best friend. Congratulations. I got caught up in myself, and that was rude of me. I’m sorry.
Marie: Don’t apologize. You have run into these
Kinds of problems over and over. I can’t
Blame you. Getting turned down again has got to
Be so annoying.
I’m afraid that we must be going, though. We
Only stopped to give you a quick hello so
You could meet my boyfriend today. We’re on our
Way to the opera.
Adam: I’m glad you came to introduce the two of us. Perhaps I’ll have you over for some dinner soon.
Marie: That would be great. Bye.
Adam: Good-bye.
(Marie and Todd turn to leave. A foxtail pops out the back of Todd’s coat for a second. Adam shuts the door and turns to the audience)
Adam: I can’t believe what I’ve just seen –
My mind is playing tricks on me –
There’s only one thing it could mean.
I can’t believe what I’ve just seen –
Since madness made my mind turn clean,
I thought that I had become free.
I can’t believe what I’ve just seen.
My mind is playing tricks on me.
(Todd the Fox runs on stage right and runs through the mirror to appear in Adam’s apartment)
Todd: Oh no,
You did not go
Away from us. You crow
In every line you write you know
About our time and place. We let you grow
Into the man you are, from woe –
And you should always show
You went below
To glow.
(Todd the Fox runs back through the mirror and exits stage right)
Adam: I guess my fight has just begun. I have
To live upon the earth and draw
From my experience on it to grow
And live and write. I must believe that I
Will do just fine and that the ones who come
To me are who are meant to learn from me.
One day I’ll find someone who understands
That being overqualified’s a gift,
That knowing many things is valuable
And lets you understand the way the world
Behaves so our ideas can match the real.
And that’s why I write poetry and speak
Through it in metaphors, a language which
Allows me the ability to speak
In ways that others can then understand.
I know I’ll have to struggle on alone
A little while longer till I find
A friend to love and marry and enjoy –
A joy that I’m allowed now that I’m whole.
(Adam goes over and picks up the spyglass and puts it to his eye)
I now can see myself and all of you
Exactly as you really, truly are.
(Lights go down. A spotlight on the Bard, who walks across the stage as the curtains close. The Bard stops center stage)
Bard: And what more could I add to this? The Muses spoke
And showed the distance Adam traveled. He is whole
And will be ready when his lover comes to him.
But that’s a tale that won’t be told, for stories must
Have conflict if they are to be a story which
We want to listen to at all. The story’s done
When everyone is happy ever after. Yet
I know that some of you will want to know what’s next.
Will he get married? Yes. Will he have children? Three.
Will he receive appreciation for all that
He knows and does? Such things don’t matter much
To him. He only wants to do his work and be
Allowed to grow and change and always do what he
Knows to be right and good. You have to trust he will.
(The Bard disappears behind the closed curtain and the spotlight goes down)
The End of Reflections