Martin Higgins Conceptual Anarchist
CONNECT
  • WRITING
    • COMEDY >
      • SISTER CONCEPTOR
      • HAZARDOUS WASTE OF TIME
      • THE IRISH INVENTED RAP
      • POOR DAD
      • BITTER MOON REVIEW
      • PRIMARY CHOLERS
      • INDIA HAS THE BOMB!
      • CREATIVE COLLABORATION
      • I.R.S. CHANGES
      • PETA PRINCIPALS
      • DRUNK DRIVING SCHOOL
      • 2015'S MOST DANGEROUS TOYS
      • STROLLING THE BONEPILE
      • INTOLERABLE!
      • SPIT-SHINE LANGUAGE
      • 100 PORN SWITCHEROO TITLES
      • DANGEROUS TOYS - 2022
    • HORROR >
      • THE EXCHANGE
      • DOES
      • THE DESERT PROJECT >
        • OLEANDER / SIGILS
        • FOOD WATER MAPS
        • TALC
        • ISSUE OF BLOOD PT 1
        • ALTARS AND SHRINES
        • GHOSTS
        • DESERT COMPILATION
    • VIETNAM >
      • ME MAU THAN
      • BRASSO
      • PLYWOOD
      • REMANDED TO THE NAM
      • CHIEU HOI
      • PLYWOOD SLIDESHOW
      • BROTHERS AND BABES IN ARMS
    • NON-FICTION >
      • TURNING ON THE RADIO
      • SHERLOCK AMBASSADOG
    • ARTICLES >
      • SCHADENFREUDE UND GLUCKSCHMERZ
      • GOOD GRIEF
      • COMEDY? THAT'S MY BAG!
      • VEAL IN VEGAS
      • VIDEO PHILOSOPHY
      • KEEPING YOUR TEETH
      • RED SKY IN MOURNING
    • PROFILES >
      • DEEPAK CHOPRA
      • DANNY KALB - BLUES AT THYE OUTSET
      • OTIS TAYLOR
      • DORI MAYNARD
      • DR. EDRICH
      • GOOD GRIEF
      • DR. SACHS
      • MICHAEL KAROLCHYK
      • JOHN CONNOR
      • SCOTT OLSEN
      • DANNY KALB
      • THE SHAME GAME
    • TECHNOLOGY >
      • BLADE RUNNER / LOST IN TRANSLATION
      • MICROSOFT SDK GUIDELINES
      • VIDEO PHILOSOPHY
      • VIDEO SPEECH
      • BRIEF HISTORY OF COMMUNICATION
      • ASYMETRIC MEDIA
    • SCRIPTS >
      • CHURCHBURNER
    • POETRY >
      • THE CHANGELING
      • NEW MEANING
      • THE HOUSE OF DEATH
      • THE CHANGELING
      • A BEGINNING
      • A REMINDER
      • NOT YET LOST
      • CLOTHES I'VE WORN
      • EULOGY FOR MY BROTHER
      • FREE WILL
      • BLESSED B THE HERALD
      • THE DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS
      • DISIDERATA 2016
    • MY COMEDY SONGS >
      • 12 BARS
      • NOTHIN'
      • A FINAL DUET
      • MY LIFE IS JUNK
      • DEMON BARBECUE RIG
      • PAT HARRINGTON
      • NEPHROLOGIST BLUES
  • MEDIA
    • FILM PRODUCTION >
      • MAGIC BOAT / PALOOKA TRAILER
      • COPPOLA, PARKER, HIGGINS
    • VIDEO PRODUCTION >
      • SEATTLE STREET PARTY
      • MJH KATE MULGREW INTERVIEW
      • MJH LUCASARTS INTERVIEWS
      • THE ZOMBIE DANCE
      • KAISER PERMANENTE CFWA
      • C|NET PILOT
      • TRANSAMERICA
      • SCARED STRAY
      • OTIS TAYLOR FREEDOM
      • AERO ANGEL
      • ONSTAGE WITH OTIS TAYLOR
      • SOOT BUGS
      • BAD SANTAS
      • ROUND UP RANCH
      • COAL CREEK SALMON
      • MY BACKYARD
    • AUDIO PRODUCTION >
      • DOES READ
      • COMEDY RADIO DROPS
      • AUDIO SORBETS
      • TALK RADIO HOST
      • RADIO ANNOUNCER
      • THE EXCHANGE
      • HIGGINS AND SPOTTSWOOD ORACLE
      • RADIO SPOTS
      • RADIO GUEST
      • KAROLCHYK AIRCHECK
      • ADAM CURRY / JOHN C. DVORAK
      • HIGGINS / SPOTTSWOOD SCREEN TEST
  • PERFORMANCE
    • STAND-UP >
      • FUNNY BUSINESS DOCUMENTARY
      • FUNNY BUSINESS MJH CLIPS
      • SAN FRANCISCO `82 - `92
      • HOLLYWOOD BAR
      • GINSU KNIFE
      • THE LAMPWICKS
      • ME TIGER
    • BLUE MATERIAL >
      • ABOMNIBLE SNOW WOMAN
  • COMEDY IMAGES
    • ELVIN BISHOP
  • BLOG POSTS
    • LIBERAL GUILT >
      • LOSING LIBERAL FRIENDS
      • TITANIC NEWS
      • THE GELDING OF AMERICA - PT I
      • THE GELDING OF AMERICA - PT II
      • THE PC DISEASE
      • HOW TO KEEP YOUR TEETH
      • A HEN IN THE FOX HOUSE
      • ENMITY OF THE STATE
  • LOVES
    • McLAREN 570S
    • FLYING >
      • MJH WARRIOR
    • TILE PROJECTS
    • FAMILY >
      • FAIRYLAND
      • AYLA RECITAL
      • I THANK YOU
      • AYLA TAPPING
      • AYLA ACAPELLA
      • AYLA DANCE SHOW
      • BALLET
      • BRENNA TRELLIS TOUR
      • AYLA VIOLIN CONCERT
      • PIPPY & CATS
      • MOM AND DAD
      • PADDY AND BARBARA
      • PADDY BOXING
      • KITCHEN REMODEL
      • AYLA RECITAL
    • MUSIC >
      • GUITARS / AMPS / EFFECTS
      • CHAPARELS CARDS
      • PAT HARRINGTON
    • RELIGION >
      • UNIVERSAL LIFE
      • LATTER DAY DUDE
      • TRIBE CERTIFICATE
      • SUBGENIUS
  • CONTACT
    • BACKGROUND C.V.
    • RATES / BIO
    • QUICK LINKS TO PROJECTS
    • COPPOLA PARKER HIGGINS
    • VIETNAM `69 - `70
  • TRANSFER
    • FOR MY DAUGHTER
    • FIX YOUR DIET!
  • L.I. HIGGINS FAMILY
  • MY VOICE SYNTHESIZED

The Changeling
Higgins
​

​I'm pulling myself apart,
Head from heart, mind from soul,
Unwrapping long-lost pieces,
Small, life-worn, worry-rounded parts,
That no longer fit into my best Shadow story -
A tale twice-told - one, safe as milk,
One, blacker than death.
And between those clashing stones, I place my feet,
The last foothold, waiting,
Patiently holding my judgement,
Until I can put myself back together again.
 
I'm laying out my things,
Preparing to embark today,
My next journey, anxious, restless,
Races on ahead of me.
My bags, stuffed and splitting,
Sit at some shuttered station,
Plainly marked as mine,
But miles from their destination.
My goal, as usual, lost inside me,
Further down the line than expected,
As I sit, sidetracked with fear.
 
I have changed the cloth of the past,
Ripped out the straining seams,
And set ragged edge against thick welt.
Then wore that thin garment inside out,
To show my grief, threadbare excuses and shiny pain.
All the while speaking grandly,
Of the rich, warm fabric within,
Just beneath my tattered life.
I have said these words, "Forced to wear,"
"Thrust upon me," "Dropped at my feet."
"My many selfless sacrifices repaid rudely,
With a Wastrel's Cloak!"
Woven absently as I sang,
"Oh, Promise Me!"
 
I can no longer see my front yard tree.
Dazzled by its spattered greenery,
Forty shades of sublime emerald,
The very crown of Earth's wooden god.
I am blinded by its shifting nature,
Set square between precise transit lines,
Blocking my view of a neighbor-scoundrel,
It’s a wind-blown killer, car-crusher,
Bird-haven, kid-gym,
Sawyer's meal, fire-beast,
Leaf-dropper, noose-holder,
Sap-honeyed stranger,
Lifting its arms in supplication to the Sun
Master, Goddess, AUM.
So the tree eludes me,
And I am diminished.
 
I know that I will not return,
The voyage and its fresh diary demand release,
Favoring the changeling,
Unchained from steely schedule,
And the need to meet each day with yesterday's face,
The same small self.
No more than a meager tally of countless tests,
Skewed to please, curved to tame,
Meant to kill my desire to be,
To be accepted as born,
By nature, in total,
Honest about what I am and what I can be.
 
So I'm leaving this note where it will be found.
Pinned to the lapel of a ragged coat,
Left hanging on the chair where I sat,
Counting my 73 years,
And pulling myself apart.
 
#   #   #

 
Copyright ©2021
Martin Higgins
Higgins Synthetic Realities