Adam Shechter
The Psalm of All I Have


             All I have are my books
All I have are my words
All I have is my mind,
      
Have you ever felt your
Central Nervous System

crash upon your Spine!
No-ooooh NO! OHHH!
      
I grab ideas like Teddy Bears and squeeze,
but  no one cares about
the speed with which
they disintegrate into
even more desperate furry pleas…

No-ooooh NO! OHHH!

We don’t ever wear Polo!!!

We don’t ever feel safe!!!

No-ooooh NO! OHHH!

I don’t care for those pungent colognes,

Can you feel me sweating, emitting
my scent of death, trembling in life’s central fear,
Obsessed...

No-ooooh!
My body is a mere wooden shack
Crumbling in Joy, can you hear those wooden
Slats
Crack!
OHHHHHH, Nooooo…..

And I’ve never had a floor,
I’ve never walked on the ground,

My feet just don’t like it there,
They don’t care for concrete,
They’re in love,
with dancing abstract, kicking melodies
of the air,
Now, Run your fingers through your hair,
Yeahhhhh, I can feel my brain against my skull,
My thoughts are still there…

Have you ever felt your central nervous system
smash upon your bones?
Walked with shredded security blanket
in the wetness of the cold,
Alone, Oh, I’ve got no home
Got to get down,
Got to wrap my mind around
this exile thing,
Oh-noooooo…..

I’ve gone numb with chocolate cake,
before the heinous glow of the T.V.
Woe, I have less than,
from when I was feeling before,
thoughts exposed like bleeding ulcers
across the filthy subway linoleum floor
Harsh eyes threaten the breaking of skin,

No, you can’t paint over my tongue!

No, I will not let you tear down my tongue!!!

For my tongue speaks for my lungs,
and my lungs are breathing,
Breathing memories
Biological configurations
Of running
In terror
Remember,
I am only human
And this might be an
Error,
But I’m terrified
But, breathing
Remember in unison
What is encoded in anxious breath,
Inhale, with sudden shock
Now exhale, break open all the fleshy locks
Ohhhhh! That’s my blood pumping
Ohhhh! That’s me
Alive, Nooo…
How I love to live terrified
Intensified
Let’s run for no reason
But I tell you, they’re coming
Can’t you feel the shadow filling out,
The building of the angry gentile hoard
Can’t you feel the loud rapping of knuckles
Against the echo of an empty rib cage.
Can’t you feel their need?
They are so unhappy, not to mention stupid,
For the Goy must feel like Top Dog!
RUN!!!!!
Now!
RUN!!!!!
Now!

No-ooooh NO! OHHH!





Adam Shechter is the editor of the online journal, The Blue Jew Yorker. He lives in Brooklyn, New York with his girlfriend.
                                               
                                               
 © Adam Shechter All Rights Reserved