My Cardboard Balcony

Many people rely on the physical rather than the spiritual these days. I happen to be one of them. Like many others, I have been stricken with a number of illnesses for the past two years, all of them being particularly minor. However, it is my mental constructions that have proved to be detrimental. What is simply a sore throat becomes a severe malady. A headache something to be feared. Sore thighs something to be wary of. All while ignoring the real spiritual substance of my life. There's no denying that I've felt a terrible disconnect from what I believe to be the deeper, more metaphysical elements of my world and my life. Yes, I am aware of the wonderful things that compose my life. My new job, which I love; my girlfriend, whom I adore; my family and friends, whom I cherish with all of my heart; and of course, my writing craft and my music. But my inspiration has been stilted as of late, and it's only tonight that I realize how displaced I've felt in terms of my...

He Said by Belinda Roddie He said, "Do you see the purple veins of the heart of twilight, pulsing its way into our eyes? Some day soon it'll come into full contact with the moon to create a new sunrise in different skies. Come, follow the color into the browning fields of summer, where the reeds in so many numbers sway from side to side like a bumbling fool drinking his wine all the time, and in these never-ending fields of reeds where there's such nonsense we'll reside. Let's craft an instrument out of these and play a tune and sing, for life's too short to wonder why we do it and too precious to wonder if we blew it." The work you see here has only been slightly modified since August 11th, 2007.

The sky was an array of pastel whirlwinds as the seven red planes jettisoned into the twilight of the new planet. As the roses, red and tinged with white like snow against a bloody wound, snaked their way out of the dark hardened earth, the pinnacles of civilizations, tough and wrought with what looked like iron and crystal, was more appealing to me than they had ever been these past six years I had lived here as a human ambassador.

One Day While Playing Pinball by Belinda Roddie One day while playing pinball, having drank an ample dose of butterscotch delight, I came across one of milit'ry rank who was a noble Christian in his right. I wanted to talk of science-y things, like evolution and phenomena, but as the steel clicked against pins, methinks I was afraid such talk would cause stigma. But he was well-informed, intelligent, and loved to speak of both God and physics. We played games side by side, our shoulders bent as we watched little balls do their own tricks. Who thought such a conversation would be by old pinball machines, so rickety?

The monstrosity's pattern was black and white stripes racing down in a spiral toward claws made of iron. His tongue like wick held the flame of his wrath and his teeth the sharp horns that blew fatal desires. I struck at his noise with a stave I had carved from an old willow tree that always seemed to be ever crying.

Special Menu by Belinda Roddie chicken quesadilla tapatío on the side this meal's my pride and joy dig in savor all the kick you in the cabeza flavors disenchanted by the blandness of a three course meal with ketchup sprinkle chili pepper on the sizzling beef, stuff a sentimental heart with rice and curry so caliente , and mix a little mustard with the olive oil squeeze a lime drop a dime for salt at the store save the ranch and use that for your dressing, mi chica bella. because I made you a feast so we can clatter spoons and match the rhythm of our laughter, chew out the noise with our tongues on fire it's more than just words that season the evening and it goes great with a five-alarm call for cool, cool vino .

We would like to ask that you turn off all cellphones, pagers, smartphones, video cameras, regular cameras, extraterrestrial cameras, microphones, babies, small children, angry grandparents, stereos, cars, screams, leg thumping, radios, televisions, iPods, laptops, desktops, blacktops, or any other form of loud thinking during the duration of this performance.