"It Is Enough"
by Christopher Paul Meyer
It is enough, some said The 3000 dead on a sunny Tuesday The 6400 dead for 20 years thereafter. The blood The oil The WMDs The drones The laws of war The rules of engagement The Army field manual for interrogation All the breakfasts ruined with CNN in the background But now There is climate change and social justice and stop the steal So your wars are over, it is time for ours and it is enough It is enough, we said The dozens drunk on a sunny Sunday The ones who didn’t come back 20 years thereafter. The dust The smells Toxic leaders Toxic exposures The marriages gone The children estranged And the death and the deals cut to embrace it All the meals for nourishment not taste But now There is pussy and writing and love songs and color So our wars are over, it is time for peace and it is enough It is not enough, they said The 3000 dead on a sunny Tuesday The 6400 dead for 20 years thereafter. The blood The oil The WMDs The drones The laws of war The rules of engagement The Army field manual for interrogation And now There is no pussy, no writing, no love songs, no color, Our wars are unending, our senses are numb, our anger is unsatiated, we have time to kill, And it is enough.
Christopher Paul Meyer comes from three generations of theater performers. He is a graduate of Improv Olympic and the PIT and was “all but dissertation” at Second City and then later at Upright Citizens Brigade when life interrupted each graduation. He performed as an actor at The Public Theater, La MaMa, Princeton Rep, Shakespeare on the Sound, Primary Stages, and the Chekov Theater Ensemble. If you remember him from Guiding Light, you seriously watch too much soap opera and should cut down a lot. As a stand-up comic, he was a regular at the Comic Strip, Standup NY, and the Original NY Improv. He also directed plays, had screenplays optioned, and lived out of his car for extended periods of time. He has spent significant parts of his life as a nightclub bouncer, firefighter, corporate security trainer, and prison chaplain. His time in the military was spent mostly in a National Guard special operations group where he spent 33 months in combat zones and earned a Bronze Star in Afghanistan. He has written one book, edited another, and is working on a third. He was a remarkably unaccomplished judo and jiu-jitsu player but has found that doesn’t stop him from having incredibly strong opinions about what it takes to become a world-class grappler.
This week on the Savage Wonder podcast…
Matt Smythe is a staff writer for Free Range American. He hails from the Finger Lakes region of western New York. An Army veteran and lifelong outdoorsman, Matt suffers from an inability to sit still. If he’s not in the woods, or on the water, he’s scheming ways to get there. His work has appeared in Gray’s Sporting Journal, the Fly Fish Journal, The Drake, Southern Culture on the Fly, Revive, Midcurrent, TROUT Magazine, and a handful of other non-outdoors-related magazines and literary journals. He recently published a book of poetry with Dead Reckoning Collective titled Revision of a Man.
Folks - the Parlor is back!
Starting this Saturday night, downtown Cornwall is once again the place to see great theater with Joshua Harmon’s 2018 Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle award winning dramady Admissions. Drinks, dessert, a hilarious live performance, professional actors, an intimate unforgettable space, pay-what-you-can tickets…it simply does not get better than this.
I’m not going to lie, we’re poking the bear a little with Admissions. It’s not a traditional comedy. It’s a provocative yet even-handed look at the college admissions process and the hypocrisies, gaffes, primal screams, and noble intentions behind race-based admissions. Issues of race, class, and privilege are confronted head-on with Joshua Harmon’s straightforward, unsparing, blunt dialogue. It’s a night of satire, drama and social commentary that will leave you questioning, laughing, and shaking your head.
As always, you’re welcome to show up and hope for a cancellation. But if you really want to see the show, why not book now and save yourself the uncertainty?
Amen!