"Untitled and Everything Else"
By Chris Madsen
I don’t sleep enough
I’ve learned most lessons
the hard way.
Still don’t know which
lesson I need to learn.
I drink just enough
for me; I think.
To the chagrin
of my paper thin
apartment neighbors
I turn up the volume
on Northern Blues.
It calms this wild mind.
Somehow the thoughts
grow louder.
This time around,
more clear.
There’s a fault in my stars
but I still reach for the clouds.
I can’t shake this chill,
take me far from
this soaking wet cold.
Atop a smoky mountain
somewhere in Appalachia
where the rising sun
thaws my frozen heart.
Take me home.
Where I’ve never known.
Chris Madsen is a former Scout Sniper and US Army Veteran. You can find more of his writing here.
What’s happening at VetRep…
The Parlor is back! This coming Saturday will be the first showing of “The Absurdity of it All” by Chris Soucy, a VetRep Resident Artist. Chris is an Army veteran, co-founder of Odd Lot Improv and the Savannah Shakes Theater Company, and has worked as an actor, puppeteer, writer, director, and filmmaker, with over 30 years of experience in the theater industry. We are thrilled to produce “The Absurdity of it All”, as the first full-length play written for VetRep by a Resident Artist, promising a truly unique performance you can’t get anywhere else. Get your tickets before they sell out!
We would also like to extend our gratitude to Arts Mid Hudson for awarding VetRep the Dutchess programmatic grant in support of this production.
This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by Arts Mid-Hudson.