Rodak's Writings: Welcome to the Multiplex

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Unless we are saints, on the one hand, or simpletons, on the other, we tend to be poorly integrated, manifold human entities; not one personality, but a complexity of personae. We can conceive of pantheons, or of a Triune God, precisely because we are much the same: E pluribus unum. What we do or say at any given time depends largely on which one of us has seized the wheel. Our language reflects this: we say, "I wonder which Rodak will show up today?" The Rodak who showed up a couple of days ago wrote the following. It is the work of that Rodak alone and does not necessarily have the endorsement, or reflect the views and opinions of this Rodak, this Rodak's intellectual or emotional sponsors, or any of Rodak's affiliate Robbies:

No Redcap Potential

To the first one I pled
(with unstinting devotion)
that I just couldn’t focus.
To the second I swore
that I could.
When number three
raised the issue,
I told her the truth, but
she demurred and insisted.
I was right.
She was wrong.
I am left lonely
and chilled to the bone;
she has been cheated
by the infernal logic
of her own disbelief.

My heart is bright red
but don’t ask me to wear it
as a laborer’s cap.
I need to roll loosely,
emotions free-swinging,
and to tote no one’s baggage –
not even my own:
I’m no heavy-lifter,
I just want a friend.

Only three words:
“I want this” – she wrote them,
I saw them,
but not under my sign.
Three more words –
“I see now.”
I write them in secret.
“I see now” – I’m saying,
“Neither your place, nor mine.”
If I show this, I’ll know then –
I’m no redcap flunky;
I’m no heavy-lifter:
I just need a friend.
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