Scene 3rd
The
scene is a “Coffee House,” of the old Beatnik era.
The air is smoky, the conversation level is a low hum, on stage there is
a poet, shaved head, small goatee reading his work to the sound of bongo drums
aimlessly being slowly played. It
doesn’t matter what poem he’s reading, as long as it’s not one of
mine—in this case. The spotlight
rests on a table where Dexter is sitting with Rhiannon.
DECKER: aside This
is stupid. What the hell am I doing
here, and with her?
End aside, speaks
to her directly, leaning towards her.
I hope my staring at you isn’t too obvious or annoying?
RHIANNON:
“Annoying?” Dr Powell, I’m flattered, smiles warmly
DECKER:
Please, call me Decker, or
Deck, it’s what all my friends do.
Aside, Did
I really say I had “no desire to touch her?” I lied to myself then.”
RHIANNON: Okay, Deck?
I like it,
DECKER: You?
I’m afraid to use words to tell you what I feel when I look at….
RHIANNON: What’s
wrong?
DECKER: This, this is
all wrong. I have no business
here, with you. You’re 25 years
younger than me, educated, and beautiful.
You should be with someone your own age…
RHIANNON: Deck, I’d
hoped that the age thing wouldn’t bother you,
I thought, some how I could, maybe, try to hold your interest?
I’ve read every poem you’ve written, and dreamed I could see your
magic land…Only a man who’s suffered the way you have could ever write such
deep moving poetry. I’m feel
almost ashamed to say it, but I took your course, and read the works you
assigned, just so I could meet you. I
know I’m younger than you, but Decker? Can I say it?
DECKER: aside O,
dear God, my heart feels like
it’s going to jump out of my chest.
RHIANNON: spoken, Dear you’re NOT too ugly, and you’re
never to old to fall in love. sung
My heart and soul, my dearest love,
let there be an end to fear.
Heaven awaits,
in just one word, say it and be free.
DECKER: Not
this time again
RHIANNON: No
age at all, just endless dreams that take
DECKER: I dare not feel what I want to feel,
RHIANNON:
Us far from pain and care
DECKER: I’m
too old to think of holding you,
RHIANNON: Heaven
awaits us, in just one word, say it and be free.
DECKER: It
would be death again, to feel, as my heart wants to feel.
RHIANNON: My
love, my dear be still,
DECKER: My
Heart breaks for lack of what it never had,
RHIANNON: I
wait here, lonely for your love.
DECKER: Dare
not have; breaks for love of one I fear to love,
RHIANNON: I
wait in tears
DECKER: I
cannot speak your name.
RHIANNON: Why must you so delay with words what you heart
longs to feel?
DECKER:
I’m too old, too old to fall in love,
RHIANNON: Come dear one, let me fill you with my…
DECKER: not
this time, not again.
RHIANNON: Come
my darling, put off these doubts.
DECKER: I dare
not feel what I want to feel,
RHIANNON: Heaven awaits you, in just one word, say it and be
free.
DECKER: I dare
not care for you
RHIANNON: Why
are your words keeping you from my arms?
Could you but
hear my thoughts you’d fly to me,
and let me fill your empty heart.
DECKER: The
thought of you, of your sweet lips,
untouched by
mine.
Never touched by mine, never to be touched by mine.
RHIANNON: My
love, my dear, there’s nothing for you to fear.
DECKER: I’m
too old, too old to fall in love.
RHIANNON: My
heart is warm, longing for you.
DECKER: But yet, this time,
RHIANNON: Heaven
awaits you, in just one word, say it and be free.
DECKER: Somehow
tonight, just now.
RHIANNON: My
empty soul longs for you waiting
DECKER: It
seems
RHIANNON: Empty,
dearest love, come fill it.
DECKER: After all these years, could it be?
I shall feel…
RHIANNON: My
love, my dear, there’s nothing more for you to fear.
DECKER: what I
long to feel, I will perhaps care for you,
RHIANNON: My
lips are warm and scented, lonely for yours my love.
DECKER: After all.
RHIANNON: Heaven
awaits you, in just one word, say it and be free.
DECKER: Yes
heaven awaits me in just one name, a name I fear to say
RHIANNON: Wait in tears, why must you so delay with words?
DECKER:
I’ve feared the thought of you,
the sight of you,
Weakness fills me at the sight of your sweet face.
I wake from sleep and grieve the empty space,
both in my bed,
and in my heart….
RHIANNON: O,
Dearest love, I’ve come for you; my heart and bed are yours
DECKER: I’m
not too old? Too old to feel this
way?
RHIANNON: My
love, my dear, you’re never to old,
Not now, not
ever.
DECKER: Could
heaven rest in but one word, I’d say it and be free.
RHIANNON: Heaven
awaits you, in my name, say it and be free.
DECKER: Heaven
rests, dear God, in one sweet name.
RHIANNON: Say
it and be mine
DECKER: Rhiannon,
blessed and sweet is that name.
RHIANNON: My
dearest love.
DECKER: I shall love you; it does seem so, after all.
RHIANNON: Heaven
awaited us, in just one word, you’ve said it, and we are free.
DECKER: I’m
not too old
RHIANNON: You’re
not too old
THEY: To fall in love……….
RHIANNON: Please?
DECKER: I’m
not too old?
RHIANNON: You’re
not too old
DECKER: To fall in love again?
RHIANNON: To BE in love
DECKER: To be in love again?
RHIANNON: Decker?
DECKER: Yes, Rhiannon,
lovely Rhiannon.
RHIANNON:
Can you say it now?
DECKER: Yes, Rhiannon,
yes my love, yes. I love you,
Rhiannon, I love you.
They embrace, kiss
deeply, stand apart holding hands, kiss again and sit.
As they sit staring at each other figures in black bring cups of coffee
and sit them in front of them.
EILLAINE: Why
doesn’t it thrill me to see them like that?
LAURAL:
Jealousy, sister?
The man in a
Business suit approaches the table and stands in front of them.
JACK PATCH:
Pardon me ladies, but over hearing your conversation—they look at
him, and then do a double take as he finishes—and I think we might have
some interests in common here.
EILLAINE & LAURAL:
You here? What?
BUSINESS: May I join
you?
EILLAINE:
Very well, where have you been?
BUSINESS:
Going to and fro among the Son’s of Men.
LAURAL: Later, we’ll
talk, right now the entertainment’s beginning—on stage as well.
HOST: Okay,
tonight’s “open mike,” un-spontaneous and totally rehearsed; For our
opening act we present: Joel Eckerd,
JOEL: Carries a
guitar with him, sits on a stool, Hi there,
AUDIENCE: Hi Joel
JOEL: This first song
isn’t one of mine, it’s from a collection called “Heart of My Soul,”
This one I believe was written with us guys in mind—us he men types who
have fallen in love and then done something so incredibly stupid and irrevocably
final that we will kick ourselves for the rest of our lives.
It’s called “The Color of Your Hair.”
It
hurts when I admit goodbye,
Came
from my empty soul,
And
not your dear sweet heart.
Not
your heart, not your voice, nor your love filled eyes.
But
from my heartless soul it came,
My
source of endless sighs
I
loved you from a distance,
Worshipped
from afar,
Cherished
the passing sight of you,
The
color of your hair.
Dreamed
of your eyes that pierced my heart,
That
saw the deadness residing there.
It
hurts when I admit I said goodbye,
Not
you, not your voice, not your soft voice,
Nor
your deep and loving eyes.
I
loved you from a distance,
Adored
you from afar,
Held
myself safe from love,
By
calling you by another’s name,
By
idolizing you, to my everlasting shame.
I
loved you from a distance,
Worshipped
from afar,
Cherished
the passing sight of you,
The
color of your hair.
I
couldn’t see your need; I couldn’t hear your pain.
I
turned you into a goddess, dear,
It
kept me safe, afar.
It
hurts when I admit goodbye,
Came
from my empty soul
And
not your dear sweet heart,
Not
you, not your voice, not your loving eyes.
I
loved you from a distance,
Worshipped
from afar,
Cherished
the passing sight of you,
The
color of your hair.
You
saw me at a distance,
Saw
me hiding there,
Watched
and smiled at the sight of me,
And
gently called my name.
I
loved you from a distance,
Worshipped
from afar,
Cherished
the passing sight of you,
Dreamed
of your eyes that pierced my heart,
That
saw deadness there.
I
heard you call me from a distance,
I
rose as though to speak,
I
saw your face so perfect,
So
ideal and so dear,
I
shuddered then, my empty soul
Filled
suddenly with fear.
I
loved you from a distance,
Worshipped
from afar,
Cherished
the passing sight of you,
The
color of your hair.
It
hurts when I admit goodbye,
Came
from my empty soul
And
not your dear sweet heart,
Not
you, not your voice, nor your loving eyes.
I
didn’t see my need; I didn’t hear my pain,
I
turned from you, as a goddess dread,
It
kept me safe afar.
I
loved you from a distance,
Worshipped
from afar,
Cherished
the passing sight of you,
The
color of your hair.
Empty
years have passed for me,
Earth’s
deities have died.
The
one I worshipped from afar,
Thought
I’d deified,
Looked
still upon my deadened soul,
And
her dear eyes then cried.
It
hurt when I admitted goodbye
Came
from my empty soul,
Not
your dear sweet heart,
Was
but my fear that stayed my leap
To
love’s embrace, so near
Not
your love filled eyes
That
saw my heartless soul so clear.
Now
in my eternal tower, grim I sit,
I
think upon your love filled eyes,
Upon
the sound of your sweet voice,
And
the color of your hair.
Loud
applause, Joel stands there for a while, bowing.
RHIANNON:
That’s one of your.
DECKER:
He did it a favor with that voice.
RHIANNON:
That’s such a lovely song, but so sad. Who
wrote the melody?
DECKER:
A friend of mine down in Ypsi.
HOST:
Joel will be back later, right now we have a young man from Essexville
who’s going to present a song of his own creation, welcome the one, the only
Mojo Man, Mojo Ed.
MOJO:
Hi gang, good to be back…
AUDIENCE:
Hey Mojo, sing it Mojo.
MOJO:
Hey I know what you want—you want the “Battle of the Tooteling Frogs”
AUDIENCE:
Laughing and applauding, YEAH, Sing it Bob…
MOJO:
strumming and singing
One day my Bonnie and me went down to the
Roxie
movie show, saw a Johnny Mac and five cartoons
Plus
episode three of “The Phantom Kingdom,”
Now
Such
an afternoon we had,
Two
popcorns, three orange pops, two Moon Pies,
And
a shared RC.
And
as we left, a felt a small hunger still a stirring,
So
I grabbed a box of Good and Plenty’s there,
Black
and white, and pink they were.
Now
down past the old town swamp we passed, and as we went
I
struck up a tune on that good ole box,
A
tootlin tune, the kind that,
Only
G&P’s can give.
Now
Bonnie she said she thought it crude,
Said,
“Bobby, my mom told me never to
tootle my food.”
Everybody
AUDIENCE:
Now Bonnie she said she thought it crude
Said, Bobby, my mom told me never to tootle my food.”
So
I told her I’d never argue with her mom, and the G&P’s
Were
all wet by then, so I tossed the box right o’er the fence
Right
to the fen,
Then
the fun, it all began.
Cause
before we walked but another five feet Bonnie looked at me
Said
“I thought you stopped that tootlin tune?”
Said
I, “Bonnie, sweet, I did.”
But
sure enough, and right she was, that sound was
Still
a coming, and right from where we was.
Now
Bonnie she said she thought it crude,
Said,
“Bobby, my mom told me never to
tootle my food.”
Everybody
AUDIENCE:
Now Bonnie she said she thought it crude
Said,
Bobby, my mom told me never to tootle my food.”
We
looked a bit right over the fence—and now
To
add to the suspense,
We
saw that box a floating there, and making noise
In
the air.
Then
suddenly it all jumped up, and big old bull frog was a tootlin there,
A
tootlin that good old box,
He
was a tootlin there.
Now
Bonnie she said she thought it crude,
Said,
“Froggy, my mom told me never to
tootle my food.”
Everybody
AUDIENCE:
Now Bonnie she said she thought it crude
Said,
Froggy, my mom told me never to tootle my food.”
Froggy
he says to me, and he says to her,
“This
isn’t food to me dear kids, it’s music for my soul.
The
more I play these G&P’s the finer
That
I feel.
And
the greater is my sex appeal
Then
up jumped another frog so bold—yelped and this what
He
told.
Said
he, to Bonnie sweet and me,
“T'ain’t
fair what you all has did, to this here frog,
made
him king of this old bog.”
His
tootlin sweet has got my croaking beat, so what’s a frog to do?
I’ll
you what kids so cute—bring back another box
Real
quick, or face a froggy’s quick law suit
Now Bonnie she said she thought it crude,
Said,
“Froggy, my mom told me never to
tootle my food.”
Everybody
AUDIENCE:
Now Bonnie she said she thought it crude
Said,
Froggy my mom told me never to tootle my food.”
Now
if there’s a thing would scare a soul, it’s the thought
Of
lawyers out of control on a sunny day,
So
we let the frogs all have their way.
Back
to the movie show we ran, I tolt her then,
Just
hold my hand, and faster you will run.
Will,
quick as the topic’s said
The
deed it was soon done.
Now
we headed back to the old swamp hole, and
Quick
as we could be, we tossed over the fence
The
pretty box of good old G and P’s
Now
Bonnie she said she thought it crude,
Said,
“Froggy, my mom told me never to
tootle my food.”
Everybody
AUDIENCE:
Now Bonnie she said she thought it crude
Said,
Froggy my mom told me never to tootle my food.”
Now
many a year has passed away, and my
Bonnie
and me live far away, but every now and then in spring
I
think I hear the oddest thing.
I
think I hear two bull frogs deep, and tootlin away on their
Boxes
of good old G&P’s
And
Now
Bonnie she said she thought it crude,
Said,
“Froggies, my mom told me never
to tootle my food.”
Everybody
AUDIENCE:
Now Bonnie she said she thought it crude
Said,
Froggies my mom told me never to tootle my food.”
HOST: Laughing, Thank you Bob!
Bob’ll be back later folks, when we do the Hooten Nanny thing. Thanks
again, Robert.
Now,
this next performer is new to our stage, but has had great reviews on other
stages, at least that’s what he tells me.
Let’s have a big hand for Falto de Nombre, straight here from
Argentina—or so it says here.
EILLAINE: What did he
say the name was?
LAURAL: I didn’t
hear...the noise in here’s pretty bad
NO NAME: Silence fills my room a
deadened soundless tomb
I’m too old, to old for love
My graceless and empty heart,
Cries out,
I’m too old, too old to be in
love.
Sits alone and grieves its part
in the loss
Of the love I had sought.
I fear it has lost, what it could
not have, no matter the price,
Was that which would put aside
Too old to feel this way
This night's killing chill.
Was not for your heartless soul
To love a Goddess pure
T love one such as you
T’was not, for in my parts, I
was far too weak, too shame filled,
Love was a terror filled dream
Too wrapped in my gloom,
Your youth filled beauty was not
to blame
Was my ancient lust that
Caused me shame
Caused me to see the light
Death had lit within my tomb.
The love I had no right to seek
was nowhere seen.
For I’m too old, far too old
Too cold, far too cold
To be in love
With you
EILLAINE: O,
God, look at his medallion
BUSINESS:
I see it, the scales with a feather on one dish.
The Nameless One.
Death's finger beckoned, pointed
direction
To follow to stillness
An end to all my eternal ills.
Who could love you, he said?
Were you not better in your
silent nameless numbing fear?
For fool that you are,
why sought you such a star?
You sought a love, beyond your
realm, Earthly flesh bound man.
As far beyond where you are
As moon is from air
Love for you?
Death laughed.
Hollow ringing laughter
EILLAINE:
We’ve got to do something, look at Decker—
NO NAME: Filling, Ringing,
Filling, Ringing, Filling, Ringing
laughing
The finger points to the hollow
grave,
Asks if you dare, are you now so
brave,
As to enter the final silent cast
Or will you stay a coward, then
too to the last?
Figures
in Black appear and hold her chair as Rhiannon rises from her seat, the light on
Falto dims and the light on her intensifies so that she seems to glow with a
gold brightness. She appears to be
almost floating above the ground. She
faces Falto and says:
RHIANNON: CEASE!
He
hesitates, almost stutters, but continues.
The brightness continues to grow around her.
NO NAME:
I stand and poised consider the door
See it locked
See it blocked
Consider dying once more.
The
sounds of birds singing begins and slowly begins to overcome his singing, he
raises his voice louder, but unsure.
NO NAME:
But for one more time, I turn away
A coward I but I will return a
new day.
Till darkness descends, and I
leave
All my friends, and sit alone in
the gloom
a deadened and soundless tomb,
Contemplate my graceless and empty heart,
Grieve then the missing and most precious part.
That love I had sought thought my
love had bought,
Was once again lost, and no
matter the cost,
Came the sobering chill of night
Again the sound of death
Laughing
LAURAL:
That’s one of Decker’s own songs, being thrown at him.
EILLAINE:
His words twisted, distorted, to mean suicide, to mean death.
NO
NAME: stops singing, his voice is now echoing and hollow: he looks at the
sisters, then at Rhiannon: I am charged by I AM WHO AM, to judge this
one’s soul. Goddess though you
are, High Queen, I will not be deterred.
Jack patch rises to his feet, aided by the Figures in Black
JACK PATCH: I believe the Lady told you to cease, it’s
very bad manners to ignore her—and dangerous, even for you.
So I believe that will be just about enough of that, thank you.
NO NAME: I’m amazed
that even you would dare to interfere in His will for this mortal.
Are you deaf? I said I AM WHO AM has sent me to judge this mortal.
To weigh his soul I must have his life.
Will you take it, or shall I kill him here and now?
JACK PATCH: Have you
considered exactly where you are? Haven’t
you noticed something a little different about this Coffee House?
Are you such a fool as to not notice the name before you came to sing
here? Did you not think I spoke
enough Spanish to know the meaning of your name? Laughs evilly, maniacally
the laughter grows louder and echoes around the room drowning out all sounds
NO NAME: Enough, for
now you hold the floor. I see my
haste to fulfill my Lord’s appointed chore caused my human form to ignore just
where this building was. I must admit, my Lady, looking at Rhiannon
I did not think to find you, nor God’s own daughters dwelling here,
in hell. There is a flash of light, and he disappears.
The four of them
sit down, Decker slowly stirs, Lights start swirling madly, lights of many
colors.
