Philip Gounis To Read at Duff's in the C.W.E. on Monday, November 22

Philip Gounis will be one of the featured readers at Duff's, 392 North Euclid, on Monday, November 22, when Chance Operations turns the reigns of control over to CJ Smith of JKPublishing.

The reading will also feature Sean Arnold, Michael Castro, Ellen Herget, Colleen McKee, and Nicky Rainey. Doors open at 7:30 p.m., and the cover is $3.

Philip Gounis has worked as a writing tutor, editor and publisher, and for the last three decades his work has appeared in a variety of literary publications and entertainment magazines. In the radio broadcast medium he has served as both host and producer. Some Of These Have Appeared, a chapbook of poetry was published spring 2007.

Litany of the Ridiculous

life after birth is not ridiculous
it is both infinite & absurd as it unwinds
like Hank Williams lamenting in his tower of song,
Ridiculous is continually picking at the scabs of past deeds
               done in vain
plowing through the snowbank of ignorance & bias with only
lightweight sandals on; THAT is ridiculous
Ridiculous is not respecting your elders that have died
               bathed in blood,
sweat & fear for those who would follow in their path
Ridiculous is riding with the vigilante mob even
               after you realize that
they are up to no good
Ridiculous is coming face to face with a mutated frog & mistaking it
for the Prince of Darkness
it is ridiculous to come face to face, cheek to jowl with
the Prince of Darkness
& not change your course of action
Ridiculous is participating in a marathon sleep over
& then waking up in a pool of blood on a king size mattress
Ridiculous is fire bombing babies in their thatched huts
Ridiculous is giving people shit because you are
               intimidated by them
Ridiculous is not getting the money up front
Ridiculous is washing the colored with the whites
Ridiculous is falling madly in love with the Man in the Moon
even though you know that he can never be yours
Ridiculous is judging somebody by how much money they spend
Ridiculous is believing that your own urine can
               obliterate the freckles
that you have had since birth
Ridiculous is not having enough time for music
Ridiculous is not letting go of the lever even after you realize that
               you have voted wrong
Ridiculous is bundling up on the sunny Miami beach
Ridiculous is believing that “clothes make the man”
Ridiculous is clinging to the belief that form matters
Ridiculous is taking only one path at the crossroads
Ridiculous is lusting over flesh & blood
Ridiculous is looking for logic in faith,because it’s not there
Ridiculous is looking for a needle in a opium den
Ridiculous is continuing long, heated, protracted debates with
               the man in the mirror
Ridiculous is trying to threaten cowards that are already
               running scared
Ridiculous is letting your subscription to your own personal credo
               run out
Ridiculous is using ridicule as a defense mechanism
It is ridiculous to believe that in the field of ethics,
               “one size fits all”
It is ridiculous not to hold on to your ticket stub
It is ridiculous not to travel with an iron clad alibi
And it is ridiculous not to know when to stop !

-- Philip Gounis