Sister, Your Mask Is Showing

So early in the year, in the first week of orientation, actually, there was a sculpture in the theater where orientation took place. It was made of varnished salvaged pine, and it was titled "Sister, Your Mask Is Showing".

Dave and I were intrigued enough by the title that we actually wrote a poem inspired by it while we were waiting for our respective appointments with the food stamp office, using a rhyming dictionary that we received during the orientation. I recited it to the rest of the AmeriCorps people, and it was very well received.

Cut to April: my cousin and I are noodling about with what to record in the name of The Spendrick Hogsbottom Experience, and I suggest that we record the poem. Originally we intended to record a sort of Beatnik version of the poem, with a walking bassline and bongos, bout after that seemed to be not working so well. So, instead of doing that, we went with a more "New Wave performance art"-thing, which you can hear by clicking on the following link.


Sister, Your Mask Is Showing.mp3

The text of the poem is:

“SISTER, YOUR MASK IS SHOWING”
by Billy S. and Davey Z.

‘Twas the ninth day of September, place? – The Crest Theatre
Where we stumbled upon you, by chance in our quest for better readers.
Complete but not whole, the other sculptures outshone,
A salvaged pine form, lacquered indiscretions wholly known.

So giving of yourself, sister, your form without crack,
Your flawless demeanor reveal’d, a friend riding on your back.
We admired your audacity, your spirit and your pluck:
We spoke your true name and were rendered dumbstruck.

Our minds become troubled when you’re not in sight;
Without your façade, we struggle – another sleepless night.
And as we imbue students with the skills to read and write,
We’ll be haunted by a vision, a flicker playing across the light:

Your beauteous countenance, so utterly mind-blowing,
All we can say is: “Sister, your mask is showing.”

Enjoy!

(More audio gobbledigook is forthcoming.)