Nathaniel Allen Lindell
P.O. Box 9900
Boscobel, WI 53805

2011
Hey, folks. This was recently rejected by Prairie Schooner. Hope ya dig it. It describes my main angst.

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The Promethean Curse
by Nathaniel Allen Lindell

Ya ever felt th' desire
T' give up on life
T' blow your brains out
'Cause, though you know
You're capable of success,
Of even achieving greatness,
Your every effort to achieve it
Is somehow defeated?
The voracious pit
Eats your efforts.

Is this the description
Of a tortured genius?

Ya ever been so despondent
So shadowed by despair
Because you care too much
About life and realize
No matter how hard you tru
Most 'f your short time 's wasted
As irrelevant as the dust
You know you'll too soon be part of?
Or d'ya think life's friviolous
'N all that matters is your happiness
Which you try to maximize?

Is such pain the mark of wisdom
Or the proof of foolishness?

I ponder all of this
Every day
Wond'ring if I'm crazy
If something's wrong with me
Why I'm so unsatisfied
Why ideas flood my mind
Why I feel no one can relate
Why I feel so lonely
(Like so many others can)
That love is real
Though I want it nonetheless

This is the Promethean curse:
Knowing so much that it hurts!

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This too was rejected by Prairie Schooner. The first two pages and one third are good for putting a smile on your face when you're feeling set upon. The rest reveals the core cause of NPD, which I'll discuss later. Make sure and high step and prance as you sing it. :) I did. Got the shrink here laughing.

The Narcissistic Flourish (an excerpt from a play)
by Nathaniel Allen Lindell

I love me!
Though few others seem to grasp
The many good qualities I have
Which they lack
I'm so secure!
There's not a flaw within me here!
I'm such a dear.
It's a wonderful feeling that I feel
Being the being that I be
And you're just blind if you can't see
That I'm an angel without wings!
A big balloon is my ego
Buoying up my manic hopes
Watch, as up it floats!
There's no way it will get popped
By psychiatric cops
'Cause I won't pop the pills they off'
Hey! You below!
Why does it grate
Upon your nerves
That I'm so great?
Don't I deserve
All the praise
I am served?
Of course!
To not be so gorged
Would be absurd!
Hey! Don't hate
Or get mad
'Cause you know
That I'll just laugh
At the fact
Your weaker ego's chaffed
Ha ha! Too bad!

Let me be clear
I'm quite queer
Being better than everyone else here!

I'm never sad
Always glad
About the fact the skin entrapping me is mine
Ooooh, it's fine!
My best friend is myself
I need no love from anyone else
But accolades are always welcomed
And I expect them!

My psyche is an atomic bomb
The blast of which I sit on
Don't you dare
Say something's wrong!
But sing along!

Meee, me, me
Meee, me, me
No other utterance
Tastes as sweet
As it tickles past my teeth

Hmph, I'd better brush
When I end this speech
Or I'll get a bunch
of cavities!
Then I'll descend
Into my beauty sleep

[Exits through bedroom door then pops head back out]

—Not that I need it!

[Exits completely, enters bedroom, continues into attached bathroom]

P.S. here's a secret
I fear to share:
I'm really scared!
My bloated ego comforts me
Allowing me to make-believe
I don't feel such fierce inferiority
Giving me a psuedo-reason
To go on living
Though in a dream
'Cause there's no way
That I could bear
The true nigthmare
That few people truly care
For me.

[Closes bathroom door]