Every poster, DVD cover, and Wikipedia page shows
that epic moment in Shawshank Redemption
when Andy is kneeling in the water and the rain
looking up at the sky and his moment
of complete freedom after 19 years
The jail is in the distance and people
want to feel like that.
But I want to feel like Andy Dufrane
when he gets the books for the start
of the library after 6 years of sending
letters to the state for funding.
Now sending 2 letters a week instead of one
and becoming even more persistent.
Then becoming even more absurd
locking a guard in the bathroom
and playing a piece from
Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro
over the loud speaker to all
the prisoners in the court yard.
And when the warden looks in
I wanna look him in the eye
for a short moment
turn the volume up and turn away
knowing that the next day I’d return
to the courtyard or the hole or my job
or whatever else it was I do on a daily
basis.
Some people want to be on the rooftop
of a building drinking beers after laying
down tar, like waiters and waitresses
taking shots at a bar in the middle
of their shift in front of the customers
to feel a little more human. Some people
want to feel that moment
when Andy escapes jail
and is looking up at the sky
with arms outstretched. Not me,
I want to live absurdly all the time
and play Mozart over loud speakers
to all the prisoners in the courtyard.
–Mark Brunetti