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(This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home/latestwordpress/lonestar.a1professionals.net_public_html/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6131Excerpt from Year of the Dog<\/em>, a new poetry collection from Deborah Paredez<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Self-Portrait in One Act” excerpted from Year of the Dog<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, copyright 2020 by Deborah Paredez<\/strong><\/a>, BOA Editions, Ltd.<\/span>, www.boaeditions.org<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Self-Portrait in One Act<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \nDRAMATIS PERSONAE:<\/span><\/u><\/span><\/p>\n EVERETT ALVAREZ, falls from the sky and breaks the surface of the gulf, first American aviator POW captured in Vietnam, brother to Delia<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n DELIA ALVAREZ, cast in the role of dutiful, patriotic, mourning sister but keeps breaking character<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n NARRATOR, sister and daughter and poet who prefers theatre that breaks the fourth wall<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n NARRATOR\u2019S BROTHER, breaks his femur on the playing field<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n NARRATOR\u2019S FATHER, breaks in his combat boots<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n ANTIGONE, breaks with the state and buries her brother<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n FRANKIE GAYE, breaks the airwaves with his voice as an Army radio-telephone operator (RTO), breaks the news about the war in letters home to his brother, Marvin<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n MARVIN GAYE, breaks out in song<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n POET-CHORUS, breaks into soliloquies by Lucille Clifton, Stanley Kunitz, and Adrienne Rich<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n SCENE 1: A GULF<\/u><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Enter EVERETT, shot down from the flak-blackened August sky into the Gulf of Tonkin. <\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n When his captors pull him from the water, his first response is to break into Spanish.<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n EVERETT: Don\u2019t ask me why I did that. It seemed like a good idea.<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Enter NARRATOR, FRANKIE, DELIA, and POET-CHORUS across the gulf.<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n NARRATOR: Theatre teaches me to speak out in superstitious code, as in <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe Scottish Play\u201d or \u201cBreak a Leg!\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n FRANKIE: The Army teaches me to speak out in code, like when you <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n want to get through with your emergency message and <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n there\u2019s too much radio traffic, you say, \u201cBREAK, BREAK.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n POET-CHORUS: In a murderous time \/ the heart breaks and breaks \/ and lives <\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n by breaking.<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n NARRATOR: In Spanish, the word for brotherhood is hermanidad. The <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n word for sisterhood is hermanidad. It\u2019s the same word.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n DELIA: The mentality that calls Vietnamese \u2018gooks\u2019 is the same <\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n mentality that calls brown people \u2018spics.\u2019 It\u2019s the same battle.<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n SCENE 2: A CLEARING <\/u><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Enter FRANKIE and NARRATOR carrying the body of the NARRATOR\u2019S BROTHER <\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n who has broken his femur on the playing field.<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Enter ANTIGONE, falling from her nest with a broken wing, nestling in near the <\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n NARRATOR\u2019S BROTHER.<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n ANTIGONE: I am daughter and sister to Oedipus, and my name means <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cin place of one\u2019s parents.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n NARRATOR: Unlike my brother, I\u2019ve never broken a bone but I have <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n broken my word.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n FRANKIE: The RTO alphabet teaches me another way to spell the <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n words I know.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n ANTIGONE: I confess to knowing the word of the law and breaking it <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n anyway.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n FRANKIE: Bravo Romeo Oscar Tango Hotel Echo Romeo OVER<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Enter Marvin and Delia, en hermanidad.<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n MARVIN: What\u2019s going on?<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n DELIA: I have learned another way to spell \u201cTonkin:\u201d T \/ On \/ Kin.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n NARRATOR: My brother is young and spared. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n DELIA: The war went beyond just my brother.<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n MARVIN: Picket lines (sister), Picket signs (sister)<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n NARRATOR: My brother\u2019s spare parts.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n FRANKIE: Sierra India Sierra Tango Echo Romeo OVER<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n DELIA: COPY<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n FRANKIE: Sierra India Sierra Tango Echo Romeo OVER<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n MARVIN: What\u2019s happening, brother? What\u2019s happening, brother?<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n NARRATOR\u2019S <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n BROTHER: My part is spare.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n FRANKIE: OUT<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Exit FRANKIE carrying NARRATOR\u2019S BROTHER on his back.<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sound of radio static.<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n NARRATOR: Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will al-<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n ways cleave me.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n ANTIGONE: I told my sister I had no use for her words. I\u2019d done the <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n deed, breaking open the earth and gathering the sticks and <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n stones to cover our brother\u2019s grave.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sound of dead air.<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Enter POET-CHORUS, breaking the silence.<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n POET-CHORUS: break, October, speak, \/ \u2026thrust \/ your tongue against mine, <\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n break \/ day<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n NARRATOR: I hang blackout curtains in the bedroom, which makes it <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n hard to see daybreak.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n SCENE 3: THE HOMEWRECK <\/u><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Enter NARRATOR\u2019S FATHER in civilian clothes and EVERETT, returning after eight <\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n years of captivity. They begin to slow dance together following the rhythm of a reporter\u2019s <\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n