Elisha? Elisha?
Are you out there in the darkness? I told them what you and I have always known. And I remember, now, As a sort of dream, That Doctor Elisha Kane, Explorer of the Arctic Seas , Loved Maggie Fox of the Spirit Rappings, Explorer of the Summerland. Now, will any spirits converse with me tonight? |
We all went to bed early
That first night of our new lives, Exhausted from a fortnight's worth of noises. It was a squirrel in the walls. Branches banging in the wind. It was the house, settling-- Settling night after night. Dark. Cold. A light snow fell. We had just lain down When we heard them again-- Rap rap, rap rap rap, rap rap rap rap-- Noises and noises and noises-- How long does it take a house to settle? Katie sat up in bed, banging the post The sound paused, as if startled, And began again. We stared at each other, Wide-eyed and goose-bumped. It was Katie, you know-- I was better, but she was first. Katie's the one who first made her hands go-- Clap clap. Rap rap, came the answer. Clap clap rap rap Clap clap clap rap rap rap Clap clap rap rap clap clap rap rap clap rap Claprap As fast as she made noises With her hands and her fingers While she made noises Before she made noises The sound answered And answered And answered again-- [pause and resume] She goes and it goes and she goes and it It it it-- [pause and resume] A battery of raps Assaulting the room Met at every turn With our own syncopated fire. Until I cried out Above the barrage-- [all noises stop] "What do you want, Mister Split-foot!" [resume] Until I cried out - [pause] "What do you want, Mister Splitfoot!" Just as our mother entered the room-- [resume and dead stop] Just as our mother entered the room-- 31 March, 1848-- Light snow, cold, unusually dark. That was the night we-- My sister and I-- First travelled to the Summerland-- |
I. Mother
Clutching us to her, Mother spoke to the rappings. Is this a human being Making these noises? If human--rap us one rap. Silence, and terror. Are you from the spirit world? (Rap rap rap) My Lord. An injured spirit? (Rap rap rap) Oh dear Jesus. Do us no harm, soul, Do no harm to my children. What disembodied spirits Attack my children? II. The Neighbours The neighbours crowded Cow'ring 'round our bedroom door. Rap for me, spirits, rap. How old am I? How many children do I have? What are their ages? Slowly they passed through the doorway. Slowly they drifted away. What disembodied spirits Surround these children? III. The Entranced Stranger neighbours came, Shouting in tongues at the walls, Demanding the raps. Dancing, shaking around us, Coaxing vibrations, Sound for sound, from Summerland. What disembodied spirits Entrance these children? IV. The Spiritual Telegraph And then someone decided that spirits could spell. If we--we girls, Katie and me-- Would follow their code (ABCknock, Aknock, ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTknock equals CAT) We could turn all the rapping to letters-- And that's how we became living, breathing, Spiritual Telegraph Machines. Spell it out, spell it out! P A S T It was souls speaking across wastelands. T R U T H These disembodied spirits beat out their rhythms To our cabalistic sounds-- And here is the message from the spirit world-- B O R E D What kind of a life was this, hour after hour to count out the letters of the alphabet. What kind of an AFTERlife was this, to listen and rap out names and ages and dates? For all eternity. Disembodied spirits Possess these children. |
It was all a trick! A trick!
Mother was--so easy to convince. It was just an apple on a string--at first. Then, Katie and I--we learned how to crack-- What can I tell you? Long nights, bored minds-- A rude and simple little trick. And we cracked our toes And we cracked our ankles And we cracked our knees. Mother, the sound's from over there--(crack crack) No, sweet Lord, from over there--(crack crack) Sweet Lord the racket Sweet Lord the noise. She cried, "Make it stop make it stop make it stop--" Sweet Lord--and I stopped it-- Oh I had her now-- "What do you want, Mister Splitfoot?!" Cold--damp--dark--still--rest-- Mother, overcome, asks the questions now-- "If you are a person, make a sound?" Nothing. Careful. Watch her face closely.. "If you are a spirit, make a sound." Now! I answer Loud, fast, wall to wall Surrounding ourselves with noise-- Surrounding--throwing-- Resounding the house with rapping-- STOP!! And she was terrified. Terrified. And--satisfied. Here was the life after death. Belief comes from the innocent heart. I hate and I love that--. |
We are the great Spirit Telegraphs.
We are the Great Guns of Rap. The spirits possess our house. Our neighbours possess our lives. What is that rapping? What is it, Spirits? What is it you want? Spell it out for us. T. Yes? And-- O. T. O. Yes, and? U. T. O. U. Yes, yes? The next letter? It's -- R. T. O. U. R. But if we leave this house, what will you do? What’s that? You will stay with us Wherever we travel? Oh. Yes, spirits. Now I understand. We will rap your message across America. We trample the borders of death. We rip down the walls of despair. We are the great Spirit Telegraphs. We are the great Guns of Rap. We are the freaks of the supernatural. |
"Now. I will stand up near these folding-doors, and you may stand as near as you please and I will call up any 'spirit' that you wish and answer any question. One rap means 'No'; three raps mean 'Yes.' Go ahead. Ask away?"
"Is Napoleon Bonaparte present?" (3 raps) "Does he ever meet you?" (3 raps) That is strange, isn't it? Considering he must have died before you were born. Try again. "Is Abraham Lincoln present?" (3 raps) "Well, you see, the 'spirits' are very obliging." "Will Harrison be elected?" (1 rap) "Will President Cleveland get another term?" (3 raps) "You see. It's a trick. A trick. A ventriloquism of the feet. The joints are quicker than the eye.” (Whirls around and laughs. There is a rapping. Addresses her foot/leg.) Stop it. You want to know more, don't you? You want to see it again. I can do that. You did say there would be payment. (rap rap) I have special shoes--they have heavy toes and soft backs, so I can pull out my foot and slip it back without detection. (There is a rapping. Addresses her knee/leg.) Stop it. To make the raps heard on the tabletop, I place my foot against the bottom. To make them heard from that wall across the room, I make them louder--and stare in that direction. That's all. I can put my foot against the bottom of the door, and you'll hear the rapping from the top. And when I put my toes against the foot-board of the bed--in my mother's house, where it all began--oh, I could make a such a racket. (Rapping.) Stop it. It is a skill that requires training when the joints are very young. It is not easy. The tests? Yes, I have learned to get around those. Whatever the test--and I've had them all. The ladies who undress me for a close examination. I rap. The gentlemen who bind my hands and feet. I rap. They stand me on a cushion on a chair. I rap. They lock me in a wire cage. I rap. You see what I must live through For the true believers And my sins. What's that? Oh. Yes. Yes. We can--recreate the tests. You did say there would be payment. Let me rap for you again. Under that table. That chair. On the legs of the piano. On the other side of the door. Right near your feet! No need to jump. (A rapping; silence; another; silence. As she examines her joints.) What? Oh-- It was--it was just my joints-- They--get away from me, sometimes-- (A rapping not her own.) Now pay me. Pay me. |
And so--dear 'Lisha--I'm going to leave you now.
I told them I was a fake. I told the whole story. I put my naked foot upon a wooden stool And I cracked every joint for all of them Every one over and over. And Kate and I whirled around and clapped Like that first night in our room, rapping and clapping-- "What do you want, Mister Splitfoot?!" It's going to be published in the paper. The whole hateful thing. And Lisha--now I'm a hateful thing. The believers say I was paid to confess. And wasn't I? They say I'm a drunk. And ain't I? They say I'll tour again, This time showing off my toes and ankles and knees Like any other show girl. And won't I, Lisha, won't I? And they say I'd sell my mother for a five dollar bill. The truest believer I ever knew. My sweet, innocent mother. And after all, didn't I,? Didn't I? So I believe you, Lisha. There are no dead or departed spirits that have ever returned. I believe you. You are not listening to me now. It's a trick. Damn you. |
My days are filled with sleeping and with drinking.
My evenings with a tedious rapping. But in the night, Listening into the darkness, I still my body down Until there are no borders Between skin and air And blood and ether flow together. I still my body down Until it drifts away. (Crackcrack Raprap) Sometimes my joints get away from me Into the night And echo back again (Crackcrack Raprap) Sometimes my joints get away from me And I could believe Someone was playing me. (chanting) Is there a life after death? (rap) No. Is there a life after death? (rap) No. Is there a life after death? (rapraprap) Oh. What's that? D. O. N. E. Done. (Blackout) |