poem Dreams 12/3/12, a poem about having everyoing invade your space while you go to the bathrom, but still everyone ignores you, By Chicago Poet and performance artist Janet Kuypers

[the Writing of Kuypers] [JanetKuypers.com] [Bio] [Poems] [Prose]

See YouTube video
of Kuypers reading this poem 1/30/13 at the Café Gallery in Chicago (from the Canon camera)

See YouTube video
of Kuypers reading this poem 1/30/13 at the Café Gallery in Chicago (from the Sony camera)

See YouTube video
of Kuypers reading the poems Dreams 12/3/12 and Garret’s Lament 1/30/13 at the Café Gallery in Chicago (from the Sony camera)

See YouTube video
of Kuypers hosting the open mic 1/30/13 at Gallery Cabaret’s the Café Gallery in Chicago, plus her reading poetry (including this poem)

See YouTube video
of Bob Rashkow reading this Janet Kuypers poem Dreams 12/3/12 in cc&d mag, v244 live 9/18/13 at the open mic the Café Gallery in Chicago (C)

See YouTube video
of Bob Rashkow reading this Janet Kuypers poem Dreams 12/3/12 in cc&d mag, v244 live 9/18/13 at the open mic the Café Gallery in Chicago (S)

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poem “Dreams 12/3/12” from the v5 cc&d boss lady poetry collection book “On the Edge”, then her 2019 poems “Venezuela was Mowed Down by Tanks” & “Freedoms of Speech we can Agree With” (all followed by her reading the quote, “We don’t read and write poetry because it is cute. We read and write poetry because we are human beings,” from “Dead Poets Society” and said by Robin Williams as John Keating) 5/5/19 at “Recycled Reads” (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera).

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poem “Dreams 12/3/12” from the v5 cc&d boss lady poetry collection book “On the Edge”, then her 2019 poems “Venezuela was Mowed Down by Tanks” & “Freedoms of Speech we can Agree With” (all followed by her reading the quote, “We don’t read and write poetry because it is cute. We read and write poetry because we are human beings,” from “Dead Poets Society” and said by Robin Williams as John Keating) 5/5/19 at “Recycled Reads” (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix T56 camera).

Dreams 12/3/12
Janet Kuypers
12/3/12
So I was in the cul-de-sac on my street,
and I had to use the washroom,
so I thought of going to the bathroom
in my house; it was really gorgeous,
the bathroom in my house,
it had floor-to-ceiling windows,
so you could see the world
while you are going to the bathroom;
but I figured that since people were
on my street, all going to a neighbor’s
garage sale, that I shouldn’t use my
bathroom where everyone could see me
sitting on the toilet...
Looking back, why did I have
a bathroom like that, with
floor-to-ceiling windows,
in a populated area? I mean,
did I want this exposed bathroom
so I could feel like I could
commune with nature or something?
I don’t get it.
Either way, I walked to a neighbor’s house,
I assume I asked their permission
to use the bathroom but I can’t remember,
and I went to the small bathroom,
closed the door, pulled my pants down
and sat on the toilet. And I looked up
and saw that this bathroom had two doors
on two opposite adjacent walls,
and that’s when someone walked in
and went through the other door.
And I thought, wait a minute,
I’m using this bathroom, why did someone
pay no attention and just walk through,
but then someone else walked in
to walk through the other door again.
So I said, “Excuse me, what are you doing,
I’m using the bathroom here,”
and they responded,
“but this is the only way to get through.”
And I’m sure there was another way through,
but I then realized that these were people
for the garage sale, and they were
just walking through to look at more
of my neighbor’s belongings for sale.
As more people came walking through,
I couldn’t believe that strangers
were walking through this bathroom,
never even noticing me
while I was sitting on the toilet
with my pants down,
because they were so focused
on looking through someone else’s belongings.
I don’t know,
I don’t think I have bathroom issues,
but
I just don’t like feeling so
exposed.

my hand to an anim of jkchair