By Ralph Haselmann Jr.

Lucid Moon Review Poetry Website Archives, www.lucidmoonpoetry.com

       I first realized that I had the potential for evil, or a “Heart of Darkness”, when I was a young boy growing up in South Plainfield, New Jersey. I was around seven or eight years old, and I had been living in that neighborhood since I was a toddler. We lived in the suburbs, a few miles away from the small city of Plainfield. Our neighborhood was a little rough, and I was frequently involved in fights with my neighbors. Nothing serious - just a few punches and shoving others around. I was the recipient of many bloody noses, but was in general on good terms with my neighbors.
      One particular family happened to be Hispanic, and their children were often the subjects of needless racial prejudices. They had three boys - a 16 year old, a 4 year old, and one who was a year older than I, and whom I hung around with. The other friends I hung around with used to gang up on the two younger brothers simply because of their race. I was taught to ridicule and tease them, but I never realized how wrong it was until a certain incident occurred. One day the four year old was happily walking along the sidewalk eating crackers, minding his own business when I came up behind him and threw him to the ground. I knocked the crackers he was eating out of his hand and stomped on them. He ran home crying and I ran home to hide. I was twice his age and I should have known better. Later that day I was playing in the street, when his 16 year old brother pinned me down and punched me around. After this incident I realized how wrong I was and how mean and stupid I acted, and how unnecessary it is to be prejudiced. Because of this incident I realized that everyone has “Heart of Darkness” and a potential for evil.
      Two years later I moved out of that neighborhood and into my present address. My former neighborhood was constantly being vandalized and robbed. The kids had become delinquents and the school system was rough. I am glad I moved out when I did for I know I would have become a tough kid just like all my friends. I am glad I realized what I was getting into, and I am glad I moved when I did. A parallel can be made between my experiences and that of Marlowe, the fictional character in Heart of Darkness. When he realized the evil and savage side of man that consumed Kurz, he saved himself and left the Congo to return back to the “civilized” world.

A
Excellent

Ralph Haslmann Jr.
World Lit
Mr. Parent
11/28/81

Ralph Haselmann Jr.’s Bio
Ralph Haselmann Jr. was born on October 4, 1965 and lives in the lush rolling green hills of Morristown, NJ. He graduated from Mason Gross School Of The Arts, Rutgers (New Brunswick, New Jersey) in 1990 with a BFA in Graphic Design. He proceeded to paint houses for 11 years after school because it paid much more. He edits the critically lauded Lucid Moon Review Poetry Website, www.lucidmoonpoetry.com, which has been called the best poetry website on the internet, a valuable resource for poets, and is highly rated by Google. His first two poetry books, Wounded Heart, Naked Soul and Scattershot Haze, are available at Xlibris at 1-888-7xlibris, www.Xlibris.com , www.Amazon.com , www.BarnesandNoble.com , and www.Borders.com . In October 2001, Ralph was in a horrible, serious, near-fatal car accident, which left him paralyzed below the waist and in his right writing hand. Ralph is not wallowing in anger or self-pity, rather he is rededicating his life to promoting and publishing the works of others and himself. Remarkably, he can type with an adaptive keyboard and use a mouse pad to work on his website. Ralph is a member of The Writer’s Bridge, a group which will help place his writings in magazine markets that will pay him. Ralph is also a proud member of Peta, not People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals, but the other one, People Eating Tasty Animals! Ralph has given poetry readings at The Shaker Café in Flemington NJ and The Back Fence in NYC. If you would like to reprint his writings or correspond with him, he can be reached at:

Lucid Moon Review Poetry Website and Newsletter, Ralph Haselmann Jr., editor
Morris Hills Center, Room 427 W, 77 Madison Ave., Morristown, NJ 07960
(973) 993-9744 ralphylucidmoon@yahoo.com, www.lucidmoonpoetry.com.

© Copyright 2005 Ralph Haselmann Jr. and Lucid Moon Review Poetry Website www.lucidmoonpoetry.com