2007-x-x Poem: Burning Low

Another poem written during my 2007-2008 depressive period.  I very occasionally smoked cigarettes, perhaps a flair of self-destruction, perhaps an urge to feel a certain mood, perhaps merely a chemical whim for experimentation, or mark of rebelliousness, or measure of my desperation for control, I can't say exactly why, but as the following poem suggests in a less than subtle way, I have strong feelings about them.  You may notice in the first version that I have attempted to format the poem to visually represent the form of a slim cigarette held between two lips.  An alternate form is below, with the syllables and words (and meaning) slightly adjusted, I like them both in their own way.  May this whack anyone reading it on the head with the sense to stop smoking or engaging in any other self-destructive behaviors, and, so to speak, "light a fire under their posterity."


Burning Low

A fire
dies beneath
the mantle.

                   A candle burning low glows in those
                   misery-ridden eyes, exudes demise.

Death stick,
wick, fuse.

Burning Low (Alt)

Fire dies beneath the mantle.
A candle burning low glows in those
mis'ry-filled eyes, exudes demise
A death stick, wick, fuse.

2008-x-x Poem: Overtaken by Randomness

I can't put a very specific a date on this one, but I believe it was written sometime during 2007-2008(maybe earlier?), while at college, during a depressing and introverted period, living alone in an expensive apartment my dad was helping me rent, failing at classes and letting life flow by me, a time of finding myself and growing up, that I am embarrassed took so long.  ADD medication and marijuana complicated and slowed my transition into adulthood, which did not really get underway until I rejected both.  It gave me the insight, though, to see how many people never grow up, clutching to familiar patterns without reflecting on the power of those patterns to shape their lives.  One of the most pervasive and pernicious patterns, one vaguely thematically evident in this poem, is that of passivity, which makes sense because I was very passive and dependent at the time.  Here it is:

Overtaken by randomness

Bitter ashes slashes

In my somersault world

Burning fur grows from my rustface

I fell from grace into cold snow and

bleed all over the place from my knee scrapes

Sad that I didn't have some ace bandages

And overtaken by randomness.

2006-7-x Song: Static on the Telly

Written during the summer of 2006, between Freshman and Sophomore years of college in my smoke-filled attic, with the pseudonymous P. Franklestein.  Just a goofy romp of a song, inspired by the likes of the Ramones' Blitzkrieg Bop and Spinal Tap's repertoire.  Meant to be slurred in a cockney-esque British accent.  It would take a real musician to make an actual song.

Here are the lyrics- sound file to follow:

Static on the Telly
There's static
static on the telly
There's nuthin on but I really don't care
My wife is ge-tting in my hair
There's nothin
nothin on the telly

I rise from the sofa to pour my tea,
the water's tepid- Oh silly me!

Put on mah cap to go to the pub,
went to the lou, gave me face a scrub,
went outside, ran into a shrub,
the yard was dark- tripped on some flub.

Hey how now, let's regail!
Polish off plenty pints of ale!
I'll play some lively licks, now that I'm pissered!
That's the dog's bollocks, and I've got 'em by the whiskers!

(SOLO)

Ziggedy zaggedy lines, zippin in and out of my mind,
I look for an image on the screen, but it's nowhere to be seen,
Could something be wrong with my electron beam?

Is there a fox in my box? Is my TV se-et a wre-eck?
I take out the screws and look for clues,
I get bored, so I crank up the juice!

(RIFF: wawaWA wawaWA wawa wa WAWA)

Is it my eyes on these drugs? Sometimes all I see is fuzz,
What's goin on, what IS happ'ning?!
The TV is on, but I can't see a damn thing!

There's static
static on the telly
There's static
static on the telly
There's nothin
nothin on the telly
Static on the telly,
Bangers in my belly.

2005-6-x Poem: Finite?

Here is a poem that I began in 2005, senior year of high school.  It is inspired by four years of Latin class; the Illiad and Troy, the Library of Alexandria and the Lighthouse of Pharos, tales of Alexander the Great visiting Troy almost a century after the war and supposedly running around Achilles's tomb naked, and the legend that Alexander was laid to rest in a glass coffin in Alexandria.  It is a sort of an address to his spirit, that calls out to the sleeping hero spirit in each of us.  I have rearranged and revised it many times, so the title speaks both to the state of the poem and the state of man, asking "Are we ever finished/ Can our name and legend live on indefinitely?"

P.S. I think it's pompous, overblown and random- when I wrote it I was an insecure teenager, with a sort of missionistic idealism, so, as with all art, keep the context in mind, and judge independently of the creator- here it is, now that I have introduced it so well:

Finite?
Would you wade in the wooden remains,
run 'round the tomb again with your naked friend?
Would you cover your heels where the hero's life drained?
Did a fiery light passing by the container of your last respite,
carry the remainder of knowledge from all
the volumes it swept through the night?
Step out of the past from behind the glass,
To the world you have something to say,
Say something great.

Launch

I intend this blog to be an outlet for my opinions, poetry, and artwork, and hope that eventually it is found by those who find that stuff interesting or useful.  I won't say too much about myself, let my ideas and art stand on their own.  I invite all opinions and comments and look forward to sharing years of creativity.

I will begin posting chronologically, material from the most distant past first, and the most recent past last, so to begin- some poems from my highschool age- ending with something I wrote just last week.  I have everything from sound clips and attempted guitar to drawings and paintings, and I'll post it all; all the internet can take!  I would love if someone musically talented actually was able to perform some of my songs, be sure to send me a link if you do.  Putting things on the internet is like giving things wings and letting them fly away, where they can kiss or peck at other people, so I hope my ideas may kiss, and peck, many people in the best of ways, but feel free to take shots at them, so to speak, as well!