Inspired by 2008 predictions and pop music

1: Has 1 hrd of Rivers Cuomo?
Cause he like revitalized
Rock and roll
In the late twentieth century
He did it with lightning
And nineteen fifties shades

He wrote a book once
No a bible, about rock
And roll and songwriting
Apparently he studied
Guns and Roses
And Nirvana
And knows
He knows
How to make the perfect
Song.

2: A girl with a crutch
That I used to know
When I went to bars
And got real drunk
On weeknights
And missed class
Said hi to me
In a coffee shop
Off campus
I enthusiastically
Responded with
“Hey.”
I used to think
This girl was cute
Now I can’t
Remember her name

The bar we used to
Frequent had this way
Of making her face
Look beyond beautiful
Almost fake
I saw her in daylight
At her work
Making smoothies
And saw her face
During the day
And not buzzed
Off two for ones
Or two dollar specials
And she had this make
Up of epic proportions
Strewn about her face
At that moment
I realized why she was
Beautifully fake
In barlight because
Her face was smothered
In paste and white and creams and moisturizes
Seriously grotesque
Riddled with scars

I felt bad then
That I had liked her for her face
And not because I thought
She was interesting
Just a good lay
I stopped seeing her
At the bar
I stopped going
And I saw her studying
In a coffee shop
With two crutches
High on pharmaceuticals
Studying identity.

1: I like Kevin Barnes
As far as entertainers go
He is without compare
As far as his generation
Is concerned

Glam seemingly has not
Lost its initial definition
From the late seventies
Early eighties and he
Embodies it successfully

His voice is something
Of a miracle. Semi-monotone
Suggesting a subdued
Personality altered in slight
By chemicals or weed

Which I think speaks
For a certain number of
Those in (between) youth
And his theatrics mimic
Our mutual escape from reality.

Into fantasy
And shenanigans on stage
That make us all believe
We’re not living. We don't
Breathe despite lungs
ing

Nineteenth Century

I do not believe in God.
Not yours or your father’s
Or Chaucer’s or Gaius J.
Caesar’s I do not believe in
A higher power
But I believe in you
Your words and Nature

Why not begin again?
Like you proposed
New gods for a new era
New Traditions to follow
New scenes of the picturesque
Where I’ll walk with you
Beyond retrospection

Yet time moves and has
Since your days of youth
And I’m sorry I’ve read
Your psalms a century
And a half too late to
Believe in your god
Your concept of faith

But I do believe in you
Your thoughts, your pen
Timeless
In an age where everyone
Believes in themselves
Endlessly
I think of you, dearest Emerson

As I sit and watch the tide come in
And the moon wane
And the ants bear weight
And the children play
And the birds wade off the vibrant
Green banks of Lake Michigan.

Dream Predictions for 2008

1. A woman wearing all black asks me where "Yoko" is. After deducing that she is talking about Yoko Ono, I tell her I have no idea, and she remarks "She is gone."
Translation: Yoko Ono will die in 2008.
2. Between philosophical sips of coffee in a public park, I found myself suddenly overwhelmed by a feeling of desire for a breakfast sandwich that somehow worked avocados into the mix. The details came slowly, but eventually I created the finest brex-mex creation this side of the mason-dixon.
The 2008 Brex-Mex:
-Texas toast, toasted.
-A poached egg.
-3 slices of pepper smoked bacon.
-One medium-tall slice of avocado.
-Two slices of tomato.
-Sauteed red onions.
Translation: This sandwich will be served at restaurants across the nation in 2008.
3. Dennis Kucinich offers me a bong rip.
Translation: Dennis Kucinich, after being ignored in the race for the U.S. presidency, will head the secession movement for the Republic of Cascadia. After succeeding, he will smoke a bong while addressing the new Republic.
4. A four-eared, two-nosed, no-handed monster chases me through a slop forest.
Translation: The social mores surrounding the practice of nose and ear picking will be considered outdated.
5. I am faced with a stack of bills for energy, loans, rent, tuition, and credit cards. A man in a suit, carrying an extraordinarily clean scalpel tells me that "We can take care of this in one simple procedure."
Translation: The voluntary sale of human organs will be legalized, following a suit that piggy-backs on the existing laws around abortion.
6. Two women walk toward me in a party, they laugh to each other and whisper, they come closer into the light when I realize that they are both about 80 years old.
Translation: Make-up will continue to make girls look hot from a distance, and expose them as nasties up close. Seriously.

A toast to a dismal future.

Every time
I speak to someone
about the future
it's always
apocalypse this
or Armageddon that
why can't we expect
success and riches
money and bitches?
Probably because life
is not a rap song
no matter what the TV may tell you
it's probably more along the lines of:
wake up
go to work
work all day
hate your job
leave your job
come home to an empty apartment
or a crowded house
smoke weed
get drunk
get married
make a kid
that
you
can't
afford
doesn't matter if you love it
if you can't fucking keep it fed.

Reoccurring themes in last Saturday’s writing

I

Some things I have been
thinking as of late,
writers are vain.
I’m looking into a mirror
as I write this
and I see my face.
Someone told me this,
I don’t believe him.

II

I talked to some woman today
about a cake she ordered.
On a message I left yesterday
I told her it would be ready
in the afternoon She was thoroughly
pissed at me and wanted to talk to me
Personally
about how much I ruined her day
and how hard it was to order a cake
because when I said afternoon
it was much too late.
What I was supposed to say
was “Twelve, Noon.”
Apparently
“afternoon”
means
after
three
to this seedy fucking Lincoln park bitch goddess
who lives on Deming Street
two blocks from the bakery
who needs to get her shit kids
fucking football and helmet shaped
Cake
Delivered
And I,
I was the one who ruined her day
because “afternoon” was much too late.
All I wanted to tell her
As she effortlessly chewed me out
over the phone was,
“I don’t give a damn about your business,
or your babies daddy’s bank account.”

III

I found out today
that this girl
did not stand me up
because of my moustache
apparently it’s just because
she forgets to return
phone calls?

Now I’m bored.
I’d rather have her
blow me off because of my face
than call me back three days late
cause like, what kids, this guy
(points to face)
does not wait.

IV

I went on a bike ride today
with my roommate.
It was forty degrees or more
today
and not rainy.
We went to Joe’s place
and I walked in on him
and Lara eating a Mexican feast.
they were really happy
and about to watch TV
and handed me my things
that I forgot the previous night
too drunk to remember
where I hid them.

Then we rode to Starbucks
to visit our beautiful friend
Carrie who works across from
her favorite bar, Drum & Monkey.
She gave us free passion fruit
green teas.
It was nice.
Her boss and I
talked about weed.

Afterwards we had
to endure the long haul
back to Lincoln park
and away from UIC
and let me tell you,
Greek town didn’t seem so big
and the three bridges we crossed
weren’t so steep
and that bar we passed
where I got stood up
didn’t sting

I smiled and went to Whole Foods
to buy some expensive sixers
and chat with this gay dude
about growing up in Stillwater
cause I’m from Arden Hills
on my brother’s ID.

V

I rode by this giant post office today,
some headquarters or something
in this tre chic futuristic
building on the west side
of the Chicago river.
I realized then that it is right
next to the greyhound station,
where I’m convinced only
sucky people hang out.
One time I met my friend William
there and he bought some weed
from a homeless man
and it was not green.
It was orange.
We threw it away.

We were young then.
Younger I suppose
And what was that?
Two years ago?
Now we have hair
on our backs
and in our noses
and drink a bit
when we should
be going to school
but I like writing
with him.
We get along well.