generosity kills speed by Gabriel RicardIt’s raining in the second-largest park in town tonight,
and I’d like it to stay that way when I finally catch the flu,
leave, hit the corner and marvel at those cigarette ads
outside enduring after fifty long, weird years.
The most useless things stay the same.
I guess that’s worth a one-man parade,
with a can of good champagne
and a New Year’s hat that actually keeps the rain off my head.
That part doesn’t matter so much.
I’m already sick from the weather. I’m already down
to whatever language you create after four days
of moving from one top-floor to another
and never finding a bed with enough room
for someone who sleeps the way I do.
My problem there is that I keep losing the arguments
I’m desperate to win when it’s high-time I shut the hell up
and pass as quietly as possible through the cities I miss
a lot more than they miss me.
I’m also prone to a lot of kicking and rolling around.
More than one person
has brought up the question of whether or not
I’m capable of even faking peace and tranquility.
I make the easy joke about those things and Christmas,
then treat myself to another round.
Don’t worry about me too much. I’ll probably live
another forty years with time to spare.
Getting sick when there’s places to go,
people to see is all part of my cunning plan.
I don’t have a lot of money,
and I’m ten pounds too heavy to go through
a window to the other side without smashing some glass.
Never mind the impossible. At least until I’m willing
to understand what I’m getting myself into.
I hope to be at your complete mercy when I knock,
stand back and imagine cars driving by full of old friends
who kept laughing a long time after I had stopped.
You’ll be gorgeous, twenty-six and full of sarcasm,
no matter what time it is.
You’ll know exactly what to do with a liar like me.
07/22/2011 Posted on 07/22/2011 Copyright © 2025 Gabriel Ricard
Member Comments on this Poem |
Posted by Ava Blu on 07/25/11 at 02:26 AM "The most useless things stay the same." - indeed. I know exactly what to do with a liar like you; I always have. heh |
Posted by Timothy Wilson on 07/26/11 at 06:22 PM Dude, that was amazing! I really REALLY enjoyed this one. In one way or another, the language and flow of it reminded me of the dialog in "Fight Club". It was a consistent ass kicking for the eyes to read, and I totally felt what you were trying to say here (But I could be wrong, at least I felt SOMETHING HERE) Very very very good stuff, Gabe! Next stop: my favorites list |
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