Fuckin' A!

So I read a question the other day and I thought, "This would be a good subject for a poem."  So in a weird way (My Way, Damn It!!), I responded to this question.  I expect at least one person to take my advice on this...you'll thank me for sure!! 

Oh, and the title comes from what my first response was after reading though the first draft!!  Ahahaha!!

...And for a list of good punk albums, just ask!!

Fuckin’ A

Yesterday someone posed the question,

How are you respondingto violence

with peace?

I have a shirt that states,

MAKE MUSIC

NOT WAR.

To most, my music

is nowhere near peaceful.

It’s filled with fast guitars busting out

power chord after power chord,

seemingly unending thumping bass lines,

and drummers whose arms never stop flailing.

Yet I still believe

that if more people

could take out their aggressions

in the middle of a mosh pit,

slamming into other bodies,

pumping their fists in the air,

and not giving even a single fuck

to what someone else is thinking

that they would feel more at peace.

So my answer is

that the key to ending violence

is letting your aggression Out!

Not trying to cover it

by just sitting cross-legged

letting out “Ohm” after “Ohm.”

Aggression will just keep coming back

as soon as you leave that state.

Trust me, I know!

Don’t try to cover it up

by smiling and giggling

and joking about injustices

that truly just make you

want to puke.

Your aggression will just keep growing.

So my solution to violence

is punk music.

Seems odd, right? But

next time anger builds up

inside of you,

go to your local record store,

grab the nearest (good!) punk album,

put it on, sit back,

and let the music in.

Your head will start to bop

and move from side-to-side,

then your arms will start flailing about;

and before you know realize it

you’re trying to slam dance

with your stationary furniture!

By the middle of the 3^rd song

(or 7^th if you’re listing

to the :30 to a minute-song variety),

you will have forgotten

that your anger even existed!

Why yes...

Yes, I did just write a poem about the NHL Lockout!

In honor of the Lockout Finally being OVER, I'm submitting this poem to dVerse poets Open Link Night!! If you know me in real life, or you follow me on Twitter, you know how much I LOVE hockey!!

Okay, now back to dancing around my house to the Dropkick Murphys new album out today!! (DKM are also Huge hockey fans!!)

Let me know what you think!! :-)

Photo: Steve Yazerman with the Stanley Cup!! From the Official Detroit Red Wings FB Page!!

-->

Lockout

Low hum, adrenaline-filled energy runs

from ice to spectators to ceiling.

The arena is dark,

but bright team-colored lights

reflect off the ice.

Spotlights off, arena lights up.

Puck drops to ice.

Blades hit ice:

up, down, up, down...

Little flecks of ice fly up,

look like little snowflakes,

sparkle in the light.

Sllllide, Stop!

Snowflakes all fly upwards

then fade back down,

turning into nothing

but little droplets of water.

Pull back.

Grunts, slaps, thunks!

Puck glides from stick to board

to stick to net!

Emotions rise, glove fall off...

Dark, shadows, nothing,

no sounds, no energy, no lights.

Cold.  Pristine ice.

Silence.

Branded

-->

Branded

Head first, facedown on a pillow

Bam! Bam! Bam!

My hands locked tightly onto the sides of the bench

my eyes squeezed tightly shut.

Fuck!!  This hurts!

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Okay, okay, this isn’t so bad...

A continuous, steady rhythm

seems to ease some of the pain.

Huh...It actually feels kinda nice.

The artist finally sits back,

(nine years removed,

I can’t even remember his face)

he wipes off my back.

“K, then, you’re done.

Go take a look.”

I stand in front of the mirror,

arch my head over my shoulder,

find the ink,

and smile.

Courtesy of  dVerse Pub yet again!  http://dversepoets.com/  Prompt being first times.  Anyone who follows my Twitter and/or instagram knows that I am one of those people who's a little bit addicted to getting tattooed.  I have a lot more now!  My five-hour sessions of needle-to-back can barely compare of the puniness of my 1st tattoo clocking at at maybe 30 minutes of needle-to-skin!  But who can forget their first??

Short...But Not So Sweet

From my anti-war poetry phase!

-->

Last Night I Dreamed

I was standing in the middle of an airfield

surrounded by countless coffins draped in American flags;

but couldn’t cry, it didn’t seem appropriate.

I wandered slowly between the coffins

running my fingers along as many of them as I could,

all the while thinking of the bodies

and the lost lives of the men and women inside.

I started thinking that I could have passed one of them

on the streets and given them a dirty look,

just because I was having a bad day,

and not knowing that they were on their way to die for me.

I wanted to pry open one of the coffins,

climb in, and become close to the soldier within.

I tried to open the nearest coffin, but it would not budge.

So I climbed on top of it instead, fell asleep,

and woke up safely in my bed.

An Attempt at Some Balance!

So, yeah, I write a lot of dark, depression, anger, & rage fueled pieces.  Sometimes it's fun, and a relief to the brain, to just write something silly & a little bit out there.  Here's a short little scene that popped into my head while drinking coffee & doing my laundry this morning!!

My washing machine sounds like it's gonna bust through the wall any moment now, and just start taking out other appliances while tearing through the house! As long as it's singing, "We're not gonna take it, no we're not gonna take it, we're not gonna take it Anymore!!" while doing so, I won't try to stop it!!  Freedom For All [Washing Machines]!!

(Untitled...again.)

Yet again, gaining on the 2nd anniversary of her death, I was reminded of my friend Leigh, at a least expected time. Matt was Leigh's brother. He was a year behind me in school (Leigh was a senior when I was a Freshman in High School), I didn't really know him very well, but his death still haunts me too. We all graduated from Springfield Catholic High School. And, yet again, I wrote another poem trying to deal with her death.  Here it is.


-->

I used to believe in fate,

that given enough time

things would turn out right.

I thought that I had lost my innocence

a long time ago.

In high school, drunk and in bed

with a guy I didn’t even know.

Eight year later,

alone in my tiny apartment, in a tiny town,

with nowhere to run, I read the sentence

that there was no turning back from,

“RIP Leigh and Matt Nye.”

I stared in disbelief, hyperventilating.

No, no, no....no, no...

I texted Nick, the messenger,

“When did Leigh graduate Catholic?”

But he and I both knew

that I was seeking an unneeded confirmation.

All of my dreams seem to fall by the side

like a discarded thought or the day's fading light.

The Dropkick Murphys sung to me,

like they had done so many times in the past,

while I cried myself to sleep for days to come.

Heartfelt I’m sorrys

and heads hung in solidarity from coworkers

got me though before I could escape and go home.

At the funeral

as an ex-Catholic turned Atheist

I felt odd, yet comforted in a small church

that was beyond packed full

with friends and family of the deceased.

Going through the motions,

while silently remembering in my own way

put me back together

more than I though I could be at  that point.

Driving back up north,

nearly two years ago today,

I was at peace,

I though I had said my good-bye.

But here I am again,

sitting in my corner,

because I was reminded of Leigh.

So now, yet again,

I am listening to hardcore

and trying to come to terms

with why two people, siblings,

were taken so early.

And as I put pen to paper,

yet again, I wonder,

Will this bring closure

at last?

Protest Poems!!

My muse of the day:  http://dversepoets.com/2012/09/01/poetics-the-art-of-rebellion/

1st:  I wrote this in college, during the Myanmar Buddhist Monk protest.  Was the 1st thing I thought of when I read Stu McPherson's post!

Tatticcollu-tal

“Protest”

Bhikkus clothed in red robes and sandals

march peacefully through the streets,

like blood flowing through veins,

from sunup to sundown with overturned

alms bowls:  their only source for food

reversed in remonstration.

They chant an old Buddhist mantra:

Let everyone be free from harm.

Let everyone be free from anger.

Let everyone be free from hardship.

I stand in the middle of the Square

in my hometown. People are walking

all around, but hardly anyone looks at me.

I take an American flag out of my backpack,

unfurl it, light my lighter,

and slowly move the flame towards the flag.

The only thing I can hear is Anti-Flag

streaming though my headphones.

People line the streets as the monks continue their march.

The police stand in the background,

guns drawn, waiting to take them down.

When given the order the police open fire into the crowd.

Monks and laymen scatter, but some fall.

Blood flies through the air.  Children, women,

men all scream, cry in horror.

My flag is burning, the fire warms my right hand,

and I smile, satisfied.

I look around at the people staring at me.

All I can hear is

They want to tiptoe, walk around it

Wave the flag and cowardly salute!

I see a young girl in a purple coat

who looks like the six year old version of me,

holding her mother’s hand.

They are both still, mouths open

as I desecrate their flag.

All I feel is the power I have,

like the power I feel when wielding my pistol

and gunning down plastic targets

at the shooting range on the outskirts of town.

The city is silent,

the street empty, bare,

but the remnants of the carnage remain.

Blood stains the street, sidewalk, buildings,

everything.  A sandal lies in the middle of the street,

covered by a splash of blood.

Streaks of red lead to various buildings

as victims bleed for peace.

2nd:  Wrote right around Easter soon after I started practicing Buddhism.

Jesus Looks Down On Me

My parents have a Catholic cross

hanging in their hallway with palm leaves behind it.

Ever time I walk down the hall

I still imagine Jesus looking down on me,

mad because of something I had done;

when I was younger, he was upset

because I hit my brother

or stole a candy cane from the Christmas tree.

Now he’s mad

because I’ve replaced St. Brigid’s Cross

with the statue of the Buddha on my dresser.,

and I spent last Christmas morning meditating

instead of at church.

Yesterday I looked Jesus in the eye

and whispered, Nothing is permanent,

not even you.

3rd:  I've Always wanted to write a poem about these damn billboards!!

Jesus is Everywhere

Jesus Christ is our lord and savior.

It’s right here in this book,

yes, I’m talkin’ about the Bible…

I quickly change the station.

Although I’m only doing 75, okay 85,

a sign slowly creeps up on me:

I’m watching you—God

He’s watching me rock out to the Ramones in my car?

That’s creepy, even for God.

I push down harder on the gas pedal.

I pass a green sign stating

JESUS in bright white letters

and beat my head against the steering wheel.

Some one thought Jesus would like

to have his name plastered to a sign

and stuck in the middle of nowhere?

And only three billboards away,

just in case I missed the message:

CH_ _CH.  What’s missing?

Now this is just too much.

I pull my car to the side of the highway,

grab the duffle bag full of spray paint,

and proceed to scale the billboard.

The first thing I do is fill in the blanks with the obvious:  UR;

then I create my own answer:  Buddha.

I drive off, smirking to myself.