Sky Pilot• Show poetry

Hey.

My name's Clayton. I'm a young, dumb emo kid from Ohio. Ohio, no band's land.  Anyway, I happen to live in a town full of conservative Christian fundamentalist racists, so, to filter out all that, I occupy myself with involved hobbies, such as gardening, drumming, banjo and guitar playing, and, of course, writing.

My poetry and music is heavily influenced by the likes of Nick Drake, Jeff Buckley and Elliott Smith. I'm very spiritual, perhaps overly sensitive, and rather fragile. I  believe in love, acceptance, and equality as the things paramount to a peaceful and harmonious existance.

A favorite philosopher of mine (Spinoza or Descartes) said 'The only thing I know is that I know nothing'. I take that philosophy to heart. I'm an Agnostic....Trying to figure things out for myself, you know? If you want, you can track my progression in the 'Another Stab at Philosophy' series.
I don't really know how else to get some exposure for my writing...I hope some day to be as respected and loved here as people like Onyx Dragon, but it'll probably take quite a long time. I feel like I don't get comments returned so much, but it's probably my fault- early on I didn't return nearly enough comments. An apology to all those people who took the time to read my work if I didn't return the courtesy.

I don't really think I'm very talented, but above all other things, I want to touch someone, to inspire them. So I hope you can feel me through my verse. Then, I know I've done well.

Favorite Bands- (Five bucks says it's a longer list that Hannahesque's!)

Nick Drake, Ani Difranco, Elliott  Smith, Billy Bragg, Cat Stevens, Don McLean, Dead Kennedys, Talking Heads, the Clash, Crass, Blood Brothers, Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Sonic Youth, Green Day, Dinosaur Jr., Wilco, Son Volt, Earl Scruggs, Johnny Cash, Against Me!, Bright Eyes, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Queen, David Bowie, Twisted Sister, Bob Dylan, Flogging Molly, Black 47, John Vanderslice, Death Cab for Cutie, the Long Winters, Sunset Valley, The Pillows, the Seatbelts, Tsueno Imahori, The Beatles, the Byrds, Tabla Beat Science, Alkaline Trio, Beck, Bela Fleck, Rush, Fugazi, Sebadoh, Jawbox, Jeff Buckley, Modest Mouse, Miles Davis, The Oranges Band, Pantera, Slayer, Wild Cherry, Xiu Xiu, Aesop Rock, Sage Francis, Pedro the Lion, Cannibal Ox, Blackalicious, MC Paul Barman, Melt Banana, the Pogues, the Pixies, the Breeders, NOFX, Zeke, Motorhead, DJ Shadow, RJD2, Buck 65, Gorillaz, DJ Krush, Spoon, DJ Q-bert, Kid Koala, Finga Thing, the White Stripes, The Finders, the Rockers, System of a Down, the Marbles, Mozart, Claude Debussy, Frederick Chopin, Pavement, Soul Coughing, Weezer, Radio Head, Daft Punk, Bob Marley, Yellowman, Manu Chao, the Skatelites, Cat Power, Toadies, Bad Brains, Thursday, Taking Back Sunday, Sublime, Beck, Say Hi To Your Mom, the Dead Milkmen, Z-Trip, Iggy Pop, Jurassic 5, Black Eyed Peas, Deerhoof, the Raincoats, the Vaselines, Donovan, the Frames, Red House Painters, the Darkness, Fairport Convention., Minor Threat.

Damn...Not long enough....

Anyway, I play electric banjo and drums in an indie fusion band called the Freudian Slips. I plan to use alot of my poems as songs. We're still cleaning up our sound and developing as individual musicians, but by the time we're done with college? Watch out, corporate radio. Oh, man...Look out. We got a record deal last week. *cackles maliciously*

Anyway, I noticed alot of people noting other good poets on their pages. I got jealous.

First, I'd like to thank hannahesque for bringing me to Allpoetry. She's a lovely poet, and a fantastic person. Read as much of her stuff as you can. Hopefully, my bandmates and I can visit her this summer so that we can tear it up. Crossing my fingers, anyway. I'd like to thank my friend, telepathy666, for being a wonderful friend and sharing his deepest thoughts with me personally, and through his work. He's a great writer. I suggest you check him out. Love ya, man.

I'd like to thank Silverarm for always giving me the support I need. I dunno what I'd do without you. Check her out, as well. She has an amazing command of the English language, and always catches me in a web of emotion.

drinkmeplease is another personal friend of mine, an incredibly sweet and thoughtful woman. You don't know it, but you have a heart of gold. Much love! A very emotional and thought-provoking writer. I swear, she uses every convention to her advantage. A testament to romance writing.

I owe a huge debt to TheRainKing. I don't know him well, but I admire him immensely. His talent is a constant source of inspiration for me, and without him I may not have had the confidence to keep sharing my work.

Thanks to jules2007 for her unrelenting support. You're a rising star, dear. The only way to go is up. Check her out. She's quickly developing into a superb writer. Oh, I especially like 'Wasted'.

Lastly, thanks to IndigoPhenix and RainChild for adding me to their favorites lists. I was stunned when I found out that two complete strangers had stumbled on my work, and ENJOYED it. I'm still reading their work, and I hope to see more from both of them in the future. Thanks, guys.

Thanks to Coconut, or 'Mum' as I like to call her. My AP mother!

                                          *UPDATES*

I won my first trophy!!!!! Second place, too! Woot! *feels appreciated* In all fairness, though, I submitted like, four pieces (the limit being five) so my chances were drastically increased...
***************************Buddha's Philosophy Corner*****************

 So I'm reading Nietzsche, and I come across this interesting passage:

"All philosophers have the common failing of starting out from man as he is now and thinking they can reach their goal through an analysis of him. They involuntarily think of 'man'....as something remaining constant in the midst of all flux."

Bull. Even I, a person who knows painfully little in regards to philosophy of any type, am fully aware that NOTHING remains constant, and that the only constant is change; I'm sure more experienced philosophers on this site and elsewhere have, at one time or another, come to such a conclusion. So far, I am unimpressed by Nietzsche and his writings. I'll post more later.

I know it sounds cliche, but I love you all. I really do. I know a lot of you have problems that you're dealing with; it's part of the reason poetry is written. Even if you don't know me well, or don't know me at all, anyone who feels they know me well enough from my writing to talk to me about any trouble they're having to PM me whenever they like.
Well, that's my rant. You can go read my poems now, if you want.