a wise man once told me:
you know, every time you say
‘i don’t believe in stars’
a star dies
so i must be a murderer
so i must be god’s grave digger
of small things
that
howl
like the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness
starving
hysterical
naked
running into the machinery of night
with a belt of marijuana and anguish shoved in their ready holes
shrieking:
j.f.k
blown away
what more do i
have to say
we had a chance in the sixties
dylan
rockland
the egg faces
pushing carts of onions and fuck fine music
oh
yes
even mohammad jesus
danced
but see
here we are still eating momma from a tin can
poof! now you’re a dandelion
why
because we were suppose to die today
from the blight
that comes with the knowledge that apples
never fall far from today’s tree
&
can we
i mean
will we
reach forty
ram our hand in the bag
and find something
more than mints
protection
and china’s wall
Author notes
My condolences to today's youth...
Several nods to Allen Ginsberg's 'howl', and Billy Joel's 'We didn't start the fire', and Tori Amos' 'Not dying today', and a comment from edpeterson.
A contest entry
- Some Skin in the Game by Oya Ayaba Nikua.
2200 points, ended June 19, 2009, 15 entries
Gold trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think
Comments
1 - 12 of 12
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i have my favorites, kinda like this pair of flannel pants I wear when I'm sad. They always make me feel better. Them and my bed. My bed loves me no matter what. useless rambling (i get like that on meds) HA. i love you. wanna get married? i could bury myself in your imagery.
i know im a quack. But you mentioned tori. Bee to honey there..
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I loved every bit of this, particularly the last stanza. No critique.
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lol yeh quite frankly i think we are fuckin doomed. watched a show a while ago called generation 2000 or something, which focused mainly on artists, music and influenical people. i can remember that show playing since i was a kid, but it started with generation 30 or something...and i watched a few of them and they were always very interresting and every generation had a lot of souvenir and growth, but 2000...man the highlights were britney spears and every possible shit-eating jennifer lopez movie. oh well. love this
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good to see real poetry took the gold.
outstanding work, Darcy
congrats well deserved
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It has been a long time since I have read your poetry. And, wow! Thank you for entering this in the contest. I am suddenly breathing again.
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You honestly are too good to me, m'pet.
Thank you...
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I don't know why, but I've been finding damn good poetry tonight; this is no exception. I had it rough growing up, but my kids have it worse. I love the 'fuck fine music' bit. Didn't we though? lol. On a more serious note...my daughter is only 9 and told me recently that sometimes she feels like killing herself. When I had a talk with her she opened up to me about just how mean the other kids are at school. So, their battles are fiercer than ours in every aspect. You write it well.
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I agree; even as difficult as it was growing up in my generation, it was nothing compared to what the youth of today has to endure. For instance, when I was 14, our only "gangs" consisted on the kids on the corner before school, smoking cigarettes. 
Yeahhh, I was there, too, although hardly a part of The Gang, per se. I always was an outsider, even among the so-called "real rebels". Later, when we moved to Oklahoma City, I was still on the outside looking in, although I'd progressed to smoking a heavier substance by then. Or is that "regressed"? I forget. 
That's when they started installing metal detectors, from necessity. People were getting meaner all the time. 
Billy will always be The Piano Man in my book. Tori definitely has her territory marked out within these torrential waves crashing on the beaches of our rapid, rampantly evocative society. Another grand penning from your always-lucid & powerful pen, Darcy. Good luck in Zayra's contest, Sweetie.
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good poetry - I like the connections, from ginsberg to now, and today's seemingly apathetic youth. also the philosophical implications of existence being contained only in the mind.
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This is a journey of a poem from yesterdays passed to today big question. And this is excellent poetry by one hell of a poetess
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I hear you...
there doesn't seem to be the energy in our youth, so programmed by progress now. But I guess I could blame myself for taking my eye off the ball, as well. sighs
I like the way your mind wove these words, original
and thoughtfully provoking. Thanks.
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And i bet the comment was a piece of work in itself lol but the rest with reference to the fickle and the famous just rounds this piece out C
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