PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

 

“Is it live or is it Memorex?”

We are asked subtle questions

regarding the realm of reality

              and fantasy

and find that as of yet we have

                    no answers. . .

 

If you believe it’s true

then it really will come true

like the 5 straight World Series

              victories

for the Philadelphia Phillies

 

so the questions are being raised

about the ‘real world’ and those

other wondrous worlds of our

                       imagination

and which is which and which is not

 

so I plug away in a factory here

in the real world and drink my beer

                          and brandy

which causes illusionary fantasies

                that take me

to another world of delusion

 

The good guy doesn’t always get

            the girl

now that reality has settled

and the pipe dream extinguished

by the gnawing pestilence of

               the standards

set for me by those who know

 

Get a job; get up and go to work

be a vital part of society

don’t cause a fuss; don’t be yourself

be what you’re told and not

what you want to be

That’s just the way it goes

 

Are you listening to me?

Why U trying to be U

when you ain’t wearing Reeboks?

Why you trying to live the high life

with a microbrewed beer instead of Miller?

Why the bud you enjoying come from

                       Thailand

instead of Weiser?

 

Suck down those Pepsis

and those Cokes and Mickie Dee burgers

guaranteed to fill any appetite

and not cause indigestion

from the blandness not that a real tongue

of a real person from the real world

would know the difference

                     anyway

 

Better check the ratings to make sure

you ain’t watching a flop show

better check the pop charts make sure

you ain’t listening to a flop

better let the Powers of Blandness

that be make all the decisions

decide what you like or else you ain’t

              living in the real world

 

so you like Peter Tosh better than

                       Michael Jackson—

Better change your mind

Your choice is wrong

Your out of touch with what every one else

                           is choosing

 

drink lots of booze; lots of caffeine

but don’t touch other Buzz Promoters

Drink to excess—good ole boys

It’s kay if you die; act like a fool;

Start a fight; kill your heart

An Okie from Muskogee—

                     indeed you are

 

Made up your mind yet?

Do you have a mind left?

Better let the TV guide tell

you where to be this week

what day to watch the Cos

          or the fat woman

 

See a bullet in the chest but not

                    an exposed breast

gotta keep our priorities straight

 

A kid might commit suicide if he

listens to Ozzy Osbourne so let’s

sticker up the records and give kids

more incentive to buy them

might commit adultery or drive drunk

if they listen to Merle Haggard

so let’s ban rock and roll

 

Use no logic—logic don’t sell

Gotta cause epilepsy letting kids

             play Nintendo

but don’t worry we’ll throw out the books

don’t read a book, it ain’t real

don’t want to be accused of being a worm

by those who really know

 

ya ain’t living it if you’re only reading it

There’s simply no time to read after 5

                  Hours

a day on dimwitted TV shows

 

better not feed your mind

cause you can only use it in the ways

they deem appropriate

lest you be a rebel; radical; thug

criminal malcontent and you

wouldn’t want a label like that

 

Get a label and you’re stuck with it

So get Jordache or Bugle Boy

but not no frills generic K-mart

or polyester cause then you’ll just

 be a damn freak in society

 

Better get a haircut; new car;

              new clothes

now ya all set for the scene

only the scene doesn’t exist

cause the passion is gone; the feeling

                  gone

all that remains is the look; the style

 

but emotions let run dry; all gone to hell

to keep eyeliner from running

the hair from falling out of place

use them chemicals for hold

torture the animals—blind them, maim then

                 abuse them

It don’t matter since they not human

and just go on with it—no one will ever utter

              a complaint

 

So do you follow on what is and

                what isn’t?

no need to worry cause no one else knows

                    either

There’s only really a few people who

                 really KNOW

and we can’t find them anywhere

 

Must be ghosts in a ghost town

no one has discovered cause

we sure as hell ain’t getting anywhere

We’s just sputtering along wondering

            if we real

or a figment of a computer malfunction

 

Now all records of oneself are erased

leaving a shadow—not a real being

a number punched up on a Sears credit line

the imaginary life of an imaginary being

set out in record from Bureau of Records

 

Censored out for lust and the desire to

                     live high

just try to be free cause you ain’t

living in the real world

you’re living in your own world

 

Gotta learn how to follow orders

watch re-runs of “The Brady Bunch”

don’t read the paper, it’s all a lie

who won?  What’s the score?

Did you score?  How much did you score?

 

Seems Real World 1, Your world 0

but ya gotta be convinced that it’s

insane to be regulated and inspected

by the FDA and DEA; urine as clean as

              a whistle

 

Punch it up; you’re in; you’re clean

So what the Hell do you win?

You don’t win.  You just ate

so if being is all you really have

then you better cling to it

for all you’re worth because

once it’s gone; it’s gone forever

and you’ll never get it back

 

May 21, 1990