Sunday, May 29, 2016

Three poems not good enough for ANGEL CITY REVIEW.

FOUND POEM FROM LINES IN BETH CHENG POEMS
(Note: poem constructed from lines in Beth Cheng's chapbook SYZYGY)
 
History speaks,
but I'm not drawn into conversation
> 
It's not better,
just different you say
In response to my lament
> 
I do not grow, cannot,
I only deflate, shrivel,
shrink, sublimate...


OUTRAGE CULTURE
 
it's so easy
to be angry at Famous People
(justified or not)
for perceived sins of the past
and display purifying present-day scorn
in public forums
with no need
for nuance or perspective 
or historical context
> 
shut down opposing views
and make it absolutely sure
actual or imagined crimes
and dubious, outdated, chauvinistic remarks
will cause every second of their art
and/or entertainment
created in the imperfect past 
to be avoided like Video Plague
by future generations
and imprisoned in studio vaults
without much chance of escape


WHY YOU DON'T SEE ME ANYMORE

Didn’t want to be single at 50
Complaining all the time about change
Didn’t want to be around people
Pronouncing the word “multicultural”
As an obscenity that begins with the word “mother”
Didn’t want to hear the words
“violating the natural order of things”
If I objected to bigotry
Didn’t want to be hushed up
If I said I liked some new movies
Just as much as Old Hollywood classics
Didn’t want to hear discussions at Bob’s Big Boy
About Alan Ladd being superior to Leo DiCaprio
Didn't want to be single at 60
And unable to make a woman trust me
Because of spending decades
In the company of aging men
Who preferred to remain boys

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