WITHDRAWING IN DISGUST IS NOT THE SAME THING AS APATHY (selected poems 2010 - 2011) by Mark Beechill
"Thanks, I'll read it in the van." - Doug Stanhope
A BUNCH OF ROCKS
SHIT OFF
“It’s just a bunch of rocks,”
They all said
I sat there quietly fuming
At the ignorance of it all
And thought
What about the history?
The mystery?
Aren’t you curious at least
To know what they meant
Who took the time to put them there
For worship, love, magic
Or power?
“It’s just a bunch of rocks,”
They all said
The next time they moaned about life
Or money
Their ‘phone
Or some other trivial bullshit
I wanted to say
“You’re all just a bag of bones”
Like it doesn’t matter
You’re just a complex arrangement
Of sub-atomic particles
What’s the big deal?
When you’re gone
And the Universe has rearranged your molecules
Into another lump of complaints
Or something more worthwhile
The rocks will still be there.
The kid had a mouthful of margle and blech
The owner, creator and co-spawner
Jammed some crud
In its spout
And bargained and bartered
With empty threats
For any relief
From the squeaky toy hell
Of the fleshy grot face
With its dummy on the floor
And a shit in its pants
Like everyone else
It was getting ready for a life
Of shitting, shouting
And being told what to do
By those who know no better.
The way I see it
This is a waste of time
Mine, mainly
Probably yours
But if you’re deluded enough
To think that this meeting of minds
Is relevant,
Worthwhile,
Or something other than a façade
Then you doubtless believe
That someone like you
Telling someone like me
About how I work
And what I do
Is perfectly reasonable
And not at all
Preposterous
But I guess we need people
Like you
Who follow without question
And somehow assume that I care
Beyond surviving another month
Intact,
Or something like
While plotting
My escape.
ANNUAL REVIEW
OOPS
Once,
In a rare attempt
To be honest with my mother
I said that we,
Our family
Were emotionally retarded
To my surprise
She was upset
Like I had hurt her feelings
Or something