We wear coats to protect our bodies. We wear shoes to protect our feet. We wear hats to protect our heads. We wear gloves to protect our hands. We wear blinders to protect our hearts.
Striated black and white diagonals Vibrate from this wide, flat tie That is only one among a collection Of hallucinogenic, tasteless colors Designed to give anybody who stares Too long a splitting headache.
The tie collection arose from Self-defense at a service job Where the public would ask Questions like how much alcohol Can be added to a gas tank Before blowing the truck up.
Nowadays you need a PhD Just to be a manager of fast food, Or a shoe salesman rummaging The stock room for that golden slipper, Or an insurance salesman Checking for pre-existent conditions.
Among the truly hip, the louder The tie the more attention you get, Until finally, after tearing out Your soul at a poetry reading, You go home, alone once again, And use that tie to hang yourself.
I grew up in Christian fundamentalism, went to hell, came back, became a Presbyterian then a Buddhist Presbyterian, and now I'm a profane Presbyterian Zen Taoist -- not that I'm into labels or anything. Here's what I've learned so far: The more you know, the more you know you don't know.
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Attire
Striated black and white diagonals
Vibrate from this wide, flat tie
That is only one among a collection
Of hallucinogenic, tasteless colors
Designed to give anybody who stares
Too long a splitting headache.
The tie collection arose from
Self-defense at a service job
Where the public would ask
Questions like how much alcohol
Can be added to a gas tank
Before blowing the truck up.
Nowadays you need a PhD
Just to be a manager of fast food,
Or a shoe salesman rummaging
The stock room for that golden slipper,
Or an insurance salesman
Checking for pre-existent conditions.
Among the truly hip, the louder
The tie the more attention you get,
Until finally, after tearing out
Your soul at a poetry reading,
You go home, alone once again,
And use that tie to hang yourself.
[Disposable Poem September 25, 2009]
Dr. Mike
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