 | |
with each step, while lamp shaded women
recline on the couch with canned hams,
fine print beneath the nutritional content
can be read if you really want to know
what's in these
it ain't ham baby
but he could care-less, just wants to know
how many licks it takes to get to the center of
this tootsie---
roll-ing its eyes the moon sighs from above
not for love but because they are listening once
more to Milli Vanili, blaming the rain for numb pain
while all the romance stories stay safely hung
on the wall behind glass
an attached bronze plaque reads,
BREAK IN CASE OF EMERGENCY
if it could be read underneath the dust
cut the TV off, cut the F&$%ing TV off
too many animals died to make this imitation
snow leopard pattern rug, for it to go to waste
This poem was brought to you by Ford,
vacuum cleaners with big hoses
lose suction per inch and front page
news is written for entertainment
and to sell newspapers
So let's take down the picture of President
what's-his-face that commemorates the last
time we went on a real date, doll yourself
up babe, the show starts at eight---
cause i,
i can no longer live
fake.
Woohoo daddio, Victoria has a treat for you today at dVerse Poets Pub. Her poetry prompt is sure to inspire, so swing on by around 3 pm EST just to see what all this craziness is all about. Haha. Smiles.
The artwork above is by Richard Hamilton and is entitled "Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing?" and is representative of Pop Art.
Posts
81 comments:
Great lines that brought a smile to my face (especially when I went back and looked at the photo).
I want a real date...can you send someone a message? ha.
And it takes 269 licks...I counted once as a kid. lol...
you drew me in with those first two lines like a can of coke when the tab is released and the pop and fizz sound like Pavlov's bell
I was grinning like the proverbial Cheshire cat from the off, but it got even better as it went on. Brilliant stuff. The final two stanzas were superb!
"cut the TV off, cut the F&$%ing TV off..."
Hi! Brian...
What I'm taking away from your very poetic words is let turn the television set Off and let spend time together!
How long have it been? Commercialism?
Classic artwork [pop-art]by Richard Hamilton...I have seen the artwork before, but wasn't familiar with the artist name...Thanks, for sharing!
deedee ;-D
That's an amazing piece about an amazing picture. Made me want to stare at it and find how crazy it really is! :-)
Thanks for the grins...
Wow that was a fun one
Factoring in all the room stuff, of which there was a ton
And yes it is all fake
Even stuff used to bake a cake, still fake, may as well go out and rake, or partake in something to make that isn't fake or spread out by the lake. Went off there for heaven's sake, was it real or fake?
Betsy had a little too much time on her hands as a kid I see..haha
The collage and the words go together very well. I like the underlying sexual tension in the narrative voice and the hurry to get to the show on time.
Most of the world is led by the television and that last line puts the whole of it in perspective as the most important thing in the room until we change it from desire, emotional, spiritual or carnal...doesn't matter as long as we start to live life again.
wow, dude, just when I think you can't top yourself ...you do! This was a thrill ride a second read....loved it :)
what a cool picture! and your words make me like it even more!
great that you can look at that and make such poetry!
have a great saturday!
I love how the picture feeds this one. This has a touch of camp, a touch of playfulness, and an important message. Great work my friend.
Well written! Here's to real life with all its emotions.
Waking up for this fun read is really good.
Nice one! Have a gat weekend... I'm trying tho we are welcomed wi a neg.6 deg on our oct. 1st...
JJRod'z
What an interesting piece of art and words to match it.
Great fun--this certainly pops!!
this one was sweet ^_^
and i am definitely gonna try to find out how many licks it takes.. i'll let you know for sure ;)
Ha! Take that fake and shove it--it's a useless non-defense, won't nourish, won't keep you young, or safe or anything but dazed and confused, and accumulating it displaces everything real that could. Great stuff--especially the riffin on the tootsie roll and everlasting noisebox.
Unique! very! I like it. It’s fits the mileau & content of the poem.
Very Bukowskisque. Funny, right-on, and ‘beat’
…and the Turn ..err.. Twist at the end: ‘a break-out artist’ from the prison of 21st century melodrama.
nice lines:
‘Men carry their lollipops...’
‘lamp shaded women…’
et. al.
‘’ it ain’t ham baby’’ is such a great line.
embeded rhyme throughout.
I like it! nice riding with you. Good work, man.
The picture and verse are perfect for each other! Great job love. And worthy message entertwined in the fun of your write. Spending more time focused on the one you love rather than the TV is quite fun!
I like the message and time capsule indeed. It is hard to believe those things mean a great deal.. but now are worth nothing.
Your last lines are the best:
"cause i,
i can no longer live
fake."
Sheer craziness!
"while all the romance stories stay safely hung
on the wall behind glass"
Ah, ain't that sad...
Something about pop art -- let's also call it cultural fashion -- that finds its fuel in the effluvia of decline. What's most used-up and wasted is stellar here, as much a replacement for real living as the Madison-Avenue ads for life on the boob tube. A hoot of a read, Brian, and the pic is classic.
No ham in the can, dam... I don't want to live fake either. :)
Man,you're on a roll.
love the beat, rhythm and flow in this brian...also fun write with good message...looking for the real...we all do but sometimes need to get the fake strikingly and exaggerated painted before our eyes to see beyond..
where do you get it all?
Warm Aloha from Waikiki;
Comfort Spiral
(*)>
/ )
/"
> < } } ( ° >
Terrific poem-- a true dance with and in language and you know how much that appeals to me, to have dazzling and fresh imagery and a smoothness and loquacity to the work. xxxj
Just brilliant, Brian. I remember this picture from a contemporary art history class, studying the details, but you saw even more in it and "exposed" it with superb wordsmithry.
Testing to see if blogger will let me comment...you're the guinea big. Delete if you get it!
Terrific. So campy this! And still spot on. Loved these lines: but he could care-less, just wants to know
how many licks it takes to get to the center of
this tootsie---
Wow!
I loved this, you're a clever man Brian!
The craziness of my life these days has me responding to this by saying....
"What is this thing you call TV?"
I think I may have forgotten what it is but that is probably a good thing!! Great artwork too!
I am so glad to know the truth about Pop Tarts. I love them so. :-)
You can't put Milli Vanilli and love in the same sentence. btw, there's a challenge for you over at my blog, if you feel like taking it up :)
Too funny, Brian.
good that you do funny well too.
Wonderful expression of the artificial crap (but which smells just as bad) that surrounds us. You nailed it, my friend.
Glad to see you're still at it on here...
Ha! Now, that's an interpretation I can enjoy. I think you've sufficiently summed this picture up. Love the picture of the moon's irritation. That was my favorite part, I think. Interesting that imitation seems to go in cycles. Isn't it time for another counter-cycle to the fake? I hope so. I might still have my boots and flannels tucked away somewhere :)
Loved your words to this image...kept me laughing and thinking, my two favorite things. Always enjoy your write Brian ~ Rose
Oh, Brian, not only was the picture you chose priceless, but your poem took my breath away and made me laugh as I remembered those vacuum cleaners with big hoses.
Hahaha, love it! What a bunch of idiots we are, lol!
Way kool. Great images, and a super reminder that a date sounds like a the thing to do very soon. Been workin to hard. Thanks!
I am quite sure you are playing with the censorship buttons for most of this romp through media mayhem! Good to see that the nostalgia prints face the wall and make good dust collectors! Adored this!
'It aint ham...so doll yourself up baby' LOVE IT (don't worry, my enthusiasm is 100% real :)!
That was fun! I had to laugh at Betsy's comment!
Fantastic write, Brian!
Just reading the title of this one gave me a smile! Fantastic lines in here, Brian! And I loved the picture you found as well.
interesting stuff like too many animals died to make the fake rug. that's funny.
but Milli Vanili, that's not in the sixties!!!
Brian, blogger now offers a new email subscriber option. Hope you consider it. My brain can stretch only so much. Titanium has an email option, and I work my way backward from her site to yours. Eventually. Some of the time.
Cheers,
Jan in Alaska
Wow this is not just fun but genius. You, the genius, every line was brilliant complete with Milli Vanilli, all the way to the last word. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
Great fun...thanks...
never got to find out how many licks.... tootsie center too tempting.
☮ Siggi in Downeast Maine
Quite the picture. Quite the take on it. I wouldn't mind taking a closer look at his lolli.
teehee :O
that was like taking a ride through a fun house with a great message encrypted in there... :)
crazzy stuff...
had a fantastic time reading it.
Me too stared at picture after reading :D
Nice piece. Love the angle you took with the D'verse prompt. Lots of nostalgia wrapped up in here, and yeah many did turn out to be fakes. Side note: at one time in my life I would have been embarrassed admitting this but when I got my first CD player Milli Vannilli happened to be my first CD ever bough as well. Pretty embarrassing but one of those things you look back at and can not only laugh at yourself and the situation, but laugh with yourself as well. Thanks Brian, excellent piece.
This really drew me in and fizzed as I read it. Thank you for a trip into the simulacra...
Brian,
You tied in nicely the fakes by bringing Milli Vanili right in the middle and exhorted all the 'virtues' of these others from beginning to end. Brilliantly done!
Hank
Milli Vanilli!! Oh my! It has been ages since I have heard that name! Ha!
You have me smiling for sure Brian
Hugs
SueAnn
You paint the pic of dreary suburban life or should I say death very well.Cringe making but good.Great collage!
Captures bits of Baudrillard!
Good for you I say ...leat him lick it to the end, I can deal ;
hilariouis m'dear
.... brilliant!
Rolling its eyes the moon sighs--
Turn off the $/xetc tv-- my favorite lines.
you can be so irreverent and so right on!
"cut the TV off, cut the F&$%ing TV off" My favorite line. Yes! Cut it off!
What a great photo! Wow! And your words - as usual - are fab!
Um... Brian? Is that you? This was hilarious. Very tongue in cheek. Reminded me of that country song about she loves fishing. I see you had a little fun playing with the words and the picture. :)!
great way of bring life to all the pieces in this nice work of art.
consumerism.
'Girl you know its true oh oh oh - i love you'
milli vannili - I loved those fakers - broke me up when the truth outed!
Awesome Brian!
Hamilton's work is a parody of American conspicuous consumption - in all its varied forms. Your poem gets that, too, Brian. Good one.
Very entertaining piece.
skillful wording and rhyming.
I needed a smile and you gave me one. This was superbly funny, ironic, clever, sarcastic, artistic, amazing...well like so much of what you write.
I am in awe.
71 comments, all honest and true. Add one more; this was great!
Oo-wee. You are good.
=)
creative and awesome write :)
Great exaggeration of the challenge...
What a trip! I loved reading this out loud and following the intriguing twists. Excellent, Brian.
Beth
I am the only one who does not cook from a can or box, other than my dad. Ha! Ha! This was a smooth read and really well written. Loved the art!
This is a great send up of modern life. No false notes, each of the stanzas held together and moved me on to the next without losing a beat. But how do we get off the merry go round?
I got to listen to Milli Vanilli at my workout this morning! :)
great picture awsome writing ;)
Get out on that date. It has been too long. I still like Pop Tarts.
Post a Comment