Hatin'

This is a very rough first draft completed a few minutes ago in response to annoying poetry and poets that I hope never to write or become.

"Rock Bottom" or "Nothing Good Has Ever Been Written in a Coffeehouse."

I don’t write poems so much as

loaded prose with line breaks

to break with other writers writing,

trying to rhyme or protest problems

that they think they see through

unwashed bangs to get some spotlight

while they read their poems about injustice--

Washed up thinking it makes them so fresh and so clean clean

blasting ripped off hip hop chops amidst all their stagnant energy.

Not so eloquent but the message is clear--is it? whatever.

Like “Raise your fist and get behind the rhyme,

rep that solidarity; your eyes and hair and life’s like mine

so buy my book!!”

They suck it up but still can’t bare those teeth

past reactionary sneering, yelling shit nobody cares about,

put too much faith in bleeding hearts like it’s something we should care about

and scar those painted nails on purpose, break their own hearts to wear that pout

so pretty under Zelda hair and irony.

But you wear it well in coffeehouses

looking deep with pregnant pauses,

affectations for a round of applause--better yet, a hand job

keep those fingers doing something

(they sure as hell aren’t writing)

Energize your bunny keep on going going going

like your poem will sputter something if you keep adding adding adding

words, lines, and paragraphs

like a stone soup,

you’ve hit rock bottom

but keep digging.