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Silas May 2019
maneki neko
waves at me
from his perch amidst
eyeshadow and pencils and notebooks and lipstick
his head
reflects the lamp
above my head
he has not made me
very lucky,
in fact
since i got him
things have
steadily declned
it hurts now
just to breathe
just to live
maneki neko
with his grand coins
and little solar panel
gilded with red and gold
he waves his paw
at me
as if to say
‘keep at it,
something good
will happen soon’
i go to therapy today
to authorize my therapist
to talk to my mother
about my problems
because that’s what they are
problems
without
solutions
because, mom says, in her emails
that the lady reads me,
she’s worried
she’s concerned
for my future
yes, there’s the rub
always going on
about
my future
maneki neko
with his paw curled and beckoning
waves at me
from his bright red stand
despite everything
i keep
the desk lamp
on
the next day
i bring it up
‘you don’t really
care that much
do you
you just
want exactly what
you had in mind
for a kid’
maneki neko
gleams in the fluorescent light
waving
endlessly
at nothing in particular
i love you
i love you
i love you
maneki neko
with his ears perked
and arm at the ready
has stopped
moving
Mateuš Conrad Jan 2016
you know the avatar of vishnu
sitting pretty,
pretty calm,
he sat there, lost his hair,
became a bald & fat idol in china
miles away from nepal...
became an idol with that famous waving cat
(maneki-neko): ola ola... hello to you too.
so the avatar of vishnu is sitting
peacfully pretty,
but this avatar of shiva ain't...
he's on a windowsill... head-banging while
the supposed meditation takes place...
he's on to it, the next vogue of mindfulness
and feminism... he's like: **** it...
let the zeppelins in, london on the fork fried,
give us bacon and other assumptions
of king above all beasts.
but at the bus stop i met four would-be ballerinas,
four lolitas nonetheless,
aiming for a party, went into the shop
were asked for i.d., but the look of them
no more than 15...
smoked my cigarette in the umbrella of
the bus shelter... true to feminism got *****,
'can you buy me some *****?'
i don't care about your lies, you don't
have to lie to me,
'but honest, i have a picture,
i'm over the age of consent! look!'
my moral compass is missing on this matter,
plus you're so petite one of your musketeers
gave you away, flesh that never grew to the bone...
'but please! we're going to a party! we can't
go empty handed!'
o.k.
took the 10 quid note and went in,
they wanted a medium sized bottle,
under 10 quid of ***** and 4 women?
no chance. put the note in my wallet
and bought them a 70cl bottle of *****,
3 quid extra so they could, just, shut, up.
apparently there was no party when i handed
them the confidant compliment of uncle...
you know that bit where nietzshce criticised
socrates for engaging in dialectics to create
a rude society? i think not engaging with dialectics
creates rude societies... where children
are above and most opinionated...
and the elderly are below and exposed to sadism:
as england row row rows the boat for an iceberg
to thus sink.
yes, the four of them, happy enough
to be believed to have discovered the *******
and happy enough to have almost lost it.

— The End —