What is about some people
insisting I want to engage
with whatever they are watching
singing along to
listening to
Example:
recently, on a long haul train
travelling from A to Z
in the rudimentary rammy
to find the unreserved seats
enter the 20-something
alluring guitar laden
leather and tattoo clad female
tumbling onto the next table to me
unpacking as if she was moving in
munchable fruit laptop
gleaming white
in clear conflict with
the dreads and the beads
pumped in patchouli oil
drenched in love and peace
armed with a dvd
that would shortly crush the spirits
of every soul in Coach D:
the Quiet Coach
enter screaming chipmunks
hysteric children
and songs to sing along to
which she did with obsessive precision
insisting that Coach D
should in some way be
enlightened
entertained
entranced
and ultimately impressed
such was her overbearing desire
to love thyself above all things
give the peace sign when appropriate
and otherwise don't give 2 F's
for anyone else, regardless of situation.
consumer behaviours were erratic at best
if the Jedi senses
were anything to go by
if i'd had a handheld vibe particle device
I could have created a pathological combustion
and an accelerated Coach D A-Bomb
heads turned
feet shuffled
zips unzipped and re-zipped
open hands holding Kindles
immersed in philanthropic discourse
turned to clenching fists
the sound of bent drink cans
rusted cogs in motion
deep breathing
even level 1 Tetris
became too much
for the bald fellow to my left
who accepted failure
and opted to purchase
a large brown bag of beer
from the bar
GOOD CALL
libation and the pagan ideals;
imbibe thyself to dull the senses
I concur
and,
in exchange for our classic colonial restraint
on behalf of Coach D
I wish upon you the following:
1. You will never again
drink a decent coffee from any vendor anywhere in the world, ever.
2. Your laptop will
turn off during any movie you sing along to, silent or otherwise.
3. Your guitar
strings snap during a performance in front of people you don't know who paid to get in.
4. Your Tattoo artist
has an epic fail and tattoo's a defamatory remark rather then your lovers name.
5. Your leather trousers
shrink wrap and make the sound of bursting bubble wrap every time you move.
6. Your comfortable shoes
attract bits of grit like a magnet, regardless what you are wearing.
7. Your waft of perfume
is likened to compressed 7 year old blue cheese that has sat in the sun for weeks.
8. Your location
at any time has a global no shoot-and-miss policy for all birds without exception.
(even the ones that don't fly)
9. Your singing
is so electric that every time you sing in public your hair stands on end
and cutlery sticks to your nose.
10. Your beer is always warm.
11. Your wine corked.
12. Your water salty.
13. That this poem goes viral on the internet
expressing one man's words which mirror the every day person
working their socks off to make a living
and in the hectic hustle and bustle
one of the sanctuaries is Coach D
on the way home from the City
and the frustration and restraint
of anti-social conduct
and basic respect.
14. That I will be on David Letterman
or the Late Late Show
or USA tonight
or the BBC prime time news
or some such over-hyped
TV show talking about you.
15. That you will thank me for making you a celebrity by default -
15.1 and subsequently appear on late night Z-list celebrity game shows involving boxes of spiders.
You are the worst Muse ever
in the history of Muses
16. and this is how you will be remembered