ignoring all

–

–

i sit contentedly ignoring all that surrounds

and focus only upon the internal realm

of consciousness in all its infinite, formless

and unknowable grandeur.  i am beauty and ugliness,

i am order and entropy, i am all

and i am nothing.

–

i laugh aloud and startle my neighbors in this common room

of this public house.  i alight from my overstuffed chair

and exit abruptly to smoke that cigarette

that awaits me in the shotgun seat of my own truck

and damn it is wonderful.

–

the sun shines on the smoke

and i disappear

completely.

–

–

GJK

9MAR17

–

–

Advertisement

in defense of body odor

—

i know many people find natural bodies

without aid of chemical-laden deodorants

repulsive, and i understand

but i will not go along blindly,

i just won’t.  it isn’t polite

but so what?  there are plenty of other

senses and i look okay, i mostly

keep quiet, there’s no need

for anyone to touch me

or lick me

so if all i am doing

wrong

is stinking

then i say again

so what?

—

i’ll tell you what i find offensive –

nearly every time i enter a public place

like a restaurant or a store of any type

i am assaulted by horrible music –

terrible, ugly, banal, abrasive music

that is designed, not for anyone to like,

but for no one to dislike so much

that it disrupts their eating or shopping.

well let me tell ya

it offends me.

—

music is my thing, aural perception

is my forte, and it pains me

to endure some of the most vile music

in the world just to get served

some steak or some greens

or get coffee on the fly

but that’s fine

i don’t need to be served

i can prepare my own food

but of course

the grocer too

insists upon playing wretched music-like

abominations of sound

so my dinner often has a tinge

of disgust in it

unless first i can wash my ears

with silence or music of some substance

so i do not apologize for stinking

in public from time to time.

—

if my stench offends, i will only see you

in passing and you’ll figure out a way

to forgive me or forget it

or you’ll hang on to it

and tell your people all about the guy

at the store that smelled like a pile

of moldering gym socks

either way i don’t care

you’re a grown-up

you can do

as you see fit.

but i’m not sorry.

—

why would i apologize for being myself?

and trust me, if you want to tell me to my face

that i stink, go right ahead.

a few years back a young friend of mine

i had been spending lots of time with

said to me in my car,

dude, before we do anything else today

we need to go to your house so you can

wash up and change your shirt.

and i thanked him for having the courtesy

to tell me that my stink was bugging him.

i live with my stink,

i like it, so i don’t know

when a little muskiness has turned into

outright disgusting pit-funk.

how refreshing it was to get called out

on it by a friend!  so you, a stranger,

can tell me i stink and i’ll probably

laugh and say,

okay, i know, thanks, by the way

i think you’re wearing too much make-up.

or too much cologne, or whatever it is

i think about you on first sight.

as long as we’re strangers being candid

then no one has any reason to be upset.

we’ll walk away from each other

equally amused and the only real crime

will have been the horror-show

of the store’s satellite radio feed

chipping incessantly away at my

peace of mind.  if i knew that you

hated the music too then maybe

we could be friends.

—

all because i refuse to play along

with the silly game of unnatural

odor-obsessed politeness

and you had the guts

to confront me.

—

GJK

13FEB12