High school poetry, Part I
Back in the depression of my high school days — before alcohol and GlaxoSmithKline mercifully intervened — I was really into writing poetry. Naturally, I wrote mostly about how much I hated myself, occasionally referencing some kind of "secret" I had no choice but to hold from all those around me. Gee, I wonder what that secret could have been? I guess we'll never know.
Thinly veiled allusions to my struggle with inner homosexual demons aside, I stumbled upon a bunch of these poems while drunkenly looking for them last night. The first I'll share with you is "Comforting Lie," a title borrowed from the No Doubt song of the same name. Oh, and the plagiarism of third wave ska bands doesn't stop there; the rhyme scheme is stolen from No Doubt's "Cellophane Boy." What can I say — I was really into No Doubt.
COMFORTING LIEI'm not your man
I'm not what you think
And it's not your fault
That I can't pretend.You see
I'm holding onto kisses wrapped in tiny sheets of plastic
And I place them on my nightstand to enable easy access
And before I go to bed, I need to fill that vacant hollow
I unwrap your bitter pill and I just pinch my nose and swallowWill this
lie
become
my
life?Please, dear, take my advice
Just run for your life
I'm: not the same; not like them.Oh, your substitution fills the void
Like candy or a toy
You're: sweet; but unfulfilling.Please leave…
Will you become a comforting lie?Just go…
Have you become my comforting lie?
This garbage somehow got published in my high school's literary journal, opposite some ninth grader's pen-and-ink drawing of a rose. Could you have imagined it any other way?
Comments
Roses are red
Violets are blue
You're a fag
Posted by: Rusty | January 13, 2007 12:29 PM
Ahem.
"And before I go to bed, I need to fill that vacant hollow"
Just how hollow?
"I unwrap your bitter pill and I just pinch my nose and swallow"
I've always taken you for a spitter.
Posted by: decisive | January 13, 2007 01:57 PM
If it's any consolation, my high school poetry would have made yours look like Walt Whitman.
Posted by: John S. | January 13, 2007 05:30 PM
A few months ago, I found a story I wrote as a high school senior. It was actually better than some of the crap I've written recently, which means I was either precocious or I'm going in the wrong direction entirely.
Posted by: Brian | January 14, 2007 01:58 AM
I had those same secrets.
Posted by: LetterShaper | January 14, 2007 11:05 PM
It's honest and kinda clear, I think. And yeah duh we know what the secret was, but when you're not out it's a big deal. Also, it's not nearly as pretentious as some of my college crap, so that's something.
Posted by: atari_age | January 14, 2007 11:55 PM
You understand that this is still better than the writing on, like, 98 percent of gay blogs, right? That's why you posted it, right?
Kisses wrapped in tiny sheets of plastic,
Rich
Posted by: Rich | January 15, 2007 01:50 AM