Another old poem. This is number 1 in my files of many poems (and so was written a little while back). I still feel it... and this week more than ever! Repeat after me: people fly all the time and it's fine, people fly all the time and it's fine...
B is for believing (1997)
I do not believe I can fly
In fact I do not really believe planes can fly
It's a hoax
In a Total Recall vein
Belief so often wasted
I do believe there is more to life
Than a well laid-out house
With items from Ikea
Being individual everywhere
That shopping is bad for you
And you're probably safer with tranquillisers
I believe private cars in cities should be
Scrapped
On the whole
That if those of us who can
Don't walk more
Our legs will wilt away
And walking whilst shopping
For anything other than essentials
Doesn't count
I believe there are some people
We'd be better off assassinating
But it's a bad habit to get into
Like shopping
Addictive
But with less plastic bags
I believe there is good and bad taste
Good and bad art
Good and bad ideas
That I am almost always right
But that this certainly doesn't make me a happier
Or more prosperous individual
I believe that in fact 9 times out of 10
Not caring what is right or wrong
Is the key to success
Just identifying a gap in the market
So people will want to have you
Buy you
Display you in their individual home
This is what to aim for
But when achieved it cannot be described
As achievement
RF 1997
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15 comments:
LOVE the assassination section -
Like shopping
Addictive
But with less plastic bags
LOL
Regarding flying - why don't you think of it like The Matrix? Nobody is really going anywhere - so you're safe. Right?
I've never really got to grips with the Matrix (though him indoors likes it). I did like the fact that in 'Six feet Under' they watch films from the Gaytrix though (gay porn!). I love it when names get taken over like that.
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Planes do fly. Really. And sometimes, I mean usually, they land safely too!
I know... I haven't been in one for about 7 years though... seems like a lifetime ago.
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Once you get up there you are a captive audience so you might as well enjoy the views. Last time we went to the US we flew over the bottom of Greenland and could clearly see the glaciers coming down into the sea - pure magic.
Only you could paint a picture of assassination and make me laugh at the thought of less plastic bags. :)
I'm sure you'll be fine on that plane...says the woman who's never flown commercial. :) But the father-in-law did take me up in a helicopter once...and left the doors off so it would be more "fun".
And it was.
Oh, that one's such a tour de force. Clever, sly and very, very funny. I love the bags, but this bit is so me
'And walking whilst shopping
For anything other than essentials
Doesn't count'
Anyway, it's absolutely true, planes can and do fly, probably every minute of each day. It's probably statistically safer than walking. John Travolta does it all the time and he doesn't even believe in God!
Do what you have to do to get there, and think about the time you'll all have when you do.
I know - you're all right - it'll be fine. I think I'm just going through all the nerves now to get it all out of the way!
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So is that kinda you first (kept) poem? I likes it.
Like the photo too, is it yours/Marks? Using my new degree in telling other people what to do especially when they haven't asked, I'd say to crop it under the swing ,just keeping the tips of the trees.Not becaue I is so good at these things but because that's what my computer screen did and it looked really good!
As for flying, even I can do it. I used to have fear of panic attacks mid air but literally 'decided' not to. It's all in the head, it's not real. So you can choose to feck it off!Ok the rest of my life is in panic and chaos , but that bit worked!
Yes, first kept poem. I have some other bits and pieces from when I was younger but I've yet to revisit/file them. There are some lines I like from earlier stuff but this was number 1 when they started to feel something like whole poems.
The photo was from a batch I did when trying to get an image for one of the postcards (the 'Free at last' balloon one). I went to a playground with friends and took shots of them and the swings and balloons (and I'm afraid the balloons swung it in the end).
As for flying... I can do shorter flights but this one is about 7 hours and so a long time to stay positive! But I'll try... my latest fool-myself plan is to think that I am a buddhist monk in disguise.
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Remembering to breathe is the bit I forget on planes - sure you'll have that sorted!
This is vary wry - the plastic bags bit is fab, as noted, but my fave bit is actually this:
"That if those of us who can
Don't walk more
Our legs will wilt away" so true - as you so often are.
Well, at least I don't have to get as far as New Zealand! I always wish they could just sedate me like a dog and put me in one of those cages in the the hold. The last thing you want when you're nervous is an in-flight movie and fecking peanuts! Most of all what you don't want is other people (asking if you're OK, all looking fine...). Put me with the dogs! Put me with the dogs!
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Have you considered copious amounts of alcohol to get you through the flight? It's my general fall back position for stressful situations...
Great poem and I must agree with the others that the assasination verse is brill :)
I do take a drink or two on short flights... my problem with these mid-length flights is that after a couple of hours I'm not convinced that the drinking doesn't actually make it all worse. But we'll see...
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hmmmm, perhaps you could experiment, there may be a sweet spot of mild intoxication that is enough without being too much :) I recommend extensive research before you leave...
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