Hallmark Greetings from the Seat of Empire
We’re sorry to have to be the ones to tell you
We’re about to bomb your country to hell. You
Might want to find a comfortable shelter
And strap yourself in with a rope or a belt or
Maybe just vacate the premises.
We have nothing against you personally, understand
We just want what’s resting under your land
And your leader is no longer compliant
So we’ve had to call him a tyrant
Who, as it turns out, is our country’s nemesis.
Be of good cheer! As your lighting dims
Remember that you didn’t need all of those limbs
And losing relatives, if you had any,
Is a small price to pay for our hegemony.
So, like all people who’d like to remain on the Earth, it
Seems the odds are good that you’ll survive
(Although you might be roasted alive).
We’ll all meet in heaven some day
And then you will get your chance to say
How much your sacrifice was worth it.
Selected Glengarry (Radio Edit)
LEVENE: [silence], John. You’re burning my [silence], I can’t get a [silence] lead…you think that was luck. My stats for those years? [silence]…over that period of time…? [silence]. It wasn’t luck. It was skill. You want to throw that away, John…? You want to throw that away?
ROMA: And I don’t want any [silence] [silence] and I don’t give a [silence], Lingk puts me over the top, you filed it, that’s fine, any other [silence] kicks out you go back. You…you reclose it, ’cause I closed it and you…you owe me the car.
MOSS: “[silence] the Machine”? “[silence] the Machine”? What is this. Courtesy class…? You’re [silence], Rick-are you [silence] nuts? You’re hot, so you think you’re the ruler of this place…?!
LEVENE: Marshal the leads…marshal the leads? What the [silence], what bus did you get off of, we’re here to [silence] sell. [silence] marshaling the leads. What the [silence] talk is that? What the [silence] talk is that? Where did you learn that? In school?
ROMA: (to Williamson) You stupid fucking [silence]. You, Williamson…I’m talking to you, [silence]…You just cost me six thousand dollars. (pause) Six thousand dollars. And one Cadillac. That’s right. What are you going to do about it? What are you goin to do about it, [silence]. You [silence] [silence]. Where did you learn your trade. You stupid [silence] [silence]. You idiot. Whoever told you you could work with men?
And they all lived miserably ever after…
Toronto Seen #1
So, there was this guy
standing at the station, waiting for a bus.
He was old, old, old, old, old
and he was wearing a yellow sandwichboardy thing
that read: “I am the poet laureate of the universe.”
And I thought, That’s a pretty big territory.
Do you write odes to Alpha Centauri?
Sonnets to background radiation,
or perhaps a haiku?
Quadrilles to distant quadrants?
Sestets upon phenomenon at the outer edges of space/time the likes of which we cannot even begin to imagine?
I mean, I’m having enough trouble writing about this little corner of the universe I inhabit
and your job is to tackle the whole enchilada?
More power to ya, brother.
Faith-based Chaos
I. Thou shalt have no other Gods but money.
II. Thou shalt make graven images on television.
III. Thou shalt use the name of the LORD thy God to justify thine atrocities.
IV. Forget the sabbath day, to keep making money.
V. Dishonour thy founding fathers.
VI. Thou shalt kill anybody who gets in thy way.
VII. Thou shalt commit mayhem in thy quest for domination.
VIII. Thou shalt steal and call it international commerce.
IX. Thou shalt bear false witness against thy neighbour who pisseth thee off.
X. Thou shalt covet thy neighbour’s resources.
Never Say Never
Are you afraid that any old twerp’ll
Find a rhyme for the word “purple?”
Or maybe a person who “had a lithp oneth”
Will accidentally come across a rhyme for month?
Perhaps a poor poet will ver-
Sify in a way that rhymes with silver?
Never say never