content is everything

[mtmynd]

i sat down at my keyboard
all ready to write a killer poem
you know the kind - the one
that will remain with you
until your last breath as you
recite those words that you've
carried around in you for 23-1/2 years,
repeating that poem that i wrote for
the whole world to oogle and awe over
like a great piece of chocolate cake
covered thickly in dark, sinfully dark,
chocolate imported to my front door
by fedex all the way from the wilds of
the amazonian jungles that have yet
to be discovered by just any white man

yeah... you get the idea
now read that poem and tell me what
you think about it - what you really think...
don't give me know sweet talking b.s.
that carries as much soul as a rainbow trout
laying on a flat rock in the desert sun gasping
for it's waterworld while you just sit there and
watch it without a care in your world about that
trout that left behind a family of four that are
still looking for their father and friend up and down
the stream and looking behind every smooth stone.

but wait! i just realized i forgot something very important -
this poem i'm going to write has absolutely no content
none whatsoever and we all know there can never be
a poem in any language on the face of this earth that
will ever be one of the most highly revered poems ever
if there is no goddam content and it just rings with
a shallowness and a foreboding emptiness that leaves
poetry readers (and you know all about them!) scratching
their heads wondering if content has escaped them
so they reread this killer poem one more, two more,
hell, there are a couple of readers that reread it three times
before they reach the conclusion that this poem i wrote is
about as useless and worthless as dust on a mirror reflecting
the bookcase in front of it that holds books and books that
have been searching for answers to their own questions
including the whereabouts of the world's most favorite poem.

they almost found it after all these poem-searching years
but it fell through their fingers because i failed to put
any sort of content into what was going to be the best,
the most memorable and cherished poem of all time...

gawd, how many times must i repeat that same failure
every time i sit down to write the world's most loved poem?

[Barry]

It's like taking a shit. (thanks, hester) The idea is not to bring the world into the bathroom after and say, "Look, isn't it magnificent?" even if it is. The idea is simply to get it out of you, to "freely and effortlessly release what your body/mind/spirit no longer needs."

Right?

Peace,
Barry

[mtmynd]

content... it's all in the content, shit included.

[constantine]

wild. i may be just any white man on his way to the amazon, but i'll be sure to take this baby with me to barter with.

[mtmynd]

thx for the smile, dino... not a winkie but the smile that's waxing over my face as i reply...

[stilltrucking]

a fun poem
for sure

[sonofthesun]

im a drunk and stupid, sorry

[Barry]

"It belongs to the people now."

from Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me, 1966, by Richard Farina, spoken by the Venesuelan exchange student in regards to the huge turd dropped in the bowl by the protagonist, which they were then going to use in a protest effort against the dean of the college. The protoagonist was a parageoric user, so on the rare occasions when he took a dump, it was magnificent.

Peace,
Barry
PS: Farina died in a motorcycle crash shortly after the novel was accepted for publication. So sad.

[mtmynd]

thx, truck... glad you enjoyed this little ditty. it just spewed forth from my fingertips like fireballs from a roman candle.

howdy, sunofthesun. curious reply... but don't take it personally. as the final line of the piece reads
"gawd, how many times must i repeat that same failure
every time i sit down to write the world's most loved poem?" how many words, how many poems, how many creative writings are out there in our world searching for meaning... meaning enough to be remembered by even the writer? you do the math. i'll trust your figures.

thx for that recall, Barry. hard to believe that much time has passed since that book came out... 43 years. i'm sure i read it back in them times... how could i not remember that title...?
(now i'm trying to remember his wife's name... aHH!!! Mimi, yes~))

[Barry]

Yeah, she was Joan Baez'z sister, wasn't she?
I'll never forget the book. For the protagonist (Gnosis Popodopolous?) it wasn't about content (life), it was all about Immunity. Rememebr that plot line?
Peace,
Barry

[Doreen Peri]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJGPU2yzjw8

[mtmynd]

Sorry, Barry, but I don't remember that... dammit! This old 'crs' is the shitz! I'd need to reread that book.

It's amazing to me what can be found on youtube.. really. Who'd thunk the Farinas would be on there? Not I...

Thx, Mz Peri...

[Doreen Peri]

I always liked her voice much better than Joan Baez' voice.

About the poem... I enjoyed it... it was a trip! ... it took me into your head and I like that in a poem.

Your title change (can't remember what it was before but you changed it) ... to "content is everything" ... it's a very good title change because content can have two meanings.

The content of the poem you're talking about writing.... OR... to be content with what you wrote.

Very good change!

[Barry]

Doreen Peri is a vey wise woman. THanks for the YouTube link, Doreen. God, I love the Internet. Whatever you need, it's there.

Peace,
Barry

[mtmynd]

Yes, the original title was clumsy and ill-fitting... didn't wear well and, quite personally, made the write look rather cheap. It took a bit of time to see that before the change was made. Glad you agree with the change and also see the duality of the 'content'... thank you, Dor'.

pssst! yes, Barry... this internet has it all... and more, just sitting here right in front of our eyes whenever we want it... changing our world in ways that are both obvious and subtle... imagine the internet in 10 years and the world around what it has delivered.