Poetry meme (and I pick a sorta depressing one. Oh well.)

When you see this, comment with a poem you love or post one in your own journal to encourage the proliferation of random poetry through your flist.


I say I say I say (Simon Armitage)
Anyone here had a go at themselves
for a laugh? Anyone opened their wrists
with a blade in the bath? Those in the dark
at the back, listen hard. Those at the front
in the know, those of us who have, hands up,
let's show that inch of lacerated skin
between the forearm and the fist. Let's tell it
like it is: strong drink, a crimson tidemark
round the tub, a yard of lint, white towels
washed a dozen times, still pink. Tough luck.
A passion then, for watches, bangles, cuffs.
A likely story: you were lashed by brambles,
picking berries from the woods. Come clean, come good,
repeat with me the punch line 'Just like blood'
when those at the back rush forward to say
how a little love goes a long long long way.
-

as a gay man

Zachary Quinto came out casually mentioned that he is gay in NY magazine. Everything was beautiful and no one was shocked.

Let me tell you what happened to me this morning when I was putting on my damn shoes. I got out my Toms from the bottom of the shoe pile - Yay, I haven't worn you in a while, shoes. I love you, shoes. Let's go get breakfast. I get into my right shoe and then I get into my left shoe and I'm like Why is there like a crumpled-up receipt or something in the bottom of my shoe? Take it off, try to shake it out, nothing happens. That should have been my warning. Instead I reach my goddamn hand into that shoe and reach into the toe and PAPER DOESN'T MOVE OH MY GOD. Take out my hand and one of the BIGGEST FUCKING SPIDERS I HAVE EVER SEEN IS CRAWLING UP MY HAND. OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD.

In about half of a second I've shaken it off and stuck to the fucking ceiling or whatever and Shep's in the room yelling, "What!? What is it?...Use words-OH MY GOD THAT THING'S HUGE."

"THAT WAS IN MY SHOE."

"HOLY SHIT."

After he kills this little fucker with a boot I'm getting a second look at it, like maybe it was only my sheer terror that made me think this thing was that huge, but no. Biggest dead spider I've ever seen.

I'm so weird about spiders, let me tell you. Intellectually, I don't get why I'm afraid of them. Unlike more serious arachnophobes, I'm okay with looking at pictures of them and I even think sometimes that they're really cool-looking (some of them are even cute), and I get really annoyed with people who prissily hate them for existing and can't stand the thought of them because they're like so disgusting. But I don't want them on me, and when shit like this happens I totally freak out.

And then later there's always the guilt. Why do I always kill them when they're not doing anything to me? Like this little dude. How miraculous is it that he didn't bite me, either in the foot or the hand? He was probably just chilling out, and then here comes this foot jamming in on his pad and at first he's just like, "Oh okay, I'm just gonna scrunch here in the corner like, okay, yeah," and then a second later he politely lets me usher him out of the shoe and then is probably like DAMN GIRL WHAT ARE YOU SCREAMING FOR OH JESUS.

At least I'm not the same about snakes. Snakes can get all up on me, I love snakes.