Fred Aiken Writing

Tag: Poetry

February 22, 2022

Foots and Notes

I refuse to read a footnote, since what needs to be said should have been written in the main text,

and I rarely research what’s never been there or forgotten,

laid out in pieces scattered to the infinity and burning sulfur creating a nice picnic

in the middle of a disaster zone filled with chemical waste that the cleaning crew forgot about and left for someone else to look it up and see what it’s about,

though for all the shit that been written and researched to death,

there rarely seems to be anyone that knows what’s going on,

little ambulatory Hot Pockets(™) cruising through with anxiety and unidentified ooze coming out from all sides and called a good day at the beach, or a beautiful winter mist,

or maybe all unfunded visions are hallucinations speaking volumes of footnotes

that I forgot to read, because they remind me of legalese small print,

and I refuse to be fucked by a lawyer

February 8, 2022

Cheesecake Factory Dream Kitchen

it’s easier to discard hopes when they’re written down on a Cheesecake Factory napkin,

then sandwiched in the menu between the Spicy Chicken Chipotle Pasta and the Avocado Eggrolls,

whatever those two things are,

but maybe it will trouble the next guest to wonder who wrote

this horrible poem,

or maybe it will forever be a doodle meant for no one

February 8, 2022

The Room is Cramped

I have a bunch of note cards in my pocket that I carry around all day

to remind me to act normal and not be so standoffish,

they give me advice that I’ve written down over the years

from self-help books and seminars,

sometimes just random phrases I thought sounded cool at the time,

or buzzwords that I read in a blog about becoming less misanthropic,

but they only work whenever I check them every fifteen minutes or so,

less my resolve tears down and I retreat

to the cavern of my mind,

so I can take my shoes off,

and relax