Shake, shake, shake

Mr PyjamaMr Pyjama Posts: 253
edited March 2007 in Poetry, Prose, Music & Art
Inspired by Gil, Tom, Thom, Jack, and all those crazy Beat writers...

Don't feel upset by the way your hair curls, your inability to shave accurately, or your general lack of regard to your personal hygiene.
Don't be 'The best a man can get'.
Don't set and adhere your aesthetic criteria to the 'results' description on a shampoo bottle.
Don't feel envious towards your prettier next door neighbour, for they too wake in the morning with bad breath; heavy eyes; and 3 hours of sleep that feebly powers them to their more colourful, more comfortable and more expensive car.
Don't feel sorry for your neighbour when they crash their car.
Don't feel ashamed of your eating habits – indulge in your coffee, learn to love your sugar intake, share last night's poem with your best friend.
Don't have guilty pleasures - find friends with better taste!
Don't feel embarrassed when your tongue gets wrapped and your knees shake to the beat of your heart in that 30 second love-struck haze with a person who has most probably spent their entire life learning how to make lovely people feel awkward in approximately 30 seconds.
Don't let it get you down when your taxi fails to show at 2:30am and you're left walking with that late-February chill biting your arse.
Don't be paranoid about your arse.
Don't regret that cliché, high-school, pseudo-poetic romantic letter that you posted to your lover this morning.
Don't regret that cliché, high-school, pseudo-poetic lover.
Don't structure your life with a pocket sized planner - "I am not a routine".
Don't feel small next to those buildings, don't feel small next to those walls, and don't feel dull when you're sucked under those glaring lights of that neon advertisement that proclaims to save your life. Don't let yourself be saved with a 'typical fixed interest rate of 5.6% APR', don't let yourself be saved in a mutual 'no win-no-fee' understanding.
Don't believe that expensive, creaseless nylon suit. Don't believe in anything that you despise.
Don't despise ice-cream.
Don't feel down by today's music. Don't feel down by today's art. Don't rely on someone else to save your generation.
Don't want a revolution, be the revolution.
Don't feel sorry for inhaling the air with a smile.
Don't feel depressed by the shades of the towns, those leafless trees; those slate-grey skies; those puddled pathways – all crying out for you to make your mark. SPLASH!
Don't feel ashamed to dance naked on those moonlit streets, to grab life by the arm and shake, shake, shake, its spineless entity and relish in your possibilities.
Don't worry about your inferior dance moves – hip thrusting will make its return one day. One day.
Don't feel obliged to believe that you are eating healthy food if the walls are painted green.
Don't believe people called 'Ronald'.
Don't be naïve to those soft furnishings adverts, which tempt and tease your overweight, lifeless body into a comfortable position for television, sleep and death.
Don't trust failed soap-actors.
Don't base your life on any TV family. Don't base your life on any weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, quarter-yearly, or yearly magazine.
Don't assess or judge your life in accordance to any day-time chat show. Ever.
Don't depend on that alarm-clock to wake you up, that 'to-do' list to choreograph your day patterns, and that burning naivety that lies within you to question 'how's it gonna end' and 'what's it all for?'
Don't take seriously any declarative statements in either the written form, or spoken monotonous delivery.
Don't feel down about those wrinkles on your face, those grey hairs on your head, your BMI after dividing your weight by height (or however it works), the length of your toe-nails, or how good your legs look in shorts.
Don't feel worthless.
Don't feel unenthusiastic.
Don't feel unwanted.
Don't feel unloved.
Feeeeeeeel.
Situations get fucked up and turned around sooner or later...
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • FinsburyParkCarrotsFinsburyParkCarrots Seattle, WA Posts: 12,223
    There's lots of poetry in this prescriptive style of discourse, but I like your take on it. And there's lots of good humour here, something beat poetry is usually lacking!

    I agree, don't believe people called 'Ronald'. The scare quotes are a giveaway. That can't really be their name. ;)

    Thanks for sharing this, and I look forward to reading more from you! :)
  • Mr PyjamaMr Pyjama Posts: 253
    Ha, thank you!

    I showed this to my friend and they questioned the 'Ronald' part..it actually links to the line before, but i think it went straight over their head..either way, they enjoyed it, and that was enough for me :)

    Aaand, i'm glad you didn't take it seriously as some sort of declarative rant or something...it's actually written with a more light hearted, get-off-yer-bum-and-live(!), hippie-esque kinda feel :)

    When i get a bit of time i'll have a nosey round and comment on some writings around here...
    Situations get fucked up and turned around sooner or later...
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