The Great American Poem
i'm going to write the great "american" poem tonight.
i'm going to write the great "american" poem tonight
and then toss it in a bonfire
of great "american" symbols.
and i will not refer to jesus christ, or hotpockets
and i will not use elephants,
or use elephants that symbolize the great old party.
i will write the great "american" poem tonight
and feed it to a bonfire of huge fucking flames that
smell like apple pie, and shoot off fireworks like the fourth of july.
and there will be no mention of robotic abraham lincolns
roaming the sidewalks of disney world themeparks,
because complaining about modernity has been made too cliche.
shed no tears for suburban white boys
who whine about living in a world whose
technologies have destroyed our most important icons.
abe lincoln had metal jesus figurines,
nixon had plastic one's,
and bill clinton can eat all the damn chocolate one's he pleases.
but it does not change the fact that
christ is still my savior.
so take gummo back mr. harmony korine
and give me carson daly,
total request live,
and the real world new orleans style,
because i want my mtv.
in the great "american" poem
saul williams might replace allen ginsberg,
and paul beatty will be burroughs off in tangiers,
but their names will not be worth less
because they are black or not yet known
by english teachers in highschool classrooms across the nation.
in the great "american" poem
i will start using capital letters again
because these little one's only look more intelligent.
the great "american" poem will not be
counterculturalneoethnocentricprotestant
or catholic.
the great "american" poem will not complain about anything.
the great "american" poem will understand
that someone will always love slayer,
christianity,
slapstick comedy parody films,
and reality based television,
consequentially making america great.
i am going to write the great "american" poem tonight
and before i toss it into the hot dog,
rock and roll,
hip hop beats,
and baseball bat bonfire,
i will have shed my obsession with the way things look.
©Casey Langel 2000
casey langel is...19...a division one basketball player...well read in many areas: the beat poets, john ashberry/samuel beckett/anthony
hecht/sharon oldes, charles bukowski, buddhism, shamanism...from a wealthy southern new jersey suburb just over the bridge from
philadelphia...white...single...bored...
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