Wednesday October 21, 2009
terrible teenage poetry: #1 in an occasional series
I’ve been writing poems since I was 12. Unfortunately, it has taken me about twenty years to get any good at it. The early days were pretty rough. I was a baby-punk in high-school so I wrote a lot of ‘political’ poems. I didn’t have a boyfriend until fifth form, and yet in third and fourth form I wrote lots of ‘love poems’. Wishful thinking, I guess.
Anyway, I still have my poetry books from those days. I’ve kept them because they are hilarious. I thought you might enjoy some gems from those years, too.
I think part of the reason Rik Mayall’s ‘people’s poet’ persona is so hilarious, is because so many of us have been there, or - if you frequent open mike poetry nights, like I do - still see a lot of this kinda thing, only done in earnest. Yep. Really.
Click here and here and here for some classic Rik Mayall poems.
Some day when I’m more organised, I’ll scan some of the pages so you can see my pretentious teenage handwriting and the ‘punk’ felt-tip drawings which illustrate my poetry books, but for now here is a couple of gems from the thirteen year old me. These come from a book called “Time to find an answer” (oh dear):
WOT NO LABELS?
I can’t work it out
confuses me heaps
even the analytical mind twists
love and devotion
is not enough
in the eyes of a stereotype
minimal positive action!!
stick a label on me
classify my worth
hardcore / hippy / straight-edge
it all hurts my head
I agree with bits of it all
so WOT AM I??
Gotta do something, but gotta seem hip
Gotta do nothing, but do it in style
My whole existence
makes no sense.
***
OUR RUINED WORLD
Nothing is ever free
not even butterflies.
Their countryside covered
in insecticides and chemicals
that will KILL them
and cows and sheep
bred to eat
so short and painful a life
A horse is not free
fenced in
saddle, bit and whip
and people,
stuck in
ruts
debts
confusion
Nothing is ever free.
****