Ignoring The Bad--The Love that Hurts

One of my favorite poems was a prose poem written by Kenneth Fearing. He was an Illinois native like myself.

Remember that Kevin Costner movie NoWay Out? That was modern re-telling of Fearing's novel TheBig Clock.

During the whole Commie Pig-Dog witch hunt, a Senator asked Fearing in front of a Grand Jury if he was a member of the Commie Pig-Dog Party. Fearing replied, “Not yet.” I love anybody willing to give a middle-finger statement like that.

But Fearing's poem Love, 20Cents, The First Quarter Mile, is one of my favorites. It deals with a couple of issues in relationships. One is the on and off nature of some relationships. Make-up, break-up, make-up, and repeat until exhaustion.

The other issue is the how we seem to negotiate our way through relationships. We ignore the bad and try to focus on the good. In the process, we lose who we are and set up more pain for later. Some people are worth swallowing this for, some just aren't.

This poem is good, but it could use an update. That and I have this demon I need to shut up.

Love, 20 Bucks, The First Quarter Mile

All right. I may have posted some crap on Facebook and Twitter.

And said a few things to your friends. And made a scene at work in the parking lot.

And maybe I did threaten to kill Dre and his crew. And the comment

I made about your mom wasn't fair.

But you should move back in.

Come back to our trailer.

I will forget about the video you made, Jungle Love 4,

And you will stop telling people I'm crazy.

Together we will agree there is nothing wrong

with my gun collection.

And we will say your drinking is purely recreational

and those shakes are from blood sugar.

I will stop calling your friends drunken cum dumpsters

And you will agree the swastika on my wall

is historical and my klan robes are from Halloween.

And I will stop saying your lady parts look like

they've had too much train traffic.

And you'll agree I was too tired for sex and it wasn't the

Oxies, Roxies, Morphine and Xanies

From the constant pain in my joints.

I forgive you and love you dearly.

Every time I close my eyes, I see your face

And the expression on it

in those videos and pictures.

I focus hard on

Your free spirit and strong nature,

The wry smile on your face and

bronze skin.

No man can keep his hands off your body.

Tonight around the bonfire

your face dances in the light of the flame

And the coyotes off in the distance

sing your name in eerie praises.

Come back. We'll have a party.

We'll invite your slutty friends

so they can hook up with my skinhead buddies

And take pics to post on Facebook.

And I'll shoot any niggers that show up.