Poetry: Selections from Scott Cumming

Ancient Days of Last Week

Everything feels ancient
every trip out
hieroglyphed
onto my mind

Things I should’ve done
cave painted
to the underside
forgotten in a landslide
of bleeding days

Switchblade handshakes
attempt to connect them
form a life
rather than a faded,
forgotten gang sign.



#1

Having a family
is going mad
by increments
Pretty sure
Tolstoy said that

Young love
is madness all at once
Sounds like
Nabokov

Better to
reach around
than back stab
I’m certain Chinaski
posits as such

Lover’s kiss
always sweeter
than adulterer’s grip
I don’t know
could've been
Easton Ellis

Reading them back
maybe they’re all me.



#3

Image is everything
down to the dirt
on your shoes
Even,
and especially for
slovenly, work-a-day
poets
 
Brand equity in 280
I'm fine
I'm fine 365
Keeping it 100
double underline
Nice Nice Nice
SIXTY-NINE
 
Like me
Retweet me
Love me
Defy me
Defile me
Make a home
from my hoards of
#bookmail
Fill your Fridays
with sad reads
Throwback
to the Thursday
when you were drunk
holding up a police car
pretending to be
cricket umpire, Billy Bowden
Raise dem crooked fingers with me now
LOLZAYOLO
Peace out.



Give me some more of that white noise

imagine those who decry self-publishing
only chow down at chain restaurants
watching the latest all action blockbusters
on their grease fingered highly recommended smart phones
 
They drive home to that top 40 noise
sanitised and prescribed
to keep the blues away

No dirtier words than punk
or indie
They hit with the force
of a cunt

Should those making independent films
be allowed the temerity to refer to themselves
as director, editor, writer, producer?
Can we refer to something as art
if it hasn’t been back slapped,
hand shaken, wined and dined
by our taste making
know what’s good for us
conglomerate overlords?

My newfound confidence
Cannot be taken seriously
Because I jot words in an old reporter’s notebook
And not the latest Chrome/Mac/Daddy book.





Scott Cumming unsuspectingly went to see Garden State wearing his Shins tee. He has been published at The Daily Drunk, Punk Noir Magazine, Versification, and Shotgun Honey. His poem, Blood on Snow was voted the best of Outcast-Press: Poetry Things We Carry issue and nominated for a Pushcart. His collection, A Chapbook About Nothing will be released in December.

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