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

I 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.