Cynthia Ruth Lewis
http://literaryrevolution.com/cynthia.html
OUTCAST
I've never rushed out to see
a "hit movie"
I don't "do" the mall
I don't pay attention to or 
participate in gossip
I listen to Beethoven
and Marilyn Manson
I've never read anything on
a best-seller list
I am not ruled by the dollar sign
I've got a few gray hairs I
refuse to cover
I prefer the company of books
to most people...
and for this I am considered
a threat to society--
but since when is individualism
considered dangerous?
If I whipped out a gun in public,
would I be any more normal?
Would that be expected of me?
Just because I prefer to avoid
the masses, and choose to put
a fork in the beaten path,
for this I am shunned
I am feared
I am dismissed
but
I enjoy being on the other side
because if being different
is deemed wrong in this fleeting
fuck of a world
I don't ever want to be right
UNDERGROUND POETS
Who the fuck are you to snub me ?
We're both writers--
but just because you lost your gag reflex
to get your book on the bestseller list
is no reason to look down your nose at me
I write from the gut; I don't shit words out,
and I don't take them for granted
as you seem to do--
the last 'original' thought you had
you probably left floating in the bowl
this morning,
so get your nose out of the air
and stop acting like you just smelled
the essence of your latest plot...
I may not be a world-famous writer,
but at least I have a decent group
of loyal fans,
instead of the entire world
eating shit out of the palm of my hand
SMASHING THE ROSE-COLORED GLASSES
You have to acquire a taste
for my particular kind of poetry
I'm 100% acidic,
no preservatives added;
no sweetener
I'm not sugar or spice
or anything nice--
I tell it like it is
some people find my writing
rather unappetizing.
Most of them simply don't get it;
they act like I'm speaking
in a foreign tongue,
but my tongue is merely twisted
they don't want to admit that people
like me actually exist,
because I'll be the first to tell you
that there's no Santa Claus
or Easter Bunny
and there sure as hell aint no happy face
at the bottom of the cereal bowl
you need to have been face-down in the dirt
a number of times in order to understand
my brand of irritation
with the so-called "straight and true"
brain-washed individuals that make up society
you need to have experienced a few major
disillusions about the world today
to feel which direction MY wind is blowing...
so if you're one of those people that
really believe the hole in the ozone layer
is not going to get any bigger
while you're still walking the planet,
fear not--
I'm here to tell you that it is
Amazing Barry Silver, BED OF NAILS. photo:Geoff Hall@ 2006
