17/01/2025
A big-hearted thanks to everyone who has read, shared and commented on poem 002. The act of writing often occurs in a void, figuratively and literally, and the same often goes for sharing it. Nothing is written with a pat on the back in mind — it’s written because I’m here living a life, wondering how and why I got here and what to make of it, and writing is a release valve from it all. I’m not certain of much, but I’m certain I’ll write until I’m dead.
I’m publishing these poems without contextual intros, because I want them to be experienced free of any bias I might place on them by explaining them first. You can find some of that here should you choose to seek it out. And I always enjoy discussing writing, mine or others, so reach out should the fancy ever strike.
That said, as a footnote on poem 002, listen to the Father John Misty song “Bored in the USA” linked below. Late in the song, he delivers a series of lines followed by samples of the classic TV sitcom laugh track familiar to anyone who has watched television since the 1970s. I could go off on the singular genius of the whole Father John Misty thing but I’d just be repeating what so many others have written and said, and the point here is, as far as songwriting goes, on the good-great-godhead spectrum, the use of the laugh track launches the song into godhead territory.
All of which is to say, when you get to the parenthetical lols in poem 002, as you read each of them in your head, hit the button for the laugh track. And then when you’re done, maybe hit it one more time for yourself.
Save us White Jesus.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JODshFyKHuA
Also here’s the direct link to poem 002 if you missed it:
https://open.substack.com/pub/thevelveteenraccoon/p/poem-002
i am a fraud a sycophant a lovesick thirsty elephant a discount wannabe L.
