Genuflect before the altar of progress-
Who are You?
What would you rather be doing?
I remember when...Do you?
Questions, quotes and quips
Plastered fenders spitting soot
eRacism
Violence with the Ghostbuster slash
End of Poverty
Eat Meat
Don't eat Meat
Eat More Chikn
Some to get behind
Some to jump in front
Messages on the go
Billboards for the slow
Sentimental favorites and soon forgotten
Plant a Seed/Save a tree
Yet that feeling you must kill a tree to express
Bands get free advertising
While all their bad habits fall on you
At least that's what others may think
Sticky situation
How can I cover up a Yankee Sticker driving through Boston?
How can I cover up Rush Is Right
driving through the East side of town
What good does it do
To express your point of view
when questions you cannot defend
When answers are solely bound to the seer
To each their own, to own their each
Break the Law, Break it all
But save the creek
and honor the treaty too
I once had a car that had so many holes
I used to joke about free air-conditioning
Then the paint turn to rust
And Stickers would patch it up
It still stopped running
It still died half an hour from home
But there was this one time,
No, not in Bandcamp-
but..no I won't that's another tale for another time--
But there was this other time,
When I ripped off the whitest sticker I had
Forgot the message
Because when I got home
I had your number
In lipstick
Would've been the perfect bumper sticker-
If the number wasn't wrong.
Brian is hosting Poetics over at D'Verse tonight where he provides us all with the prompt of creating a poem based off of Bumper Stickers.
This piece is a complete rambling free-write. But I would also like to say that I love reading the cars in front of me, or when I walk through a parking lot. I've always wondered why people would put stickers on their brand new. You see some cars with so many of them and wonder how could one person possibly stand for so many things. You see them and equate them to collages, bandages, billboards etc..
I used to work for a record company. God, I had boxes of stickers. I wonder what happened to them all after I sent them back.
Great prompt tonight Brian. It was good to just stream-write on the topic. Thanks.
Love your take on the prompt - thanks for not inflicting your Bandcamp tale on us :). I was going to write about rust when I thought the prompt might be cars. I adore rust so I have to admit to being a bit disappointed. When it turned out to be bumper stickers I got all philosophical.
ReplyDeletehow can you cover up a yankee sticker with a boston...lol...nice i like the turn in the end using the sticker to get the number...nice write fred...
ReplyDeleteand i dont know what you did but where you were not showing up in my reader this last month or so...all those posts hit my reader tonight...lol
ReplyDeleteHilarious and fun mosaic of scenes of and with bumper stickers. It was fun to read this.
ReplyDeleteHave to agree with a lot of your thoughts here--and I liked the tone as well, felt like being in eight lanes of slow moving traffic where reading bumper stickers and speculating is all there is to do to keep yourself amused.
ReplyDeletei love this line:
ReplyDeleteMessages on the go
Billboards for the slow
and I like the eRacism, great word.
the end is brilliant
i love to read them as well fred - but have none on my own car, even if it is an old one...love the part with the free air conditioning and also the number in lipstick part until you say it was wrong...and now i'm curious about that story in the bandcamp...smiles
ReplyDeleteGreat "stream of conciousness" write!
ReplyDeleteI like the twist at the end!
How can you cover up a Yankee sticker driving through Boston?..hahaha you might get shot for having such a thing or at least the sticker will get taken off one way or another..haha. Oh and fyi I guess my ranting a blogger worked or it was just coincendence as I can see your posts on the blogroll thingy again.
ReplyDeleteThis was a fun write. Brian, thanks again for the prompt. So many really good offerings by everyone. It's almost getting to an implied state now, that when a poem is linked up to D'verse, it almost always is a great read.
ReplyDeleteReally glad you all enjoyed the piece- this one was interesting as I just went all free-write here and came up with what came to mind. Thanks again for all the feedback, very fun to read and much appreciated
''Genuflect before the altar of progress''...Bang. good start.
ReplyDeleteis the altar a bumper? Ha.
there's a 'whole lotta genuflecting goin' on'' that goes into the creation and the consumption.
and, yes, they can be arousing...like a Yankee sticker in Boston. Ha.
the issue, the humor, and the turn are all good and go well together.
Especially the last stanza and the final couplet...very nice touches in a Turn.
very creative and a pleasure to read. Thanks.
very well done.
ReplyDeleteyour words take us to many places, blessings.
"That feeling you must kill a tree to express" - that made me smile. Yes, bumper stickers can be like tattoos. You want be certain about that message before you plaster it on your car.
ReplyDeleteYour rambling was great. I like your sense of humor
ReplyDeleteThanks for the responses, really appreciate them all. Lori, I liked that line as well-love it when a good one pops in the mind- yeah those stickers on cars really do make statements about the owner, Quotes- thanks, glad you enjoyed the humor in the piece. I do ramble a lot- sometimes they come out good and others, well comes off rambling. Thanks again
ReplyDeleteGreat write, Fred. I love the lines: "Some to get behind / Some to jump in front". Well put. I love the humor throughout, and that ending is great!
ReplyDeletea great message sent with humors packed in it.
ReplyDeleteperfect poetics.