Bad Poetry Night

April 28, 2016

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I have a green notebook. On the cover of this notebook is a bright Queensrÿche bumper sticker, from the era of Operation: Mindcrime.

I carried this notebook around with me throughout high school (1988 – 1992). It’s chock full of poems.

Let me clarify that: it’s chock full of terrible poems.

This thing is a relic of my earliest writing days. I passed it around to my friends and asked them to add their initials to the poems they liked (I’m sure I had enormous, tear-filled Disney eyes when I asked this). Despite my raging ego and horrible rhymes, many of these folks still remain my friends to this day.

I wrote poems about a girl who broke up with me, and had the gall to actually show her the whole notebook when she asked. And yes, there’s a letter from her inside it, too.

There’s at least one poem that’s something I outright plagiarized. William Blake’s “A Poison Tree” is in there. As is a handwritten copy of the lyrics to “Love Kills” by the Vinnie Vincent Invasion (which appeared on the soundtrack to Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master).

This thing is a god damn gold mine.

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Here’s an acrostic poem, whose first letters spell out “DEATH IS MY FRIEND.”

This is only Page 2 people.

This thing is just chock full of junk. I have some sketches in there. Some Jim Morrison quotes. A six part poem in here titled “The Revelation of Hell.”

I really should have burned this thing years ago, but I’ve carried it with me for… god, 28 years now.

And I’ll be reading a sample from this notebook at Bad Poetry Night, at The Book Cellar.

When I first signed up for this event, I thought it would be a funny thing to do, a bit of a lark. Only now, today and too late, am I realizing that I will be standing in front of a crowd of people and taking ownership/responsibility for these poems. And that I have to utter one out loud, befouling the air and minds of those in attendence.

Come join us?

Bad Poetry Night
April 28
7:00 PM
The Book Cellar
4736-38 N Lincoln Ave