I've Lived Among Dullards Poem by Alexander Shaumyan

I've lived among dullards
And easy lovers, dainty
Girls that would fall
Apart if I'd mention
Something unmentionable,
Posers, losers, junkies,
And self-important
Thugs with big
Muscles and short
Tempers—

I've lived among those
Who believe that
Tap water is holier
Than beer, where
The holy is the unholy
Compromise of compassion
And homicide—

I've lived a life of
Utter despair, walking
Through the maze of
Broken aspirations
And disconnected lives,
Where the truth is spray
Painted on the walls
Like the bathroom
Graffiti—

Where the good times
Are followed by years
Of loneliness and regret,
Where love is no more
Than a con, signed with
A lipstick kiss
In the latest
Dear John letter,
Where silence is louder
Than all the music bands—
Indie, punk, alternative,
Hip hop, rap, hardcore,
Or bubblegum pop—

I have tasted your lips
That felt like hot iron,
And I've seen headless
Women and faceless men,
Parading in underwear,
Showing off what they've
Got in their absurd
Little package—

I've seen sex and coffee
And beer and more sex
And beer and some
Amazingly bad writing,
That received top billing—
I've seen pompous old men
Profess higher truths,
And children mangled,
Murdered and starved,
Or sold to the highest
Bidder—

And I've seen the world
With too much of everything
Slowly die in its inner core,
While you were laughing
And she was crying,
And he was too drunk
To care.

October 7,2006