Raj Dronamraju Poems

"Choosy mothers choose Jif"
Now that peanut butter is the center of your life
Is there room for anything else?
Is there room for living outside yourself?
...

We dressed like cowboys
Or so we thought
These thought were based on the misconception that flannel shirts were America
Whereas the truth is flannel shirts are just flannel shirts
...

It was never the compliments
Which seemed macabre when viewed from any angle not connected to self-delusion

It was never a preamble that allowed for salesmanship
...

Your interest is not appreciated
Youth creeped out when you smile and look over there
The pedigree mated marble haunting
That can neither be contained nor moved from its heavy blockade position
...

The sport too late
Sadder than a wasted childhood
An old age garbed in Tweedledum's booties
...

Had a chance but failed to act upon it
Now tiger drawbridge greets every attempt to move on
Tiger drawbridge quick to pull up and leave you flat-footed
With the entourage of unrealized potential
...

I can no longer describe the mood I am in
Have turned equal parts hostile, ambivalent against goals
I am no longer explained away by society's respect
I no longer cherish the rules set by others
...

I couldn't love you if you already had children by another partner
And
I couldn't love you if you smoked cigarettes
And
...

Remembering the Maine as it is attacked by gunships in the Gulf of Tonkin while carrying weapons of mass destruction and displaying the flag of a different pirate ship

Not getting enough love from old money parents and shipped off to boarding school
Manufacturing enemies with help from compliant news organs
...

Don't ask your parents or other elders for advice in what to do
They'll resent your desire to have goals of your own
And they'll feel any success you have makes a mockery of their own existence
...