Cynical Pinnacle

Obsidian Eagle often harps upon a lesser known school of poetics called Anti-Poetry, that's not so simple to summarize, but to put it in a nutshell: Anti-Poetry constitutes a push back against any complacency in contemporary poetry.

Of course this is actually a complex and controversial topic, which greater minds than Yours Truly continue to debate even at present. Due of its inherent antithesis, Anti-Poetry has been largely ignored by most people outside academic circles. Speaking from plenty of personal experience, poets themselves usually balk at the very mention of the term in question. This all pretty much makes writing Anti-Poems — a dirty job that nobody wants to do.

Nobody else that is, because where others may see a daunting mountain to climb, Obsidian sees an eagle's eyry from which to glide down. Keeping said aim in mind, today's Anti-Poem deals with some unpleasant feelings of disillusionment. Ladies & Gentlemen (et al), Obsidian Eagle proudly presents:

Cynical Pinnacle

Youngblood listen; kid you not

All the best poems have already been written

You couldn't write a better one if you tried

But if you saw the praise this hypocrite has given

You could never tell whether he had lied.

Don't fret just yet; there's more to the plot...

Let's go back to basics with a scribble or squiggle

Return to the drawing board, again and again.

Form is a wave function of desire over dexterity

Incessant in motion | freeze framed by memory

Lives of writers make great dramatic biopics

For those who refuse to read past opening titles.

"That's what they want," Bukowski wrote:

"A God damned show". However —

This antithetical mechanism won't let it go

At first the beat might stutter, although

Sooner than later, it'll really start to flow ≋

Roll out your R's

And shake a snake's rattle.

Look at these unsightly scars

That were earned in battle.

You see, we've enemies on either side

[ Stuck between a mortarboard cap 🎓 &

An unsafe public space ]

Must rush to meet the author's breadline

As it wanders aimless through thick haze.

The fog of war is dense here still

While hounds are set loose

Free agents shoot to kill.

Oh they may take it easy provided one choose

Only to wax poetic about birds or honey bees

Otherwise, you've got a snowflake's chance in hell

Since their tacit caveat is a blank anyone can fill:

Nothing too serious, for goodness' sake, please!

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* From the forthcoming, Future Sutras: A Decade of Anti-Poetry

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Further Reading