Sunday, March 11, 2007

"American Clowns"

Up, down
In, out
Buy the ticket
Jump and shout!
They charged us to get in and gave us Bozo.

WELCOME to the carnival tent madhouse,
star spangled bloody red white flags of hate flapping
across Chevrolet skies
the speakers crackle as popcorn spills over purple theater seats,
and the curtains rise
from the Dolby Technicolor canvas of Hollywood gods
with psychedelic eyes,
They charged us to get in and gave us Bozo.

We can't complain, we ASKED for this shitty mess,
this comedy of buffoonery with our votes of approval
of the sideshow of fame,
political hacks,
unendurable clowns with cynical raps,
and caverns for brains,
They charged us to get in and gave us Bozo.

We'd like to flee at least escape the images and the script
of this intolerable cartoon media show that's making us sick,
Cotton candy rockstar video NASCAR basketball celebrity showtime
IMBECILITY,
300 channels 24-hour talking head nonsense experts
brainwashed puppets!
WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO TURN DOWN THE VOLUME,
But they charged us to get in and gave us Bozo!

Now the sound's turned UP on the screaming jets and battlefield cries,
as casualties mount
in the movie noise
latest blockbuster distraction
dumb the populace
mass destruction of Truth,
preservation of Lies,
They charged us to get in and gave us Bozo.

-King Wenclas

3 comments:

jimmy grace said...

not bad...

Patrick S. @ RedFez said...

I like this poem too.

King can be heard reading part of it in the AP podcast of our Columbia University HOWL protest. Click below to listen:

King Wenclas reads on AP Howl podcast

King Wenclas said...

That's a shitty version of me reading. I was very tired that day. (Setting up an event can be exhausting.)