How To Write Like Largo

[dukealien]

Go ahead and assume that everything here is intentional. 


How To Write Like Largo

Don’t talk about the weather
Deaden your senses
Close your eyes- 
          plug your nose- 
          cover your ears- 
          rip out your tongue
Leap gladly into a lake of fire
Reach out past the cave in which you sleep
Tell me what is happening

Don’t talk about death
Life is endless- 
          the everlasting- 
          the infinite-
          the universal- 
          cosmic debris- 
          deep shit
Pretend your soul
Play a little game in which you won’t ever die
A religion for this life that’s what you’re looking for
Holiness for the next five minutes

Don’t be melodramatic
Shut your mouth-
          there are so many who are the same as you who have already spoken-
          who are still speaking-
          and you are the same as them
Let the silent others tell
If it feels like there’s no way to win here
You don’t get to win here
That welling up impotent frustration maybe that’s just what you get

And when you walk through the valley of the shadow of death fear no evil-
          because you are evil- 
          because you look like a demon- 
          you look more demon than the demons-
          and they are all scared of you-
          and when you look around and see that-
          don’t dare try to shrink away
Stand up
Be the enemy you wish to see in the world
Just what we all need

Being a person of a certain age, I miss the reference in the title and can't find one that looks like a good match by Googling.  Not a criticism, just acknowledging my limitations.

Whatever Largo's writing is like, though, has points of interest.  I get the message - not exactly cynical, more Machiavellian, that is, look at things cynically, but then act with a degree of idealism:  having an enemy, even if self-constructed, is an ideal.  So is a religion "for the next five minutes," which is, after all, a very long time by some reckonings.  And note that the reader is not being urged to acti like Largo, only instructed in the attitude necessary to write like (him?)

In mild technical critique,  there's an unnecessary gramatical problem in the second verse,

"Pretend your soul
Play a little game in which you won’t ever die"

Seems to me it should either be "Pretend you're soul" or "Plays a little game..." so the two lines agree with each other.

Can't decide if the last line is cliche or not.  The usual form (in my neck of the woods) is, "Just what the world needs..." so this may be a turnabout reference.

On the whole, I thought the poem was well-organized, with a clear message.  Cynicism is not, in itself, a bad theme or stance, though it may be a bit easy at times.  Solipsism is unproductive, but this poem doesn't go there.   I liked it, and think it could be improved with a little editing and clarification - perhaps an author's note hinting as to the title's reference.