Response to Strange Comparisons*

[heslopian]

I'm not my friend Nathan,
I don't care about rape
and cannibalism,
except as abstract metaphors;
whereas he craves shock, disgust,
and seeks to banish all nuance,
I hide my own madness behind
an English reticence...
he is a Chicago crime scene,
filled with hookers in dumpsters,
crying children and
bloody stockings;
I, however, am an old chintz kettle,
filled with stone cold, dense black tea,
emitting a stench from my spout.

I don't know enough about politics
to be "the new Allen Ginsberg,"
and when people compare me
to Charles Bukowski
I wonder if they know my name;
I don't drink, desire women,
have never worked a menial job,
lived in a motel
or been the tough guy...

(Why can't we admire artists
without subscribing
to their lives?)

I'm simply a manic depressive kid
without a great deal of technique.

*The poem above is an extended edit. Below is the original piece, published before Billy's comment.

I'm not my friend Nathan,
I don't care about rape
and cannibalism,
except as abstract metaphors;
I don't know enough about politics
to be "the new Allen Ginsberg,"
and when people compare me
to Charles Bukowski
I wonder if they know my name;
I don't drink, desire women,
have never worked a menial job,
lived in a motel
or been the tough guy...

(Why can't we admire artists
without subscribing
to their lives?)

I'm simply a manic depressive kid
without a great deal of technique.

[billy]

i like this one jack

not sure if the last 2 lines add anything though it's about you
in comparison as the title states so it must stay.

feels like a semi rant. hehe. well worth a read
thanks jack.

one nit, tell us something about nathen, give us a qualifier, is he a fellow poet etc. we know of
bukowski and ginsberg so for them it isn't as important.

[heslopian]

Thank you for the feedback, Billy The last two lines were perfunctory; they needed to be there, as you said, even if they aren't very strong. I was almost afraid of expanding on them in case the piece descended into self-pity.
I'll try and expand on the Nathan segment; I forgot that not everyone knows my friends
Yeah, this is a rant poem haha, and probably a wee bit hypocritical, but I think it's better than many of my rant pieces (which isn't saying much; rage in poetry is far from my forte; I can rarely control and manipulate such aggressive emotions). The idea for it came when I read yet another comment comparing me to Bukowski, saying I share his vision, a comment which I think misses the point of both Bukowski's and my work.

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Edited