MORE MONEY, MORE OPTIONS

MORE MONEY, MORE OPTIONS
by matt burns

When I was poor
I had little money
Few options
Few possibilities
So the direction was always clear
Poverty showed me the one 
And only 
Way

Now I have too much money
Too many options
Too many possibilities
So the direction
The path
The way
Has never been so limitless
And never been so unclear

PUFFY FACE

PUFFY FACE
by matt burns

Whenever I see him
He has a puffy face
He's holding an extra large coffee
And his glassy eyes look so tired.

I look in the mirror
It's just what I expected:
I look well-rested
Bright-eyed
Healthy
Yuck!

I want a puffy face
So I know I'm doing all I can.

DANCING WITH THE DEVIL

DANCING WITH THE DEVIL
by matt burns

It's fun to dance with the devil
Dancing with Jesus gets boring.
A full life hasn't been lived
Until you do that delicate dance with him
On the edge 
of the 
cliff

But whenever you dance with that slick prince
You must remember to always lead.
Don't let the devil lead
Because he'll lead you right over the edge.
He'll want to lead
And he'll be so gentlemanly
He'll say, oh, just let me lead, it'll be fun
Showering you with charisma throughout
But don't let him lead
Don't let him lead!

I STARTED WATCHING WHALE DOCUMENTARIES

I STARTED WATCHING WHALE DOCUMENTARIES
by matt burns

I started watching whale documentaries
And vowed never to watch the news again
I exorcised the negative
And welcomed the beautiful and positive

But abandoning the news
I felt stupid and uninformed
I had no opinion about anything
I couldn't participate in the popular conversations

I guess immersing yourself in the negative
In this day and age
Makes you informed and smart

Immersing yourself in nothing but the beautiful and positive
Alienates you
And makes you a dumb ass

THE CONTRACT IS GOD

THE CONTRACT IS GOD
by matt burns

I stare the contract in the eye
It has many provisions
And myriad stipulations
All of which are meant dominate my ass
And sodomize me with intense fervor

The people that work for the company love me
They love my work
They love my dependability
They are so supportive
So why do they let the contract sodomize me so?
Why don't they overrule it?
No, they won't
They are human
And the contract is inhuman
Yet, it acquires more reverence than the human
So easily overruled by the human
Because the human always has the power
Though the human still displays utmost reverence to the inhuman
O Humanity!

The contract is God
The contract is Almighty
We've all become enslaved
By an inhuman entity

THE PRESIDENT NEEDS TO BE A PSYCHOPATH

THE PRESIDENT NEEDS TO BE A PSYCHOPATH
by matt burns

Drones hit targets
Two innocent Americans die
Obama apologizes
Later that day the Patriots visit the White House
Superbowl champions, we commend you!
Obama is calm, cool and collected
Cracks jokes
He's bold enough to joke about deflate-gate
Blood is on his hands!
I would have broken the fuck down
No President has ever really broken the fuck down
The President must be able to shut out feelings
The President must not mourn
He must not empathize
In short
He must be psychopathic

Two days later, riots break out in Baltimore
Nobody really knows what happened to Freddie Gray
Including Obama
But the President still sends a delegation to the Freddie funeral
People instantly forget about the drone mishap
The dog has been wagged
Obama's a hero again

ANOTHER APPEARANCE ON WRITER'S INFUSION

ANNOUNCEMENT: this is non-poetry-related but it does have to do with writing. Writer's Infusion recently invited me back on their show, this time to be a guest critiquer (is that a word?). In this webisode, we read a screenplay submission adapted from the novel Go by John Clellon Holmes. Go is said to be the first novel born out of the Beat movement in the 1950s. We all act out the parts during the read-through and then offer constructive criticism afterwards.