Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Passing Mustard

A triumph of the modern age,
Up-and-coming, all the rage,
And honored mainly in the breech,
Is biography with no marks on the page.

For stories that cannot be read
Will not fill the empty head,
Will not alarm and will not teach
But complement the current quick and dead.

The perfection our heroes attain
Ain't won by effort, trial or pain,
From besting each villain within reach,
But by keeping banners clean and plain.

So if one day I am called to power,
My life will start that very hour.
My past erased as if with bleach
I'll claim credit earned while snoring in my bower.

FAILURE, n. A history which, if forgotten, the neighbor is bound to repeat.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Failure - a problem with vision,a common ailment of those who see the world in a 10 second sound bit...Blessing(ha/ha bet you thought i would say gwbush)

Tom & Icy said...

Oh, so I guess personal history is our unwashed laundry and some people by-pass the laundromat on their way to the statehouse.

Anonymous said...

Doug, you should be the Poet Laureate for the Obama White House.
No problem since your "past erased as if with bleach"

Anonymous said...

Failure is not an option and your poem isn't a failure though I thought it said Passing Gas...but that's probably just me.

TLP said...

Jenn! I thought it said "Passing mustard gas...."

Good poem. In no way a failure.

Failure: My diet. Again. It's my history.

tsduff said...

"What we have here is failure to communicate" (along the subject of unpaid taxes...)

I prefer ketchup.

Anonymous said...

FAILURE n. wahhhhhh! My webservice provider -- DreamHost -- crashed about 10 hours ago and I cannot access my blog. Can you say WITHDRAWAL?!

Anonymous said...

Nicely written, Mr. Smith. We have an appointment in the Ministry of Love, room 101, at 0830 tomorrow. You will be there.

FAILURE, n. A college degree, with fries. Or should I say, cheezburgers. (Quilly's already covered webhosts - at last, something besides Blogger to excoriate ...)

Doug The Una said...

Bear, it's good to see you letting go.

Icy, if I could have said it that cleanly, I'd be a writer.

Mo'a, it's a matter of talent. Even I could never hope to bore so many.

Jenn, wait'll TLP gets here.

See?

Terry, I'm more of a salsa cutter.

Bummer, Quill. It'll heal in time.

Amoeba, college is our friend. College has always been our friend.

Anonymous said...

letting go yes,forgiven-oh what the hell, sure---forgotten Never.

Jamie Dawn said...

We can bleach away our past mistakes? I'd like to have some of that bleach.

Failure: saying I'll only eat two of those truffles you gave me, and then eating three... or four.
Jason indulged in them last night with a glass of milk.
I may have to resort to hiding the rest.

:-)

Nessa said...

There are no failures - only reasons for therapy.

G said...

And Jenna and TLP: I saw passing mustard - mustard gas - gas up...

What I have here is a failure to communicate - a good definition.

Anonymous said...

almost a day late but not a dollar short. i see all the good ideas have been taken and me, being the good neighbor, will not repeat.


meow.

Anonymous said...

"Life is to be lived, not controlled, and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat."

Doug The Una said...

One day at a time, brother Bear.

Jamie Dawn, sins like gluttony, you need something stronger.

Actonbell, muster is much harder, I agree.

They tell you that in therapy Nessa?

Sounds like it, G. I can hear it from here.

Right neighborly, Sauerkraut.

Frank Zappa, Cooper?

Hobbes said...

Muster: War's spicy appetizer, passed with relish.