poem of the day 12.22.08

well, this will be it for me until 2009 rears its ugly head.

it is growing cold

it is growing cold
but the madmen are still at it
on the brooklyn streets.
and the people are scared of them
for they fear anyone who has found
their own truth.
the madmen embrace their truths
flagrantly.
they know.
they know they are better than
the masses, carrying christmas bags
and choking on false sentiment.
they know they are better than
a new car.
they know they are better than
fucking in a warm apartment
on a cold night.
they know they are better than
getting drunk.
they know they are better than christ.
they know they are better than baseball
and sunday football combined.
they know they are better than
a pretty girl with pink lipstick,
reading faulkner on a train.
they know they are better than poetry.
they know they are better than air.
they know they are better than cable tv,
and digital stereos.
they know they are better than hot food
in an empty stomach.
they know they are better than a holiday parade.
they know they are better than a beach.
they know they are better than a glass of water.
they know they are better than the government.
they know they are better than an oscar
winning film.
they know they are better than the telephone.
they know they are better than a walk
with a lover on a warm night.
they know they are better than authority.
they know they are better than celebrity.
they know they are better than all the gods
in all of the religions.
they know they are better than the boys
with shaved heads and sculpted facial hair,
the ones that get to fuck all the young girls.
they know they are better than books.
they know they are better than video games,
and the internet.
they know they are better than skinny assholes
discussing rock and roll music
over expensive pints of beer
they know they are better than your favorite
television show.
they know they are better than the summer.
they know they are better than love and hate.
they know they are better than trying to stop
the wars of humanity.

yes,
it is growing cold
but the madmen are still on the
brooklyn streets,
howling and driving the beautiful ones
away in droves.
they know they are the only ones
with any kind of freedom left to take hold of
while the rest blind themselves
with what can be taken away without a second thought.