Home Planet News

a journal of literature & art

Poetry of Issue 9: Remember That Guy?

Remember That Guy?

We all know that guy

You know? That guy.

 

That guy who walks through streets

Screaming obscenities

 

While those who surround him

Are electrons in a bomb

Awaiting the perfect opportunity

To ignite and fall out

 

There is that guy

Who is warning the masses

That this world will melt down

 

Who the fuck is that guy?

Who could possibly stir up

So much commotion

During the stagnancy

Of a Sunday night?

 

I know who that guy is.

I know exactly who he is.

 

Its me.

Im that guy.

Or at least I was that guy.

 

I was the one who was beat down

Into the abyss of psychosis.

 

I was the one who was strung out

Hoping someone would care enough

To give me space and listen.

 

I was the one who begged

When nobody else

Tuned into my tears.

 

I was that guy.

And maybe I still am that guy.

 

Come to think of it…

Yeah, I still am that guy.

 

Im that guy screaming

Through his thumbs.

Typing a poem.

Lacking as much direction

As I did those nights

When I wandered through Williamsburg.

 

Lost in a subterranean subterfuge

Rattled by the emergency vehicles

Which could have helped me

Or submerged me

Deeper into paranoia.

 

And this whole city

Makes me question

Whether I still have

The undying potential

To continue being that guy.

 

But the world has

Endless possibilities.

 

Even the kind

Where I could be

In a room

Of screaming men

Like I was

Many times before

And still be remembered

As that guy.

 

by Jack Freedman

Home Planet News