THE BIRDS DID NOT CARE

I pleaded
with the sun
to stay down
so that I might
finally
have a shot
at sleep
they told me
to take it
one day
at a time
sometimes
I had
trouble
taking it
one moment
at a time
trembling
I begged
with the blankets
to keep me warm
but not
make me sweat
my window began
to let light in
the birds
did not care
that I had not
dreamt
in days
it was then
that I realized
we are not
important –
but we are not
alone

RULES OF SOCIAL MEDIA I WISH EVERYONE WOULD FOLLOW

1. If you post an Oscar Wilde quote, you absolutely must spell his name correctly. You should also probably have some vague idea of who he was.

 

2. Even if you just ate the world’s most delicious salad/salmon/steak/vegan-gluten-free-soy-free-dairy-free-whatever-that-thing-is, no one wants to see a blurry photo of it. Not even your best friends. Probably not even your mother. Also, we have all seen a pint of beer before.

 

3. This is going to sound crazy, but check it out. You CAN actually exercise without telling everyone every detail of your workout. You can also sit in traffic on the freeway without telling the entire internet about your experience. It is 100% possible to be really angry at someone without making passive aggressive status updates which none of us understand, about this person who none of us know. The person these things are meant for probably isn’t even reading them, but if they are, they’re laughing at your expense.

 

4. You have great tits. You want the world to know. Totally OK to post a picture of your great tits, which are arguably the greatest thing about you. Totally NOT OK to make the caption have NOTHING to do with your great tits. No one cares that it’s a nice day, that you got a promotion, or that you are on day 67 of “100 days of happy”, and again, no one cares that you’re stuck in traffic. So from now on, post a picture of whatever the hell you want, but make your caption relevant. Underneath that picture of your great tits, say “Here’s a picture of my great tits. Hope you like them!” And please, please stop shaming Albert Camus and Friedrich Nietzsche by misquoting them in the captions of your shitty selfies. They would hate that. I promise.

 

5. Constantly bragging about your vacation home, trips to Europe, or new car doesn’t make us jealous. It makes us think you’re pretentious. Nothing wrong with sharing a photo or a beautiful moment that really made you happy every so often, but if every single post you make is about the amazing view you have or every country you’ve been to all because you were born into an affluent family, we are going to begin to get annoyed of your braggy sense of entitlement. No one thinks you’re cultured. You know who you are.

 

Oh, and we all know what a pool looks like. Seriously. They all look the same. Kind of like beer.

 

6. Your baby is the most adorable baby I have ever seen. Honest. It’s really cute. I’m not just saying that. But it would be a lot fucking cuter if you only posted a photo of it every few days instead of 10 per day. Just sayin’. Same goes for puppies. And trust me, I love puppies.

 

7. STOP PROPOGATING BULLSHIT. This is one of the most important rules, because if you break it, it’s not just irritating, it can cause much bigger problems. If someone posts an article and the headline seems like outlandish bullshit, it most likely is. Do your research. Just because something is labeled as “science” doesn’t mean it is. Never repost something without reading it in its entirety and looking into the source it originated from. Snopes.com is your friend. And quit the dumbing down of society with all of these goddamn listicles about how to be successful or happy. “Reading” those things is definitely not going to help make your dreams come true.

 

8. Spellcheck. If you are going to say something moronic, don’t make yourself look even more stupid by misspelling every other word.

 

9. Being fake positive all the time isn’t fooling anyone. We all know you’re not THAT happy.

 

10. What I am really trying to say here is stop overusing the word literally. It’s literally bugging the shit out of me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

OFFSPRING

My poems
are like
my children
I want them
to go out there
and do well
in the world
I want them
to be able 
to support
themselves
without me
standing
behind them
I do not want them
to call me
at 3 AM 
and beg me 
to transfer money
into 
their bank accounts
I want people
to like them
but not too much
I want them to
learn
and I want them to
teach 
I want them to
be themselves
stick up for
their beliefs
and not drink too much
like their mother did
they give my life 
a little meaning
but they drive me 
fucking
crazy