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Jeremy Betts Feb 2018
What. Just. Happened?
I'm still here, in the throes of terror, probably forever, but that was close
I don't know how many more of those devastating blows from life's twisted episodes I can take before I get exposed and everybody knows that this smile's a fake, adorned like over warn costumes on Broadway shows
A mangled backdrop set prop to keep from view that I got behind the scenes woes
With each smile the lie grows
Gotta live with this Pinocchio nose
Black out curtains dress the windows so the only parts of me I expose are silhouette shadows
Like house siding, I stack the facade till a barrier grows
It adds curb appeal and social value I suppose
But for me it's a false face to hide the lows
Getting me through this reality that blows
A life time of running into doors with a sign reading "sorry we're closed"
Hanging next to the mandatory posted notice of demolition proposed
Life's ultimate plan to bulldoze any happy settlement till all that's left are foreclosed burrows
Unwelcoming ghettoes
A real to life Gotham City narrows
Every one knows **** flows down stream and my life's the delta where it all goes
Rainbows triggering everyday psychos
Sorrows flicker by like sickening slideshows
Arms and legs strewn all around, some separated from torsos
From heros to zeros, no back again as I decompose into the shallows

It's basically not a place anybody would actually choose to be
But when it's your own psyche it's hard to see any way out of the intensity that will always accompany insanity
And no one can hear your inner voice plea for much needed mercy
Beging to be set free but this inescapable captivity is your eternity
So wait, is this outcome then a certainty?
A destiny unremarkably average and already planned out for me?
It certainly seems to be
Especially now that I see clearly that comedy lies within my tragedy
But only because hindsight is 20/20
In the moment nothing's funny
A well lit path is not part of my journey
Mines a lifetime walked through a dark ally
The thoughts that emerge from the shadows come in a hurry, a savage flurry of the eire
Physically consumed with how badly this could turn out for me
Any second I could come face to face with an enemy sent by a deity with the soul purpose to immediately end this agony but I can guarantee I'm not that lucky

It's a shame this evil never left after it came
The residual, dry back shot residue stain and remain after every time I'm ******, but those rinse off in the rain that came all the same
Causing me to claim I'll never see life the same
Now docile and tame, a king slain by his own sword, self inflicted pain
My shelf life would be considered inhumane
A body originally set to be a temple now unlivable domain
Why is it the opposite I hear 'em saying when it comes to the brain of the insane?
What I can't figure out is what's there to gain keeping me here on this plane?
An existence broken and lame, no highs, no fame
No title bout, no championship game
I'd like to say it's done in vain but the fact is maybe this is where I'VE chosen to remain
But if there is no one to blame, to frame, to claim did this to me then the chain that holds me here I should be able to explain away so I don't know how to explain why I stay

And I always find myself stubbornly staying in this mindset like I'm developing the onset of stalk home syndrome
Eventually the environment seems normal but it's a Truman show dome
Entertainment at the expense of a grown man condoned
And the freedom shown is an illusion cause there's only so far you are able to rome
It never occurred to me that it was strange to be in this place alone
At first, while trying to escape, I wore my finger tips to the bone
But now I've got it so bad that I call this catacomb home
No land line phone, no WiFi hotspot zone
Cut off from the outside inside this prison of skull and bone
It's getting harder to tell as the problems begin to become overgrown
My flaws are blown out of proportion as they engulf my preset headstone
It seems so obvious that I shouldn't be here, I deserve a permanent place in a corner alone with a dunce cap cone or next to the rest labeled drone.
And I'm pretty sure I've waited to long to atone so the best I can hope for now are some ruby slippers or the larger piece of the wishbone

©2018
Jeremy Betts May 2022
I'm an open book with the tendency to get mistook and overlooked now more than ever cause the binding and the cover are extraordinarily ordinary
The frail, mousey lead character labeled fragilé and plagued with insecurity lacks any measurable or substantial substance, no originality, even the unremarkably troubled back story is unapologetically void of creativity
Absolutely zero structure to the flimsy plot lines leaving the majority unfinished and frustratingly empty, holes in the Swiss cheese history are aplenty, no matter the number it's always one too many, never held any water to begin with but regardless they surface constantly, scattered with no purpose throughout condemned property
The gaps in the sketchy timeline and the untimely flashbacks make it extremely difficult to follow, subsequently leaving the reader feeling uneasy, maybe even queasy
Couple that with the fact that the blood, sweat and tears that poor from me onto every page render every letter a blurry mystery
Ink rapidly bleeding beyond any point of legibility so I scurry into obscurity like the first bit of graffiti to hit the walls of a lost city
Or unlit cave dwelling residency that sheltered the beginnings of humanity, I don't say that metaphorically, this is all factually documented as actually happenin' to me
Completely being brushed over, over and over, leaves little to no room for closure, how could it be there is no retail value either even though I'm the soul owner of the one and only lonely copy
I must confess that honestly it's in rough shape visually, no secrecy, anyone and everyone can easily see, so it's insincerely looked over briefly with contempt and downgraded accordingly but unfairly
While momentarily left in dormancy to see if the monetary value to society rises any or will it be one to continually trend downwardly, accepting mortality
At this point breathing is just a formality, I know tomorrows not a guarantee so I scribble away feverishly, going at it tirelessly, throwing words around recklessly
Pointless? Quite possibly. Meaningless? Most definitely. Worthless? Well, how could it not be? I'd quickly place a bet on all three being casually mentioned in the book review, or what some of you might call my obituary
It could be and seems most likely to me to be revealed that it belongs in it's own category or at the very least a separate offshoot subcategory
OR, or, it could be disrespectfully decided to never even ever let it be represented digitally or physically in any online or city library across the entirety of this comically hypersensitive and ridiculously touchy country
They be watching over me shoulder every day as I dot every i perfectly and diligently cross every t, proofreading religiously so they take me seriously and can't use it against me
It's limited edition but surely nothin' special, hopefully still worthy of somethin', but here in reality it's realistically nothin' more than knockoff Gucci or black market Versace
Sounds fishy, I know, but what else could it possibly be when I have the answer key, it's literally my story, I not only wrote but lived every word you see and it still doesn't even hold any significance or importance to me
Every chapter awkwardly forced upon me, it'll clearly end horribly but I'm no visionary, not even close actually, would never catch me even trying or claiming to be
I just precisely record the facts on the spot as they happened to me no matter how bizarrely scary some happen to be, it's important to me that you see what I see
See, you'll see the cruelty in the issue that taunts me as it haunts me. The hot seat question then becomes can you possibly understand the conundrum that is me or even slightly comprehend my cursed duality?
A comedy turned tragedy then unfortunately forced to take the back seat immediately as people barbaricly laugh mockingly at said tragedy, the jokes on me apparently and I've never found it to be very funny
Notice that it both plagues my future and tarnished my history and I'm presently left with presumably only a falsely and improperly placed memory of happy
Remembered as nothing but the worst of me, my eulogy will most certainly read like a roast minus any dose of comedy
If you choose to take this journey and walk the path along side me you're more than likely to come to the same conclusion as me that the powers to be are stingy with the good karma while the bad energy is unnaturally loaded on all *****-nilly in spite of me with little concern for safety
OSHA be ****** apparently, all it takes is the thought of me being a presence in the vicinity of you and your family to make you question both your safety and my sanity at any given moment, occasionally I'll switch it up randomly to avoid the monotony
A painfully pitiful joke that seemingly seems to be getting worse optically, a ****** B movie parody of Steven Kings Misery, all pain, no joy, no money, I mean no interest, I mean no possibility of a remedy
A mocumentary if you will, but the pain is real still and it's going steady, a run on sentence dragged out endlessly through a raging sea of emotionally charged assault and self battery that continually thrash relentlessly all around me
The weight of my world has always been too heavy since all the way back in my infancy, flip to the first couple pages to jog your memory if need be, then take and make a mental note that today I'm pushing 40

******* that's a long time to knowingly be held in captivity,  I've already been through it and the recap still surprisingly hits me hard with a backing of PTSD

Your cross is just a fashion accessory, my cross drags in the dirt behind me and wasn't set properly, shoulders barely able support it and I couldn't transfer the load any
So I grab a penny for each eye, yet another money based payment ritual for the ferry man to finish the last chapter the best he can with mixed in commentary from the peanut gallery that'll ultimately reveal my true identity and destiny hidden in the smoke screen of my twisted personality
The one predicted by the aforementioned conflicting and confusing history, though obviously if you've been following closely at all you've seen the rate of my fall and calculated it's trajectory down to the nth degree
It has always been and will continue to be aimed directly at the fiery lake for all eternity, not much different than where I reside currently so really I'm in no hurry if its more or less going to be the same scenery
I guess if you want to be a **** about it you could probably make the argument that my life played out accordingly, regardless, I'm getting what's owed to me cause I bucked conformity and normality, spit in the face of misplaced authority
Whoa is me? Yeah no, whoa is you buddy, you should worry because the last page doesn't mean end of story necessarily, I'll live on in your thoughts as something far more scary
See, I wouldn't be able hurt you or even touch you physically but I'll guarantee to use my literacy platform to completely destroy your psyche like what was so savagely and aggressively done to me, looking back that's all I see
I've sighted every atrocity three pages from the back glossary if you ever have the need to fact check me, again, feel free but know that my story board is messy, I'm not use to entertaining company
The facts get a little bit more hazy every day and where slapped together haphazardly with no rhyme or reason to what I have too say, not a thread of continuity, and you can go on and forget about decency, that word isn't even in my dictionary
I want to take this opportunity to openly welcome anybody that can hear me to read my diary, I've made it easy and removed the lock and key, humor me and start with my autobiography
Get to know your enemy, you'll find what to use against me personally but also what I'll do to wipe you from my minds eye permanently before you grace the pages of my memory
Take this as a priority mail special delivery type promise inside a threat spread widely through a reputable distribution company
And now, since having the rare opportunity to slowly but fully get to know me just a wee better, you must know then that to doubt me is stupid risky, just facts here, no theory of relativity
May I suggest you completely drop expectations and turn each page carefully, it's not for the faint of heart obviously, don't approach this carelessly or it could consume you entirely, but that's not my responsibility
Erie from the start, so it'd be smart to get ready, it's about to get heavy, prepare yourself mentally, this is the type of gory, all guts no glory underdog revenge ****** mystery story that wouldn't even make late night cable tv
Though it'd truly be funny to slap a PG rating on the first copy just to watch them fully lose their **** and collectively scramble to get said copy pulled indefinitely
Anyway, no movie adaptation in the works, no straight to DVD release party and that's all fine by me, I ain't even angry about it really, okay, maybe I am a little grumpy but that comes with the contemporary territory
Read it, don't read it, buy it legitimately or steal a copy, it's all the same to me, everything you need to know, and some **** you wish you didn't, is right here in the typography
From living righteously to becoming a bully to getting lost in my own hypocrisy, it's all laid out lazily for every single truth seeker and neigh sayer to see
There's nothing left to say anyway so pretty please, once free from the pages, can you finally, quietly but quickly, leave and just let me be me? I'd appreciate it emencly

Alrighty, let's begin shall we.

-Chapter one-

      Our story both begins and ends in the same fashion in that neither needed to happen and the fact that they both did changed nothin', a breath of life wasted on a nobody with nothin' left to offer but what's left of the shattered dignity and pride, otherwise emptiness resides and we'll be taking a look back through pain filled eyes, recounting the rise and fall, the crippling journey and what ultimately triggered this poor man's untimely demise...

©2022
Ian C Prescott Aug 2011
Oh yes
I have known loves many in number and place
I could become complacent and dote on your grace
Or even still the beauty of your flesh

Alas your lips are no more awe striking
As the moss on stilled boulders
Unremarkable like soma drenched kisses
On some listless evening long ago

No you are all unremarkably the same
You pray for the kind lyrics of song
But dear loves your beauty will wither
Will you wail when the lyrics are gone?

So I will not sing of your kisses
Like soft winter sun caressing my sinuous skin
For dear love your beauty has weathered
Yet I still know loves many in number and place

I in my sophomoric splendor saw you as singular
Now as I ponder truly you are no more than
The caress of linoleum
The sunburn from sky light on my back
Or the grains of age on a headboard

Yes I have known love
Numerous yet they are one
“Sing a song for me my dove”
I suppose for you I shall rise like the Son
I built a skyscraper with the wrapping paper, made the windows from mince pies, painted doors with crazy paving and she had eyes for you alone.

'This is your home here',
I dreamed into the ether
there was
no reply.

Then I grew up
built my prisons from the lies,
made my windows shine with
tears and she
had eyes for you alone.
Nico Reznick Dec 2018
I only find out
three years after you died.
So far as I knew, you were still out there,
scamming and scheming,
racking up more debts you’d never pay,
dreaming up your next dodgy deal,
the bonanza you knew was your birthright.  
Three years on, I learn that you’re dead.
I shouldn’t be sad about it.  
The unvarnished truth of it is
you were a bit of a *******:
a con man, a crook;
a lousy business partner, a nightmare debtor,
a negligent father, a faithless husband, 
a bad boss and a shady friend.
You didn't even like Champagne; 
you just liked other people seeing you drink it.
Yeah, you were a *******,
but you were our *******.
Our Fagan, our Black Beard, our
cockney Don Corleone,
lurid legend of the tabloids and consumer shows
with your Montecristo cigars and malapropisms,
your E-types and your excesses,
your bankruptcies, both financial and moral.  
You looked after us.  You took us in.
Any port in a storm,
and those were stormy times,
and - although it came close - we didn’t drown.
Perhaps it’s gratitude, or
misplaced loyalty,
that pinches uncomfortably somewhere inside me,
when I hear about how you went.
It should have been different.
There should have been some last stand,
a blaze of dubious glory, a final reckless burn
as you rode one right off the cliff edge.  
It shouldn’t have been so small, so dismal,
so unremarkably tragic.
Back in the day, I wasn’t even sure you could die;
I figured you’d just move on and start up
some new franchise operation,
reincorporated under a new name, in a new town.  
But when I heard you were dead,
I think what shocked me most
was finding out it wasn’t suicide.
I found out yesterday about the death of an old... friend?  I'm not sure if that's the right term, although I think it was for quite a long time.  He wasn't a good person, and he hurt most of the people who got close to him, but he did take care of my mom and myself at a time when we really didn't have anyone else and he had no obligation to.  Because of all the bridges he'd burned, I only came to learn that he'd died three years after the fact.  I'm not 100% sure how I feel about the news, if you can even call it that, three years late.
A beating heart once broken, shattered to pieces, longing for the pain to subside..
As a years pass, of wandering if she were good enough
if she were the only one to feel misplaced, like there were a place of importance that she had no mindful about
, thinking catches her off guard like the wind ,
an unwanted draft..
That makes her chest cave in from time to time..
wondering if she shall find what was rightfully hers until it was stolen and unremarkably misplaced....
eve Jan 2018
Real words, real thoughts, real references,
What I mention is the truth,
Never to be left questioned or misinterpreted.
The form of performance;
Proper and critique,
I'm forced to sit upright; think straight,
Play pretend with my so called "friends"; act like the person I am.
Disclosed and cold,
Isolated, yet engaged,
A person who unremarkably achieves just anything.
I'm one of the ordinary, but self-expression is considered extraordinary.
I am unremarkable
My being here makes little difference
To more than close family
Yet I am told I could
Be something more than that
That I could run alongside and
Pluck reality from its path but
I am unremarkable
That I am unique and different
Offers no importance to my existence
Nor does it foster pride or courage
Rather it reassures my belief
That alone I am too small
To change anything
I am unremarkable
Yes, I am a minority but
That never made me happy
Nor does it make me interesting
As more than an exhibit
Who am I is not who I choose to be
So judge me on my choice to be
Unremarkably human.
Olivia Kent Jul 2016
Catching clouds in water butts.
To sate the flora in summery heat.
Puddles of words
Spoken and wrote.
The clouds grey, just like smoke.
Scent of the damp as it rolls over ramps.
The sky unremarkably dark.
Tired day.
Crying sleep.
Short moments till the sky will weep.
I believe.
Maybe the black clouds only deceive.
Caress the nightly mantle.
(c)LIVVI
alanie Oct 2024
the stars dance
behind her mask
holding her together
both helpless and unremarkably dull.

she did not ask for this,
but was made that way,
with sorrow unravelling,
complimenting her
like poets do the night sky.
Todd Sommerville Nov 2024
Alone I stand barefoot on a floor of broken glass.
Two doors across the way in front of me.
One door leads to my salvation, the other quite possibly damnation.
Though neither door is marked, it's true they are unremarkably the same
The choice for me remains all too clear.
Smooth glass on the left, sharp and twisted to the right
I take a breath and step upon the path, blood pouring from my feet.
The pain is somehow sweet, for I see the blood of others gone before.
Persistence in spite of pain brings life's greatest gains, and I smile as light floods through the opening door.
I took the path less traveled as old man Frost would surely agree, and that less traveled path has made all the difference in me.
Robert Frost is one of my favorite poets of all time.  This is my far inferior take on his masterpiece, If you have not done so please read The Road Not Taken
fray narte Oct 2021
i feel myself in gradual decay with all these hoarded sorrows: a bad habit i inherited from my mom, embellished with my own kind of crazy, my own kind of lonely. my own kind of wasting away. i am half a sigh away from breaking. i am half a word away from being the next dead poet. how can some things, so small, carry such gravity? how can some things, so unremarkably quiet, carry something as heavy as my weighted skin, something as breakable as my resigned bones?

i have written so many poems; out they flow so heavily. out they flow like liquid lead. yet i remain full. i remain immovable. i remain a contradiction. i feel myself in gradual decay, unrelenting. in place. in the agony of total awareness.

and the air remains heavy — it remains heavy with all of me.
sounds of silence seeping through the shutters
i am sheltered by your blessings
uncover the direction you are leaning into
inspect the floor and dust off the furniture
daily activities fit for a human being

i seethe with anger
at tigers who are guilty
of counting with their paws
streams of discomfort
split through the surroundings
factions of opposition with opposite resistances
defiant and undigested

like lightning they swallow the sky
and out comes the morning
drunken in its radiance
as a purple amphibian
waves you goodbye
move out of the way
of the daylight
you are blocking the rays
from falling on my face

a futuristic landscape awaits you
savoring the sounds and sights
return to the immediate sensations
as perception always wavers
and unremarkably favors
the unforeseen serenity
and dreaminess of yesterday
these soporific sanguines
add sulfur to the saline pools
while you insist on talking cold turkey
our addictions are absolute distractions
operating under the radar of our minds

i am thinking about everything you said
how you wished that you were somewhere else
with your soul strung out upon a ledge
a watchful eye inspects the beautiful bodies
an embarrassing moment
a kiss concealed
a solid hour wasted
serving all the shields
a solid longing
liberated by touch
a purposeful warning about drinking too much
a crush on your babysitter
or a stranger in the raw

words are in favor so please
come and let your heart soar
through clouds of blueberry pie
representations of our libido
and dreams about spies
gardening in the winter time
breaking through the earth
a tiny tomato
is tomorrow’s food
tempered by the truth
the hard earth and snow
the water and the fire
combine down below

to remove the covers of the canvas
the watering cans
the sacks of diamonds
wrapped in burlap
your soul is just as hard
and frozen like **** cherries
i bake them in the oven
a hundred degrees below
you are straight outta Compton
and away we must go
i long to touch your darkness
in romance and repose
a willing participant in the storm below
please ready yourself for diving
into waters of your mind
a poisonous fungi foraged in the wood
and so now where shall we grow
A nascent hodgepodge
     of gobbledygook from me,
or alternatively yours
     nada soo true lee,
this incipient harm
     less bumbling in das scribe
     hubble wordy monster prithee
lee, nonchalantly, and lovingly

     enjoys generating inscrutable mish
     mash vocabulary,
     which vapid unsolicited
     largesse - from this dip see
dude dill ling, jabbering, dee
pull **** rubble casket base,
     and quacking rub bush pre
mere ring this harried

     styled and swiftly tail
     lord gibberish - dee
lib writ lee doth
     write play full lee
to maximize obfuscation, dee
fie interpretation, and que
zook lee (quizzically)
     silently ha...ha...ha

     dis Matt chew wing,
     chuckling, unremarkably
     lamb baa sting king, she
push lee,  dauntingly we
sill lee (weaselly) undermining
     comprehension, whar ye
dear reader feel trapped
     without a turn key

continually sliding into this
old rotten Goth theme be
have (behave) Ural
     sink - as aye blithe lee
undoubtedly matter hoof
     act corroborate with (be
leave me you) this
     "FAKE" sniveling dee

mean nor (demeanor), the least
     bit concerned if ye
unfairly find mine cumber
     some harried style i.e.
spooner than later
     lore or mess free
dissociation, viz parched
     stream of consciousness me

thinks meandering into
     an oxbow lake hee
ping (by Dickens) yar rye
     ha (Uriah), where yar
tried patience probably
     didst syrup pass smoldering rage
     against this may pull leaf tree
cooly le (treacly)

     slap dash helter
     skelter brash poppycock
     bereft, devoid, and fee
bully, sans ex tolling extra help
     pings of gibberish glee
fully - totally tubularly
     gloating how thee
moost experience

     utter frustration re:
garding figuratively wading,
     thru thicket of faux pre
tent shuss verbiage
     omitting even so mooch
     as a fore warning from
     this one percent nee
and dare dearth hull

     (Neanderthal) - as re:
veiled from genetic test
     23andme, an
     endeavor taken by me
eldest sister, - whose
     first name iz a male lee,
Harris - hyphenated with Mug gee
Hen (McGeehan).
LL Feb 8
days — blurry, nights — hazed
time poured in a glass-like stream
unremarkably
02/01/2025
I've been labeled a freak , a hippy an a
"hayseed"
A guitar picker , a second hand musician , a free
spirit in torn blue jeans
Neurotic , dangerous even stoic
A 'stoner' , a drug fueled guinea pig ,
a soldier and a poet  
A 'touched' brother and family member
Father , grandfather , anxious , lost , -
melancholy , ****** up an destined to be unremarkably
remembered
I've worn suits , coveralls , overalls -
uniforms and battle scars
Attended a hardline baptist church , ridiculed religious
organization , studied buddhism plus
everything in between in pursuit of -
my famished spirit
Temporarily snared in wrinkled flesh
Always wondering what lies next*....
November 14 , 2017 by Randolph L Wilson * All Rights Reserved
Saturninus Jul 3
I am in a mood
To wash away with the rain
Entropic and beautiful

Spin out and dissociate
Dust motes in a sunbeam
Leaves in the wind

I am in a mood
To live unremarkably
And dissolve in the sky

— The End —