Punk Rock Poetry Corner: The People's Haikus #3: Shootout At The Dream Factory

<TAKE I: THE INDUSTRY>

Note to authors: want

Royalties? Go see the queen

of England, not me.

Celebrity book
deals reign supreme: it's a small world,

dude, who needs you?

First novel doesn't
sell? Better luck next time, kid.
Show us your platform!

Your cupboard feeling

cold & clammy? Better talk with

my assistant, friend:

Hey, I'm your agent!
I meant what I said (at the

time that I said it).

 

<TAKE II: THE TALENT>

"Wait a minute," I

demand, "not so fast...sure, cream

rises. So does crap."

On the horizon,

I smell puffs of mutiny,

DIY cries ringing free

Spreading our stories

via the blog or handheld

reader (making us 

all town criers (no

longer selling works for hire,

always & forever):

this deal sounds better:

high time for a shootout at

...the dream factory.

<TAKE III: THE OUTCOME>

So where's the grapeshot?

The whiff of gunpowder has

never smelled sweeter

than it does here &

so, forgive me, if I want

the taste in my mouth

to linger just a

little bit longer, since cream

rises (remember)?

                          <The Reckoner>

Punk Rock Poetry Corner: The People's Haikus #2: (For Freelancers & Journalists)

Newspapers folding
At dizzying speeds: have empire,
must now work for food.

I spent 20 years
reheating meals, losing sleep:
I lost my job anyway.

Fend for yourself now
Amid the wreckage: no prospects,
hell...no benefits.

Dear Freelancer: your

pay is due for an increase (when

Hell freezes over).

What is the essence

of a correspondent?

Rhymes with..."despondent."

Shareholders swarm

like locusts, leaving nothing

but dreams in pieces.

As newsrooms topple

Like dominoes nationwide,

one thought has struck me:

Here is our downfall,

In 25 words or less...we

missed so many hints.

• The Reckoner

Punk Rock Poetry Corner: The People's Haikus

Congressman Scrooge: run

that "Surplus Population 

Joke" by me once more.

Scrooge replies: people

suck up to you around here...

God, I love this place!

Great Elevator

Speech...you're over 40?

We hired someone else.

Take a pay cut, grin

through your boss's jokes..ah, Stockholm

Syndrome in Action.

Executive Blues

skimming paychecks is hard work...

tax exile awaits.

A conspiracy

of stocks speaks louder than guns

drop the greenmail bombs.

Your pension blows up,

you won't work till you drop?

only when pigs fly.

My dreams ran aground:

this scratch off ticket netted

me...only 5 bucks.

Lobbying: my way 

of saying..."It's return

on investment time."

The poor grow poorer,

because...you cannot feast on 

air and promises.

Class warfare, you say?

true enough: why rock your boat

when I can sink it?

Hey Mr. Banker:

Remember...As long as I breathe,

my hope burns bright!

-----The Reckoner