Poem #1 (Point A)
Elliott Smith
Point A didn't work out, so we moved on to point B
Which was where everybody was hanging out anyways
At first there was a lot of talk about point C
And some speculation about D, and the points after that
But as time went by at point B
This kind of talk made everybody annoyed
I mean, point A hadn't worked out for anyone
Except for a couple folks in the past
And they just receded immediately to point C, supposedly
Actually for most people at point B
If you could gain their confidence
They'd practically scraped out A's existence
The more time that passed at point B
More suspect even the idea of point A became
Not just for us, but really for anyone
Including those people who left
So we trashed point A because it worked great wonders for us
In consoling ourselves about the fact that point B
Had begun to look increasingly like a permanent home for us
So there were a few ladies around, dreamer types
Who refused to cop to point B
And suddenly insisted on this possibility
As well as C, D, E and on out to Z
But this made everybody feel bad, you know
Like they were lacking, or failing
So it was tacitly agreed upon that these people were just crazy
And since they wouldn't pledge their allegiance to point B
It was hard to accommodate them
But some usefuls eventually made a bit
Which didn't pay well
But seemed to appease them
And amuse the rest of us for a while
Until the bulk of them developed dehabilitating addictions
And died off
Then we were sad
But not overly so, and not for too long
Because it was these addictions that did them in
Not point B, not us
I mean, christ, we gave them what they wanted
Which was condescending applause for their little dances and songs
Pictures and skits, humorous memoirs
Filled with melodramatic and ridiculous nonsense
All about points A and C
Which, come on, you know it's useless
If you live in the real world
Shit, I couldn't get anything done anyways
Because people are always calling me on the telephone
Saying, "We love you Jesse, we love you Joseph
We love you Helmet, we love you Draco
We love you Tricky Dick, we love you Lawn, Ron
And even Dan, even though you can't spell for shit
But we don't love you
Despite the fact that you have no vision
But because you don't and we don't either"
I could barely keep my own campaign going
With all the freaks and distractions from point B
Much less drum up some interest about other people's crap
In other people's places
You can't live in a castle made out of sand unless it's got a sand bank
That dispenses actual paper currency
I mean, the point is we live here, in the middle, point B
So get with the fucking program
Sure you might ask, "What is the program?"
And I won't really be able to tell you
But I will really be able to rent it
And that's good enough for me, because that's the way things are
Point A, point C, D, T, O, N, A, T, O, B
TONATOB
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