the poems of george jones
...generation sucks


dealing with a bunch of humans

the trouble, in all likelihood,
between people on earth
and the god(s) we can’t see,
isn’t so much that we believe in him/her/them
but rather that we believe that such a presence
believes
in us.
the difference between
static
and nothing
is
the difference between
static
and nothing.

I once knew a guy in illinois
that I worked with, and sometimes
we went to bars.
but one night while I was out of town
he came around to my apartment
banging on the door, hollering my name
into his cell-phone.
and a neighbor of mine
came downstairs, telling my friend
how she’d wanted
to meet me, but had thus far
failed.
both realizing
I wasn’t coming out, they parted.
but he told me about the incident at work
and the next day I went upstairs (I lived in the basement)
and introduced myself…to her roommate,
this jesus-lovin’ chick
whose car I’d seen
in our parking lot.
I also met the girl who’d wanted to see me,
but she was on the phone…with her fiancée,
who was in iraq (fighting for my Freedom).
despite the involvement of jesus and the war
I was able to make a good impression,
and that exact same night
we all had a drink together,
and I made plans with the second one (the jesus one)
for coffee later in the week.

then the fates interrupted, jesus-girl got
sick.
but lo and behold
I left her a note…to which she didn’t respond.
however, the first one (with or without love of jesus)
came down later in the week and invited me
to a party, which I attended.

the next week I went back for more (beginning to doubt
the existence of the fiancée in iraq)
but there was no party that night, merely
these two frat boys drinking
with the girl.
I joined them.
but I got a very bad vibe from the frat boys
and made an ass of myself.
being asked to leave, I left.

I tried to be a good neighbor and make it up, left
another note offering a drink or something similar.
which was responded to
with a threat of
police action, and signed
by both of them.
I backed off.

and that’s how it lasted…
till the end of the semester,
which is when the jesus-lover moved out,
with the girl with the fiancée
soon to follow…but not before
seeing me in the driveway again,
and sending down her fiancée (who did,
in fact, exist) to see if I could use
anything in their apartment.
it was rather nice.
I didn’t walk out with any of the stuff,
but some of my hope in humanity
was rekindled.
for the time being, the static felt a little
more clear.
(maybe even Jesus smiled.)


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Last updated on
Saturday March 17, 2007