ODE TO '79 (12" remix)

By sneak

Mon, 13 Sep 2004

998 reads

A P h o b i c P o e t P o s t . . .

An explanation -

I trawled the net a few months back for a web-site everyone has been
raving on about called 'Friends re-unite dot com?'
I'd recently been contacted by an old(ish) ex 'friend' of mine from
school days and we agreed to meet. I'm glad to say he looked well
fucked. But that's just me being a bitch. The thing that really pissed
me off was his reason for getting in touch. Within minutes he was
telling me that he had split from his wife that very week. How
convenient, I thought. He had lost all contact with past 'friends' and
basically needed someone to go out on the town with. He mentioned
'Friends reunite....' and it got me thinking of how I could piss people
like him off. I checked the site and found that quite a few of my ex
class mates had signed up. I decided to post under a false name. I
chose the name of a pop star who was big at the time here in England.
My plan was simple. I'd post a poem that didn't portray the past as all
rose tinted, cosy and false. I would portray it in all it's honest
black and white stark brutality. I dare say that most of it would go
over their simple minds. There are many references that would mean
nothing to most people. You kind of had to be there. Having said that,
I got my first reply today. A girl named Sheri who I can't remember at
all. What follows is my reply to her (This should stop her posting
again). I've also included the poem 'Ode to '79' This wasn't the year I
left High school. It's just a year I hold dear for various reasons.
I've rambled enough and I doubt your interest is holding? I've come up
with absolutely no new poetry this weekend (blame the World cup) so
this is my excuse for re-posting an oldie. I'll let you know if Sheri
replies. I've added the 'Phobic Poet' disscusion link to the mail I
sent her. With a bit of luck she'll join us and we can suck the very
life out of her....

Her message -

Re.

The message is as follows:-

Hey Man

Heavy stuff! Are you the real Gary Numan?

Sheri

My reply -

Hey Sheri,
Don't ever remember anyone named Sheri? But so what, I try not to
remember too much about the past. It's history and most of it was
shyte, so why dig it up? You're the first person to post me from
'Friends' Well done. How does it feel? To treat me like you do. When
you lay your hands upon me. And tell me who you are.... Sorry, I go off
on tangents sometimes. Still, It's better than following straight lines
isn't it? Are ya worried yet? Thinking maybe you've posted some psycho?
Fear not my Sheri amour....
Sorry. Damn tangents. We are so fragile Sheri, yet here we are. So many
years on and still breathing. Can ya believe that? I took a walk in the
park today where I was told that the man in grey hung out. I never saw
him. I never do. And the world turns and so do we. 3 - 0 apparently.
Just another number. Always last in games. Always the last person to
get chosen. Nothing ever changes, I really wouldn't expect it to. And
what of you? Are you class of '83? That fateful year that marked the
beginning of the end? Spewed into reality without so much as an
instruction manual. I get vibrations. Aren't I the lucky one? You're
not class of '83. You're in a class of your own and that's where you're
staying. A dysfunctional detainee that only functions out of
politeness. We breath therefore we are. We live a mundane existence,
therefore we belong? 'We are really so shy. There's nothing I can do
but to believe in you...' Are 'friends' electric? Am I Gary Numan? If
only I were. Thank a fake god for fake plastic hero's. And time is
against us all. And I'm still ticking... ticking like a bomb. Friends
re-unite dot co dot never. Forever nothing, no one, gone.
Is this what you expected? Are you still here? Still reading the
ramblings of a mind gone wrong. A certified no one in search of
nothing. A reason for decay in the modern world. She's so modern, she's
so twenty first century....

God, I do go on. Thanks for posting, whoever you are. Give me a clue,
give me a year, give me a meaning. Are you scarred? How did you
survive? What lessons did you learn and would you ever go back? Meet me
down in the park, where the dying play 'Kill by numbers' And we can
dance... for inspiration. See what I mean? On and on and on and
on...... And still the clock ticks. Did I mention time? How long has it
been? How many hours have passed since your eyes caught mine? Are we
real or are we cyber? Perhaps we'll never know. Then again..... perhaps
we will.

Sneak Technique.

The 'Poem'

'FRIENDS'
ODE TO '79
1979 to 1983
R.I.P (Rest in the past).
sneak

From Sony walkman to VHS.
From Punk to Mod and back.
A new romantic era.
Where even white was black.
Thatcher taught us selfishness.
Space invaders ruled.
We had the future all sewn up.
The future had us fooled.
Unemployment, wasted youth.
Three million count the cost.
The rise of teenage suicide.
When Maggie won - we lost.
A town called Malice. We are glass.
Prince Charming. Fade to grey.
Our hero's locked in rehab -
fight ageing mind decay.
Lennon shot. Falklands war.
A royal wedding joke.
NASA launch the space shuttle.
Billions up in smoke.
World war three? State 51
'A special relationship'
The nuclear fall-out family.
Adrenaline on drip.
Specially adapted retinas.
Rose coloured contact lens.
Nineteen seventy never.
Discharged electric 'friends'