Lolamouse challenged me to write something to my younger self. Okay, but she's not gonna listen!
Even You, Goth Girl
(breaking the news to my younger self)
Nowww . . .
Your hair's its natural color,
and your piercings are all gone.
No need to line your eyes;
you're sporting crow's feet.
And, when someone calls you "mama"
they're not trying to turn you on.
They're just whining
cause they want something to eat.
Can you believe you got so square?
Can you believe you just don't care
about being cool anymore?
I know you planned a wilder life,
a pretty corpse by twenty-five.
But, you just kept on living,
and the living kept getting real.
Forty's come and forty's gone,
and you have everything
you never wanted
when you wanted everything.
Can you believe you got so square?
Can you believe you just don't care
about being cool anymore?
37 comments:
i can relate...i was goth before it was goth...all black and long hair...i still have a mohawk now but hey i guess one day i will grow up...it was never about poularity for me, kinda the opposite..
"you have everything
you never wanted
when you wanted everything." I love those lines. So true.
Oh, yes! I do so relate!! and like ab -- I do love that phrase! So true indeed! Terrific as always, MZ!
Sylvia
I love this! I can completely relate with my teenage daughters...me and my formerly fushia hair, shaved on one side back in the 80's...no longer relevant to my currently un-coolness.
And, when someone calls you "mama"
they're not trying to turn you on.
They're just whining
cause they want something to eat.
There'll always be some black fingernails in there for her somewhere Mz--just like my inner hippie never lets me cut my hair--though gravity has forced me to stop burning my bras.
I enjoyed this immensely. We do mellow as we age. Same person, different ages, different ways of expressing ourselves!
not even *one* piercing?
This says it all:
Forty's come and forty's gone,
and you have everything
you never wanted
when you wanted everything.
The paradox somehow is that I'll wager the speaker is happier now than then -- as if happiness wasn't getting what one wanted but wanting what one got.
I have to say though that the goth may have surfaced, but there's a lot of punk spunk still in their words -- as it should be!
Brendan
...nice capture of real life... loved the transition
We do become more conservative as we realise 'I am not going to die by 25 and, I may actually make it to a grand old age of 45 too, better look after my body'. We begin to see the dangers in doing risky things like going on those heart stopping rides at the carnivals and such because by our 40's we realise, we might just get hurt. LOL But, as with good wine, we get better with age. ;)
Lovely prose. I wear one long dangly earring in one ear and I call it my 'last little bit of being a rebel' Lovely piece again MZ
smiles..enjoyed this...there are just more important things in life than being cool...it took me a while to figure it out though.. can relate to this mz
..But, you just kept on living,
and the living kept getting real... love this
Oh yes! What a wonderful message to that fantastic rebel. I love this line: "you have everything you never wanted when you wanted everything." So true - maybe square is the new cool? :) Great piece.
What an amazing piece on Aging. Thoroughly enjoyed the read, retrospective with a great touch of humor. Great job. Thanks
Ha. Baby Puppy changes much. Not to mention geckkos. K.
NO WAY! i'm bringing round my lost Boys DVD and then we can listen to the Cure and the Bunnymen - while i back comb your hair...:)
lol...I can so relate to this...enjoyed this a lot...
I can relate to this poem. I have to say I like the line about when people call you mamma. LOL. It's true, but, a very good thing.
This would have been the perfect piece for my Free Write Friday on "Write a Letter to your 13 year old self" :) Maybe next time eh? :) Love and applaud the raw honesty! Beautiful!
http://magicinthebackyard.wordpress.com/2011/12/20/polaroids-of-delilah/
Your right, she would never listen. Not until old enough to look back and laugh. Well done.
i love the refrain.
i don't care i'm square...
my kids don't care as much either now that they are over 25. bothered them at 15
Doesn't bother me, as I'm just plaing crazy..haha
I can relate...although I wasn't goth...I was a hippie :) I have decided I don't like square now my kids are grown up...I prefer weird :)
wonderful, tender poem-- very reflective and resonant for me. xxxj
You're not square at all, Mama Z... in fact, I'd wager you're cooler than ever now.
I love this! Growing up is not always what we thought it's going to be. It catches us by surprise how we evolve .
The coolest people are the ones who don't care about being cool.
And this poem is so verrry cool.
Best line: '...Can you believe you just don't care
about being cool anymore?'
I have definitely reached that point.
Loved this! Such a great exercise, so wonderfully realized! Brilliantly written. You rock, Mama
I'm not 40 yet ... but after 10 years of marriage and an upcoming divorce .. Oh yeah I realize that growing up isn't always what I think it would be...
Wonderful write.. :)
Not caring about being cool is, of course, a real indicator of coolness.
Oh my goodness this is good. I don't care I got so square, either. :)
hi mz-- plse return comment. xj
Great prompt she gave you! These are my favorites:
"and you have everything
you never wanted
when you wanted everything"
"pretty corpse by twenty-five"
~Shawna
(rosemarymint.wordpress.com)
I was more of a hippie and my two daughters went through the goth stage...black everything and grape Kool-Aid colored hair partially shaved off. I relished watching them trying to find out who they were/are. Even they are no longer "cool" now...just like me! What a trip...
brilliant insight in this, MZ, and a reality that sounds much better than any wild life! ♥
wishing you and your loved ones the happiest of holidays and hopes that 2012 brings you joy!
Wow, I recognise so much of that, even the corpse - not the "pretty", though, definitely not that!
Very well crafted.
You mean that I can't listen to The Smiths anymore?
Post a Comment