liberty’s light will lead us there, libraries gave us power

liberty’s light will lead us there, libraries gave us power
elongate the environ of the emblem of they who shall be emancipated
pishhead magnetism combines us, their yolk won’t define us
(con)serve – not conscripted infantry but torpid flabby midgetry
superiors drink-sodden day-to-day erudite popinjays
oh god this ship is sinking fast, just hope we make the buddha last

i was lying there face down with my arse in the air getting my forearm tattooed. for several hours. i came up with quite a few lines in that session. i often turn my mind to poetry when i am suffering.

physical pain. the pain of boredom. emotional turmoil. these are the big beautiful building blocks of the poetry of n.n. benn.

in this section we have (another) reference to the manic street preachers (libraries gave us power) which set me off on a bit of a charge. i started thinking about christopher hitchens – who was famously called a ‘drink sodden ex-trotskyite popinjay’ by george galloway during an argument about the iraq war. i’m not a fan of galloway, but that was a good line.

my loyalties are very much with the drink sodden popinjays of the world. by and large, it’s well spoken men in tailored suits who cause the world’s wars and hardship. if we all just concentrated on getting pished and having fun, the world would be a better place.