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this may be a bit difficult to understand if you are not familiar with 1) the punk movement, and 2) modern pop culture "punk" music. but the free-form rant is always understood. hahahahaha.

Blank (Generation) Stare

Ah, you lazy punks
diet on pop culture of MTV attitude
you disturb the shit right out of me.
I saw a girl on the bus
torn-up black sweatshirt, the half-ass iron-on
(became a staple-on)
leopard skin something-or-other
multiple-pierced bleached hair
(bleach the mind)
torn jeans, I know your style
retro-metro-too-hard-to-be-hetero
then she puts the cell phone to her ear
and I ask why.
I saw a girl in a line, standing, waiting,
to be served
your fashionable excess of torn and tattered clothes
(probably purchased that way)
studs and duds, love
for patches and Christmas ornaments
you look like a child wrapped you as a gift
and what is it that you want?
Your spiked belach mowhawk in line, bitch
fora fucking coffee, ugh, coffee, probably
mocha-choke-a-crappa-frappa-latte, frothay, double
espresso with vanilla whip cream caramel
you fucking sicken me
Carry your bottled water I hope it tastes rich
you damn labelers of natural resources.

I bet your mother still does your laundry and
gives you an allowance.
I saw a dude decked by colorful name brands
his hair the color of money
his clothes the color of trend
his soul the color of air
his wild atrocities of fashion reeked of his
unattended desires of heroin-addled fame
he doesn't do it, but why not?
He's probably rich enough to afford it, along
with his college education.
Where is the worship of Lou Reed and the
Velvet Underground? I punked you out.
(There's your heroin, boys and girls)
And these Ramones T-shirts you wear, how cruel
you are to forget or deny
they invented nothing
The who? The Who
Rock's most conservative three-chord distorted
oldies rip-off Republicans were the Ramones.
Listen to them all you want, but Sheena,
you'll never be a punk rocker. I punked you out.
You've never heard the name Patti Smith and I
get ill. Go read a book, asshole. I punked you out.
You who worship Kurt Cobain I say you are
as bad as those who worship Christ. I punked
you out.
Take up the Leonard Cohen afterworld,
write a poem using only words you don't know,
look up the words in a dictionary,
then tell me what you think of yourself.
I punked you out.
These Good Charlatans you make my blood boil and
my saliva curdle an froth in rage.
To you who cite Green Day as a major musical
influence you make me feel old and curious as to
why you sound nothing like them. I punked you out.
To you who wear shades of black eye-makeup,
remember... Marc Bolan did it first. I punked
you out.
You are neither a sex nor a pistol, and even
Johnny Rotten's got a few choice words for ya.
If your mouth can't utter the name Pete Townshend
because your vocabulary is scarce, you are
worthless scum. I punked you out.
Your idea of a New York Doll is Avril Lavigne
(and the fact that I have been reduced to
mention her in a poem is disheartening)
AFI, you cheap-looking 1994 Marilyn Manson
rip-off. He is more punk than the nasal in your
throat. He punked you out.
New Found Glory is neither newfound nor glorious.
Just an upheld image image image image image
image image image image of a copy of a
Xerox of a replica of a carbon copy scan of
a stereotypical prototype. I totally just fucking
punked your bitch-ass out.

Where are the losers and scum of society that
are forced to sew and stitch cloth together
in order to stay warm? No bullshit safety-pin
fashion statement.
Where are these nomads? A tribe of Mowhawks
last seen pillaging the '70s with their Kinks
and their Fugs?
What does MC5 mean to you?
How is your relationship with Iggy and the Stooges?
Where is the lashing out against Disco?
You cannot follow a neo-punk movement that
holds strongly its stay on the pop charts when
its great lot in life was to help see its end.
That is my thesis.

Richard Hell rolls in his grave.

T~

I love this line:

you look like a child wrapped you as a gift

It is a bit of a tantrum...but a well worded one

There is a sense of loss or maybe a perceived loss that comes through for me. Old punk vs. New punk? A territorial stance. Posers invading and trying to change the original? A movement always seems to end up a fashion statement. Even when it is counter to the original manifesto....Look at how Hippies were commercialized early on. This also is in direct conflict with what they 'stood for.' Any old fool could don the garb of a those flower power folk and wahlaa, instant hippy. I sort of see 'punk' as the same sort of culture (only a bit more scary, hehe). Those posers do not diminish the things that defined the cultural movement, unless you allow it.

It makes me think of that great CSNY song.....teach your children well...

regards,
Laurie

it's my belief that the punk scene of the late 70s/early 80s began to wan when the ramones became popular. they turned punk into something different than it was meant to be. don't get me wrong, i like the ramones. a lot of my friends listen to them and i own a few albums, but they are not what i consider to be punk. any teenager i see today who dons the punk apparel and says they listen to some of the "punk" artists that rotate stock on mtv, i ask them who they think was the first original punk band, and NONE of them say the velvet underground. i think it truly began there with them. they did so many things that are found prevalent in the punk of the late '70s, when there was a big lashing out against disco, among other societal things. i know there were economically rough times in england when the sex pistols broke out. part of their rage came from that.

yeah, i know what you mean about the fashion thing, comparing it to the hippies. that happens for everything really. even the beatniks got exploited to a degree. i think of donovan right now. hahaha.

but anyway, i know that CSNY song. it's a very good song.

and i don't necessarily think the culture of punk is as prevalent as it once was. in fact, it may very well be dead. what exists today in the name of punk is not what it was ever intended to be. i don't know what you mean by allowing it. i can't tell them to stop dressing the way they do and stop buying their pop "punk" music. or are you suggesting i don't let it really get to me? i don't think these posers are diminishing anything about the old punk. i think they are wrongfully taking its name for their exploitative purpose wealth.

T~

Thanks for your explaining your perspective. It helps put your poem a little more into context for me.

I don't want to come across as preachy or 'knowitall' But...if you have faith in something, in your case it seems you embrace your defination of 'punk' and what it stands for. All you can do is be true to yourself. Those trees are going to keep looking for ways to grow money. Young folks are always going to reach out to something that makes them feel unique and defined...separate from their childhood and especially adults who now appear as they really are, very flawed. So hang onto what you believe and act in form of that belief..and understand, accept that others are carving their own paths too. Don't be so angry, mon! It's all good.

cheers,
Laurie

No kidding, Laurie ~ I'm not dovetailing your compliment to me, regarding your own poem ~ however, this line here

you look like a child wrapped you as a gift

was so instantly a bright, colourful, skewed, lopsided, pieces-missing, contents-still-peeking-through visual for me, that if I'd gotten here first, you'd have come later and read a very similar comment to your own on it.

~ Lizzy

does the sloppy punk image come to your mind when reading that line? haha.

I was able to make the connection, yes, but was delighted with all the directions the image took me. I knew it was a valid usage for what you meant to convey.

thank you.

[quote="Teratogen"]this may be a bit difficult to understand if you are not familiar with 1) the punk movement, and 2) modern pop culture "punk" music. but the free-form rant is always understood. hahahahaha

It's more like an old man sitting on a porch yelling at kids to stay off the lawn. It's way too long and you sound like some elitist and I'd add that it's 20 years late.
I was a punk before you were a punk, so what, the kids are alright.

step:

1) i AM 20 years old
2) i do NOT claim to be punk
3) i am NOT an elitist

i am a wealth of apology if this information doesn't fit your holy judgment of me.