FLIPPERSMACK 006 -- SPECIAL POETRY ISSUE culturemag for a penguin generation http://www.flippersmack.com random thoughts by pinguino In about half an hour, I will be 23. I've been reflective about a lot of things lately; there have been a lot of crazy changes in my life, for the good and bad. Many rounds of the "what if" game have floated through my head, swirlings of regrets and memories of happy times in the past. The last few weeks have been chaotic, and I deeply apologize for the lack of Flippersmack. To make up for it, we proudly present the SPECIAL POETRY EDITION of Flippersmack! YAY! Penguin Palace is definately considering publishing a poetry book featuring the works of monk, slapayoda, and myself, sometime this year. Featured Poets : pinguino pinguino@comicartist.com monk monkstah@hotmail.com slapayoda slapayoda@yahoo.com I hope that you enjoy this issue, and we'll be back next week with more music reviews, interviews, and cultureshock articles! love to penguins! -pinguino x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x rented videotapes by monk you left me before i had the chance to say hello died in May after the showers had come. you spoke and spoke and spoke over and over again before you died, and i had chances to see you in person but not i only have rented videotapes to remind me of Howl you let it all out, holding nothing back, hiding no secrets within your pant legs. now you have Whitman to kiss in bed, to fondle and caress as he would have done if you were around in his lifetime. no nosy reporters or anal critics to demean meanings that have no meanings, no lovers to leave the next morning for fear of attachment unwanted, no old age to be concerned about day after day after day after night, & no would-be poets troubling you with poems about or inspired by you, for you don't have to listen anymore. so worry yourself about us none for we will worry for you and i'd like to say goodbye to you but you won't hear me; Keroauc won't shut up, so i'll whisper it silently and maybe the wind will carry, goodbye speaker of all my thoughts, goodbye lover of love collectively forbidden, goodbye dreamer of dreams forgotten, goobye mind, goobye poet, goobye Beat Generation, goodbye. x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x Coulda Woulda Shoulda? by pinguino Sometimes I wonder of what could have been Then, I remember that I live in the now. I can't wait for loose ends to be wrapped I can only hope that every once in a while my name will cross your path and I'll see you smile. I want to live in multiple cities across the world. I want to share my life with different people. I see potential where others see hopelessness. Is there a fate, a path I'm supposed to take? Or should I venture where my smiling heart leads? What would I be like as a college grad With an executive job, two kids, and a minivan? Perhaps if I took a stand and shed my fears I would be ahead of my goals, unlike my peers. World domination a grasp away, within my sight. Sometimes I wonder of what could have been Then, I remember that I live in the now. I can't wait for loose ends to be wrapped I can only hope that every once in a while my name will cross your path and I'll see you smile. x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x words. by monk i remember hearing you tell me months ago that i would never be anything. it's amazing how little you really knew. it seems three months can end in ten minutes, sometimes five if the phone disconnects. this time it's different. my hair is blonde. short. my arm is wearing my heart. blackened with red around the edges. not that you care. you walked away before i could bleed for you. troubled times, past nights on coffee. talking over sugar caddies. watching our voices cross smoke streams from menthols. the days before armaggedon drew near. you forget words. out one ear. never remember when you yelled. screamed. ranted and raved about how i would never amount. i recall those words. they rang out like shots. piercing. stabbing. leaving holes the size of tunnels in my sides. i remember seeing you years later when i amounted to so much more than you thought. it's amazing how we change so much. i never would have recognized you behind that window. with that hat on. asking. needing. wanting me. to supersize that. i guess words never meant much to you anyway. x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x Disjointed by pinguino The clouds part as I walk across the cold marbled tile. Whenever trouble comes around i gravitate to embrace it. Silky water droplets cascade through my dead numb fingers. Overpowering actions silence my balance of peace and anger. i forget how to talk. I stop to bask in the sun, the warmth bubbles within. The nighttime owl induces paranoia and distance to play. Please keep me away from myself. x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x Unseen by pinguino In the coldest darkest night Unexpectedly, you were there for me. A world's shadow too dark to bear, You reached in to pull me out. When my thoughts wander to you I stop to reflect, and smile. I admire things you do and say. Full of life, you stand strong In this cold plastic-wrapped world. Tumbling ocean blue eyes gaze deep- They say so much in a silent room. x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x in the open by monk i'm tired of sitting and watching you bleed from drunken lies and your shattered dreams with blisters on feet from walking too long romanticising about nothing being wrong i saw you collapse from being sheltered and frozen searching for boys who look like other boys only lower the chance of you being enjoyed there's only so many sweaters and tight blue jeans to remind you of those that you've already seen selective memory is not a good thing to have chosen and finger and toes laced into your clothes with hair on your head touching hair on my skin remind of the 1st time, that i was broken i saw you search through these cardboard streets for someone who could sweep you away from defeat and give onto you as you onto him with open arms and your lips onto his your forgetting your wish is what i wish for instead and finger and toes laced into your clothes with hair on your head touching hair on my skin remind of the 1st time, that i was broken i'm in the open i was so broken. i'm in the open. x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x above by slapayoda it happened like a dream where ideas float from one to the next with no sense at all a short time ago i was walking alone in a dark land a beautiful sprite flew past next we were soaring over it all dodging brightly colored clouds smiling and laughing as we disappeared into the glowing horizon x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x Lioness Waiting by Pinguino Treading gently across the rockish brush, Trying to resist the overwhealming urge To protect and hide the titan I love, From mistakes and mishaps of old; The relentless ghosts in the shadows. But even I cannot seal my bubbling heart, My eyes reveal a newfound love in my life. Kindred souls reach to taste my happiness and shelter it from the weathering of time. One can hope that it lasts forever but, the antagonist always has a part in the play.