you do not possess
the gift of gab
i assure you
especially if you are the one
who believes he does
it is not you
with that gift
rather
it is you
whose gab
is my plague
your gift
the gift of syphilis
from a lover
the gift of crabs
from a toilet seat
the gift of blisters
from a new pair of shoes
the gift of nothing
inside a donut
that should be filled
with jelly
your gab
worse than the advances
of an ugly woman
ugly of body
or shit-stained soul
so ugly or course
that no one wants to fuck
for very good reason
you
the one with the gift
of blisters and venereal disease
who calls and invites
then cries
when none of it's accepted
or returned
so please
keep your boring gift
that to me
is a lump of coal
on Christmas
and every other day
keep it
for it is endlessly dull and stupid
and leave me alone
in all the places i try being alone
which is most everywhere
keep it
there's no need of convincing me
that your stupid ways of seeing things
need to be mine
please
convince yourself with as much enthusiasm
as you try convincing me
convince yourself that I don't need it
convince yourself that maybe it's you
who needs convincing
that your ways of seeing things
need to change
thank you
but just because i'm alone
in my house
at the bar
or the theater
or the game
doesn't mean i'm empty
for i'm more likely to feel empty around you
a mouthy display thing
imposing yourself next to me
like a museum piece
of the emptiness that we are
so leave me be
to feel less alone
than with you around
please
just leave me alone
because i need my time
without you
for what am i to you anyway?
some glimmer of hope
that someone will see more in your gab
than the dullness that everyone else feels?
maybe that's it
the reason for much of our separation and estrangements
is the gifted ones
the ones most dull and imposing
who we think
are the standard
for everyone's dullness
maybe it's not us who are so selfish
that we cannot connect
perhaps it's the one
with his odious gift of gab
who steals the pleasure of simple
easy conversation
from the rest of us
by being the jug of rancid milk
that keeps us weary and sniffing
all the other jugs
until we begin to feel comfortable
maybe they don't all need sniffing anymore
until the one
with his gift of gab
comes round
spoiling it all again
stealing our pleasures
with the gab of his politics
god or not god
batting averages
the sunday night movie
wilderness men
the least known signs of arthritis
the most frequently paused movie scenes
the best months to buy a car
which celebrities we've lost this year
and where and when and why
he knows any of it
and why he cares so much
about it all
tiresome and tedious shit
that might be more interesting
even
from one without his gift of gab
one who allows a simple question
to be answered simply
a simple question
returned with a single answer
instead of ten
or a statement deserving a sentence
delivered as such
instead of 3 paragraphs
mostly about nothing
except the boring and useless knowing
inside the mind
of the one gifted with gab
i understand
that it's hard to understand
that the world around us
at any given moment
is filled with things
far more interesting
than you
i understand
that things are hard to understand
with the shit you wish to lay on me
being laid on yourself
without end
as relentlessly as you'd love
laying it on us
relentlessly
and without end
i almost feel sorry for you
for tormenting yourself
in your ways
of wanting to torment
us
but still
leave me alone
and i'll leave you alone
knowing i don't possess the gift either
the true gift of gab
neither spoken nor written
so i'll shut up too
and end it here
mrobins71 