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Hey,
Seems like this always ends up happening, but another summer has come and gone. This one has been busier then most, as I finally got another job. I professionally watch TV at The Nielsen Company, which is a good gig when I'm not watching Dr. Phil or ABC News (serriously, I can't believe how bad it is. No wonder The Daily Show gets all the ratings.) Anyway, with all the goings on of working, catching up on games, and watching Netflix (just started Mad Men, good stuff) I neglected my writing per usual. So I decided to dig up something I meant to post a while back and put it up. Wrote it for a poetry class, the first thing I wrote for it actually. Probably ended up being the best thing I wrote as well. Please enjoy it, especially all you old and grizzled patrons out there, and (to borrow a phrase) Watch This Space in the future, as the college semester usually jostles some brain cells and gets me creative again. Maybe some of that will end up here.
That Pink Mist/Duty Calls
Four couches lined together in front of impossibly old televisions
Teenagers staring onward as if they were hypnotized
A concession stand with a strange combination of action figures and edible goods
Posters of Ninja Turtles and Bruce Lee plastered on every wall
The room smelled like the 80s
Leather chairs in front of huge HDTVs
Gamers with headphones screaming commands at their friends
A concession stand with overpriced candy bars and soda
Clean walls with neon lighting
The room smelled like an air freshener
The man behind the counter inquired to my origins
I said I had phoned earlier, my voice quaking like a poor man on a job interview
We shared a laugh at my mother’s conversational skills
He gave me a controller and called for the games to begin
I sat down and grinned, I had never done this before
The man behind the counter blurted out his welcome speech
I had filled out paperwork earlier, he handed me a badge
I pinned it to my lanyard as he turned back to his magazine
I sat down to play a game
As I had done so many times before
At once, the room was filled with the sounds of pop beats and female singers
Another instant, and on the screens the timers counted down
With every second, my inner child was gasping his last breath
With every moment, my thoughts and feelings barrelled towards their death
When it hit zero, I was in heaven
The room was filled with AutoTune and record scratches
I plugged in and the game began
Every second my numb senses try to react
Every moment, my mind empty but for a map layout
When the game ended, I ached for more
Before I was Blank, drifting in a sea of stares, never looking back
I was alone among my peers, so desperate for affection I spurned it
No one before had ever taught me the value of ignorance
And somewhere, in between the bullets and explosions,
I learned how to function
During the game, I was Blank, earning my recognition
My peers and I were on top, beloved by fans and sponsors alike
Ignorant to all who oppose me
And when there aren’t bullets and explosions
I can’t function
All Because of that Pink Mist
Duty Calls
-Pudge
