Motion by Eric Sparks

I’m the tortured genius type;
Hunter Thompson look-a-like, minus the convertible
and dikes. I’m just Sherman Alexie without his history;
I’m a Ken Kesey but I’m missing the mystery. I write
fanciful myths about the kids who never want to grow old;
about the little bastards who did as they were told, but still let
their hearts grow bold and never sold out to the criticisms
of the devil.

My people swallow drugs, but they don’t have hollow chests.

As if we were different from you, we always try our best,
even though it looks different to you. Now we’ve already called your bluff;
and we’ve had more than enough with this foolish fucking claim that life is a test.

Don’t you see?

It’s more like a quest.

Remember.

There’s no such thing as blessed.

There’s only failure and success

and when the yellow sun sets,
only you get to decide.    

Those Dumb Fuckers Told Me by Eric Sparks

That pain causes growth; that suffering is experience,
but man I didn’t believe that shit, and you can believe that I never will.
I don’t mean to say that suffering doesn’t strengthen the soul, but
just because torture increases our tolerance for pain,
doesn’t mean I plan to hang myself from the thumbs.

Shit, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” is just something for ignorant
parents and other authoritative figures to say, when they either don’t care
or can’t fix that pain that plagues their loved ones.

Personally, in a bad situation, I’d rather hear my father say, “Eric,
sometimes life fucks us up; sometimes it grabs us by the throat and we think it will never let go. And sometimes it stops, and sometimes it doesn’t.”

See at least that seems like the truth, instead of me and everybody
that loves me pretending I’m Jesus because I managed to get myself
drug addicted, and a few months later, un-drug addicted.

Pain should be avoided; emotional, physical, even sexual probably.
And we, as a species, should never make nor cancel decisions,
using our fear as a rationale. But we, as a species, should never let ourselves
be hurt, just because it sounds poetic.