Brenton Booth

A Most Unwanted Sound

I was sitting on the quiet
carriage of the train in
silence looking out the
window at the clear blue
sky and endless passing
suburban homes. A group
of smart-ass teenagers
stomped their way up the
stairs, sniggering at all
us silent content adults.
Immediately talking loud
as possible. With the
shittiest music I ever heard
playing at full volume on
one of their phones. A
thin elderly male passenger
reading a novel asked them
to please keep it down.
"SHUT UP!" the biggest
of the group aggressively
screamed at his shy
terrified face, immediately
becoming even louder.
I cracked the seal on the
longneck of whiskey and
cola I had beside me in a
brown paper bag. Listening
to my own music on
loudspeaker. Iggy Pop,
Jimmy Morrison, Eddie
Vedder, Guns and Roses,
Sex Pistols, Shane Mac-
Gowan, etc. An ageing poet
with large fading tattoos on a
fighters body. Guzzling Wild
Turkey listening to much-
loved familiar tunes. A wry
smile of overwhelming
enjoyment on my tired,
weathered face. The now
seated teenagers continually
looking in my direction in
bitter annoyance and
frustration the rest of the
trip. Learning a hard lesson
all of us adults in the carriage
already learned decades ago:
"NEVER FUCK WITH
YOUR ELDERS!"

 

Barstool Dostoyevsky

He said
he would
like to be
a writer,
but couldn't.
True writers
need to
suffer, live
miserable
lives, like
Fyodor
Dostoyevsky:
that man
was a writer!
He has a
loyal wife,
two children,
owns a
home, car,
boat,
investment
property
in the
suburbs.
Once even
dated that
beautiful,
sexy, short-
haired-blonde
from David
Lynch's best
film. I pat
him on
the back
with water in
my eyes.
Immediately
ordering
a fresh
potent round.
Watching
day turn
to night with
one of
the best.

 

Brenton Booth lives in Sydney, Australia. Poetry of his has appeared in Gargoyle, New York Quarterly, North Dakota Quarterly, Chiron Review, Main Street Rag, Naugatuck River Review, Heavy Feather Review and Nerve Cowboy. He has two full-length collections available from Epic Rites Press.