California Beatnik · Poetry · "Do as I say, not as I do"

Poetry Corner

"Do as I say, not as I do"

"Drive safely"
says the Brother
who speeds through curves
at 80 miles an hour
in the rain

"Don't do drugs"
says the Sister
who was hospitalized
for a heroin overdose

"Save yourself for marriage"
says the Mother
who has three children born out of wedlock
and sleeps with her boyfriends

"Don't play your music too loud"
says the Father
who blasts his music
throughout the house

The Child learns from all of them
and has AIDS
but that doesn't matter
because
he dies before 20
in a car accident
that was his fault
because he was high on cocaine

And the music emanating from his car was so loud
he never heard the sirens
on the Ambulance that he hit.