RANT - WWE/TNA

Firstly a round of applause for Dixie Carter, for re-igniting the Monday Night Wars. Of course in reality it is not quite the same, this time she does not have the weight and pocketbook of Ted Turner behind her, but then again Carter isn’t just some two-bit hick with ten dollars and a dream, they don’t let you film in Universal Studios, Florida, if you’re down to the last ten million…
There are so many ways of looking at it, but what most Internet Marks seem to be forgetting is just the thrilling aspect of it, from a fan’s point of you. Now instead of one excellent wrestling company to follow, you have two. Don’t be taken in by the David vs Goliath aspect either, remember that Vince McMahon already hurled a stone in the eye of the giants of the industry when he broke up the territory system and took wrestling nationwide back in the day. That, they said, could not be done.
Still, there cannot have been a wrestling fan alive that wasn’t excited on January 4th when TNA Impact! Squared off against RAW. On Vince’s show, you had the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be, Bret Hart and on Impact!, the biggest wrestler of all time (you can argue all you like for the like of Harley Race or Bruno Sammartino, but they never had breakfast cereals or Saturday morning cartoons…) Hollywood Hulk Hogan. However the war ends up, the fans have already won. If you’re tired of Vince (I have a lot of respect for the McMahons and think they can do no wrong. Aside from Rikishi. And Hornswoggle. And The Kiss My Ass Club. And Eugene.) then you finally have a viable alternative. From another side, you have a group of wrestlers that Vince made stars, now all in one place and fighting for position. Perhaps the most important thing for Impact! wasn’t the arrival of Hogan but the appearance of Jeff Hardy on the same show, a wrestler still very much at the top of his game.
Also Hogan is very much just the Trojan Horse in this situation, it’s Eric Bischoff who has the talent and vision to jump from the shadows and make or break TNA Wrestling. Vince knows this of course, that’s why he swallowed his pride following the war with WCW and brought Bischoff onto the team…
So forget your Internet bitching and let’s sit back and enjoy a great time to be a wrestling fan, even if Hogan-Hall-Nash may be, how shall we put it, a little long in the tooth.

POEM - 'Snowflakes On The Lagerstrasse'

SNOWFLAKES ON THE LAGERSTRASSE
AN IMPOSSIBLE BEAUTY MASKING SUFFERING.
IN ANOTHER TIME AND PLACE
THE SNOW COVERED TREES WOULD BECKON CHILDREN.
HERE THEY STAND IN FROZEN SOLITUDE.
THERE ARE NO FOOTPRINTS IN THE SNOW
NO ONE WANDERS HERE
NO CAROLS SHATTER THE SILENCE
NO LAUGHTER PENETRATES THE PREGNANT AIR.
DON'T WALK TOWARDS THE FIRE TO WARM YOURSELF
DON'T IMAGINE SANTA DESCENDING THE CHIMNEYS
THEY BELLOW ONLY THE ASHES OF THE DEAD
MIXING SICKLY WITH THE FALLING FLAKES.
A WINTER COAT IS A PORNOGRAPHIC DREAM
A TASTE OF FOOD AN OBSCENE LUXURY.
YOU'RE NOT BEING LED TO THE GROTTOS
DREAMS ARE NOW CREAKING TOMBS.
NO MERRY CHRISTMAS
AND INTO THE SHOWERS...

POEM - 'Capital'

A PRISONER ALONE
STARING AT THE SUN THROUGH BLEEDING EYES.
CRUCIFIED SUPERFICIALITY.
SEVERED TIES WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD
COVERING HIS FACE WITH DIRT
OR IS IT THE ASHES OF THE DEAD?
LATER, COWERING AND HELPLESS
AN EMPTY VESSEL OF SOLITUDE
A MULTITUDE OF TWISTED NERVES.
HEARTBEAT QUICKENS
IT'S TOO LATE TO GET OFF THE RIDE.
HOLD ON TIGHT
DEEPER BREATHS
AND YOU START TO SMOULDER.
FEATURES BURN
THERE'S NO NOISE
JUST THE SMELL OF BRAISED FLESH.
ONE FINAL BURST
AND THE APPLAUSE STARTS UP IN THE GALLERY.

POEM - 'Tinysmall Of The Sea'

I BUILT MYSELF A PIRATE SHIP
OUT OF FRIENDS JUST LIKE ME
A MILLION HAPPY MATCHSTICK BOYS
SETTING OUT ON THE SEA.
WE GLIDED OUT, THE MOON SHONE DOWN
THE WATERS RUNNING DEEP
ALL MY WORK HAD MADE ME TIRED
AND I SOON FELL ASLEEP.
I WOKE UP TO THE SOUND OF SHOUTS
COMING FROM THE BOAT
SOME FRIENDS HAD LEFT THEIR HULL SPACE
WE WERE NO LONGER AFLOAT!
I DRIFTED FOR A MILE OR TWO
A DOG WITHOUT A BONE
I LOOKED AROUND WITH SALTY EYES
AND SAW I WAS ALONE.
REAQUAINTED WITH PAST LUCK
AS I SPED ROUND THE BENDS
I LOOKED AROUND AND SAW THEM ALL
EVERY ONE OF MY FRIENDS.
WE SHOUTED TO EACH OTHER
WE HELD HANDS AND WE LAUGHED
WE PUT OUR HEADS TOGETHER
AND SOON WE FORMED A RAFT.
THEN WE QUICKLY CRAVED THE LAND
HAPPY SAILORS NO MORE
A STICK NEVER FELT SO RELIEVED
AS WHEN I TOUCHED THE SHORE!

POEM - 'The Ballad Of Tinysmall'

I'M THE MADE OF MATCHSTICKS BOY
JUST TRYING TO BE GOOD
IT'S DIFFICULT TO KNOW YOUR PLACE
WHEN YOU ARE MADE OF WOOD.
I SIT AND WATCH THE SUN COME UP
KISSING GOODBYE TO DARK
I TRY TO DANCE INTO THE LIGHT
BUT IT JUST HURTS MY BARK.
SOMETIMES I LAY DOWN IN THE SEA
IMAGINE I'M A BOAT
JUST SAILING DOWN THE AQUA PLAIN
I SHIMMER AND I FLOAT.
IN SUMMER, GARDENS BECKON ME
I CUDDLE BUTTERCUPS
SOMETIMES THE DOGS THEN BARK AT ME
THEN GROWL AND PICK ME UP.
IN WINTER, WHITE PAINTS ALL THE EARTH
ICE PALACES, ALL FROZE
THE CHILDREN MAKE A GRAND SNOWMAN
AND USE ME FOR ITS NOSE.
AS CHRISTMAS DRIFTS INTO MY VIEW
MY WORLD BECOMES A WHIRL
THE ONLY THING THAT'S ON MY LIST?
A MADE OF MATCHSTICKS GIRL.

POEM - 'Nightwatch'

THE COLD AIR HITS MY EQUALLY COLD STARE
WATCHING THE UGLY COUPLE WHO DON'T SEE ME THERE.
SHE BERATES HIM FOR SOME COMMENT ABOUT SOME FORGOTTEN PIN UP
HE FIRES BACK ABOUT HER SQUEAKY VOICE
GRATING A HALF DRUNK REMEMBRANCE.
SHE PLAYFULLY TAPS HIS ARM
HE WATCHES A PASSING TEEN BRUSH HAIR FROM HER FACE.
THE WOMAN SIGHS AND GOES BACK TO BERATING
THE MAN IS CHECKING HIS WATCH AND DOING HIS BEST TO LOOK OBLIVIOUS.

I'M ON HIM LIKE A SHOT
SLASHING HIS THROAT JUST TO WATCH HIS EXPRESSION CHANGE.
THE GIRL'S HANDS COME UP TO HER MOUTH
A SCREAMING PIGGY STAGGERING BACKWARDS.
SHE'S SOON MUTED BY MY SUDDEN MOVEMENT
HER HEAD LEAVES HER BODY AND I KICK IT AWAY.
NO MORE ARGUMENTS
NO MORE TRIVIA
JUST TWO BROKEN BODIES
UNDER A CANVAS READING 'LOVE=WAR'
DAUBED IN THEIR AWIFTLY COOLING BLOOD.
I FEEL MUCH BETTER.

A SHOT, A BEER, A CIGARETTE, REAPPLY LIPSTICK AND THEN HOME.
A DREAMLESS SLEEP.

POEM - 'No'

FRAGILITY THROUGH STERILITY
DON'T COUGH ON THE BABY
YOU'LL PASS ON YOUR GERMS
GERMS FROM THE STREETS
GERMS FROM THE FOIL.
GERMS FROM YOUR COLD TARRED HEART.
THE HANDS ON THE CLOCK MELT
TIME IS THE SHATTERED LUXURY OF YOUTH.
BUG POWDER DUST
YOUR BITCH MISTRESS ISN'T HUMAN
I CAN NEVER COMPETE WITH THE INJECTED PLEASURES
A CUCKOLDED WHORE IN VIRGINAL WHITE
WHILST THE OTHER FUCKS RED IN THE ORGIASTIC VIAL.
YOUR FINGERPRINTS ON THE NEEDLE
MY FINGERPRINTS ON THE TRIGGER.
SOMETIMES DEAD IS BETTER
NO POINT IN BEING HALF A PERSON.
THE HALF ON THE GROUND
THEN IN THE GROUND
AS YOU FLY ALONE, ABOVE, AS LOVE.