the best of zane

five poems that define me as a writer

 

why our school system is stuck in the 1600s

by zane friedkin

 

you see

in table tennis we develop

speed glue

that you can get

high on

but we still stroke

the same strokes

as fifty years ago

because the chinese keep teaching that

the stomach is more powerful than the

arm

and the russians always disagree

and i guess

the western world

has all

ways been ruled by

rich

white

religious

males and

when washington tried those first shoes on

he knew they weren't shiny

but he didn't see them not fitting

 

and the best poem i've ever written

i wrote in third grade.

 

 

1606

by zane friedkin

 

 

i can't get a straight answer

out of anyone

some say

an hour

some say

all his life

and that woman

that one over there

you know, the old creek lady with a ping pong paddle in her hand

she says he's been hanging there

there, on the thirteenth floor of the bank

she says he's been hanging there for

four hundred and three years.

 

Intention - This poem didn't appear out of no where.  I knew I  really wanted to exemplify my economic beliefs and how we're drowning in a society that places profit above people.  It's as if we're all hanging by our very fingertips from the thirteenth floor of a bank, and I guess this entire dilema was first initiated when we first stepped foot in Jamestown in 1606, for it was then that real social mobility was first apparent and people were infested with this overruling desire for money and power.  I think most students of 704 will recognize this reference - god, gold, and glory.

 

 

pre-packaged exported food

by zane friedkin

 

wang hao

seldom peaks out of her

microscopic burrow except perhaps once

on newyorktimes.com

 

never onces of the big stage, but

possibly indirectly via her girls -

25 + 2600

much like austin -

no gameplay and all form.

 

it's just

not with it any longer

 - even with wally green on the cyberstage

in america,

there is no money in kickass serves and huge loops.

 

in america,

with more choice

comes less variety.

 

it's been ages since

ernesto and gao didn't both make it to the finals

since gao didn't last ernesto out

 

since ernesto didn't stride in with ease

only to end up hurling his paddle -

tears dripping wet from his sweaty hand.

 

ernesto is a baby.

 

perhaps gao would be too

if wang hao didn't take pleasure in staying cooped up in her microscopic burrow

or, rather, if she didn't attempt convincing herself she does.

 

in juniors,

austin wang is the newbie.

arvis chen is the baby.

they treat number seven with some sort of

overruling respect, even

when they beat my pants off.

 

in juniors,

probie gets first.

baby second with

a truckload full of luck.

 

somehow, something as intangible

as luck can be attained via

consistent training.

 

 

the boy who cried wolf

by zane friedkin

 

the snake black

conservasharp

silver blade

performs plastic

or maybe

snake black silver

surgery on everyone

on TV.

 

but i guess things got a bit out of hand

and proportion

when in gaining access to the

operating room

the snakes with the

conservasharp

black silver blades

stabbed the fox

and dragged him around so he

howled

every second and scared the

blue

letters

away.

 

 

basic rules Of grammar

by zane friedkin

 

first there was

plan on it with

goldfish swimming in circles and

always hitting the glass but

making conversation all the same and

the funny thing is that fish live so

long in water that they don't realize

they're in it and

 

then there was me and the doc

reaching beyond city limits with

basketball occupying the file manager

and coffee the boiler room and a book

of matches showgroups.php

 

and then there was a good bit of vision

with intoxicated comments in everywherechat

the basketball courts growing in area

and the passes growing in length and power

and no more coffee but

brewed kick ass themes and

 

then most of it was stolen by

the resident metropolis and its water cooler

 

but i guess there's a bit of

everything

including realchat

plus joomla with an exclamation point

in the bunny

 

Intention - I don't think it would be fair to reveal my initial intention in writing this poem.  In the multiple times it has been modified, the poem has shifted from its original purpose to presenting enjoyable images with a deeper level or two here and there. Please interpret for yourself!

 

 

untitled

by zane friedkin

 

it's difficult

to play ping

pong in the

water...

 

the toxic

chemicals that

hold rubber

and blade

together

released...

 

the shiny new

rubber is

siphoned off

to reveal the

 

low quality

blade of

five years

ago...

older then

than now.

 

---

 

other poems of zane's

 

waste of words

by zane friedkin

 

 

capitalism

somewhat resembles glasses

when everyone's forced to wear them

a prescription way too high

so the world

and everything in it

grows blurry

your head aches

 

and the only ones lefts standing

are those who couldn't see to begin with.

 

 

disparity

by zane friedkin

 

 

there are two types of people in this world

those who jump in leaves

and those who rake them up

 

 

disparity no. 2

by zane friedkin

 

 

there are two types of people in this world

those made of tofu

and those made of fire

 

 

motto no. 2

by zane friedkin

 

 

it's amazing

how utterly horrible someone can be at something

like teaching

when they set limitations

restrictions

when they teach things like

'over analysis'

and we know they have the weight of the world on their shoulders

but they still play by

the book

the book

is fucked up.

because even

when they dig it

more than anything else on their shoulders

it's tough to understand

that they're

not dug.

 

 

legacy

by zane friedkin

 

 

the spanish conquest

of the americas

initiated

a long lasting

legacy

of

impoverishment

inequallity

and inopportunity

that still

manifests

today in

the disparity

between these classes

 

 

democracy

by zane friedkin

 

 

you see

the notion of democracy

isn't half democratic

in itself

because it calls for

an extent of

wealth

liesure

freedoms

that simply

cannot

be attained without

economic exploitation

 

 

 

basic rules Of spelling

by zane friedkin

'

the russians find themselves scared to

leave the house on coney island avenue

their strict wives...

after all, the

blacks

will be there.

 

nison comes, though...

he's defeated by paul david

caucasion and scarier than

all the blacks put together.

 

sometimes i wonder

how it is that someone like

robert chen

ends up not fluent in chinese

or english.  neither.

 

and where the hell did page

1 & 2

disappear to?

 

 

basic rules of spelling no.2

by zane friedkin

 

wang hao

never peeks out of her hole

keeps the lid on 2500 and 2600s

till they pop out and kill pips with springy wrists

 

it's been years since anybody but

 

ernesto's behavior

resembles that of a