Where were you when this mattered?

So 30 came
but the record deals didn't.
Scrambling for "plan b" frantic before you retire
from the Mtv demographic.

So we assigned ourselves new titles of self importance to get laid.
Rockstar became...Singer/songwriter
Literary sensation became...Quirky cult poet
Downtown 91's next Basqait ended up with a felony criminal damage record.


Plan b didn't quite work out as planned either
because the drugs weren't good enough to overdose on
& you haven't built up enough of an audience yet to be
eligible for profitable eulogies.

The younger, newer artists moved into our old studios
while we worked quietly out of the kitchens of our apartments
& while the new artists cant afford the lack of credibility that ghetto living gives them
we cant afford a credible life outside of the ghetto.

And so on now with the self produced,
the self published.
The independent releases completely independent of
distribution, promotion, & attention.

So we drink liquor in the coffeehouses while the sun is still up,
leering at the girls we know we would have been fucking had they been there then.

"Where were you in 92?"
We form an insular liars club, telling each other how brilliant we all were or still are
"Where were you in 2002?" "Huh?"

Shit....

Where were you when this mattered?