"Fuck off and Die"

(Did I really just make that my title?! Well, it got your attention, didn't it...)

Last weekend I took a break from my summer course and saw two Fringe theatre festival plays. One was called Maxim & Cosmo, and it was a 90-minute one man show about gender stereotypes and language. Absolutely excellent.

The second was called Fuck off and Die, and it was also really good. It was a one-woman show in which the actress read teen angst poetry she wrote between the ages of 12 and 16 (she's 27 now). Hilarious! If you wrote any poetry during that time of life, go back to it and read it now. I bet you'll both feel those same feelings AND laugh uproariously.

Inspired by the honest expressiveness of Fuck off and Die and the cultural analysis of Maxim & Cosmo, I composed this poem. It is dedicated to the two men standing in front of a bar whom I passed on my nightly walk tonight.
(Warning: I'm no Shakespeare. This was pretty stream-of-consciousness.)

Disturbing the Peace

I hate the way you look at me
As if I am a body passing by
Solely for your viewing pleasure.
I hate the way you look at me
With your squinting weaselly eyes
Making no attempt to hide
Your vertical appraisal.
I hate the way you look at me
And I desperately want a shower
To scrub off the slimy residue
Constant remnant of your projected thoughts.
I hate the way you look at me
And I am naked and vulnerable and
Alone.