The Friday Poem: ‘Individualistic Societies’ by Erik Kennedy

A new poem by Erik Kennedy.

Individualistic Societies

I fixed every problem I ever had until I couldn’t, at which point I became the problem. I was a flat tyre, a pigeon freeloading in civilisation’s attic. Watching my bank balance drop became my new favourite sport, replacing my old favourite sport (walking everywhere to save money). I was sick, I was broke, I was on an ice floe of shortcomings, so that’s when the universe decided was the funniest time to push the self-reliance gospel at me. It was as if the playlist of my life was full of artists who had chopped down trees to build their own guitars to sing songs that said: If a comet is heading for the earth, we must celebrate the ambition of the comet. If you don’t like that the sun sets, then it’s your responsibility to stop it.

The Friday Poem is edited by Chris Tse. Submissions are currently closed.