The mod kids

The mod kids are in front of the convenience store again
sitting and
pacing and
skating and
sitting some more.
They bite their nails
and run fingers through their
black
white
red
blue
green
purple hair.
They straighten their ties
and unruffle their skirts
and quietly tap their Doc Martens
against the side of the curb.

The mod kids are in front of the convenience store again
They're talking about bands
"Those guys used to suck but now they rock"
"Well, those guys used to rock but now they suck"
"Well, in my opinion, those guys' albums all suck
but if you see them live...
they fuckin' rock."
The mod kids are looking through
the latest issue of
Maximum Rock-N-Roll
freshly arrived
in their mailbox
that afternoon
'cause
none of the oppressive bookstores
in this beaugoise town
would dare carry something
that speaks the truth
like Maximum Rock-N-Roll!
Fuckin' Waldenbooks!

Yes, the mod kids are in front of the convenience store again
and a man in a Led Zeppelin
three-quarter-length jersey
asks them
if they're waiting
for someone to buy them beer.

"Beer?
We're straightedge, man!
No liquor,
no drugs,
no cigarettes,
no meat,
no products that have been tested on animals,
no products that can harm animals,
no products that have accidentally killed other animals
while legitimately trying to kill the first animals!
Beer?
...No, we're not waiting for someone to buy us fuckin' beer!"

The mod kids are in front of the convenience store again
gathering material
for the next issue of their zine
The one they xerox in the school library
and send out like chemical warfare across the nation
The one that is the darling of Factsheet 5
The one that is loved by thousands of introverted teenagers
The one that is soon to be its own website
SMASH THE STATE!
The mod kids are gathering material
about what a shitty,
backward,
soul-crushing town it is
in which they live
and how they can't wait to get out of here
and go somewhere cool
like London
or Manhattan
or Chicago
or San Francisco
San Francisco would be cool
or Berlin
or Prague
although I hear Prague's a big sellout now
They even have Starbucks over there now, for God's sake
The mod kids are
cutting and pasting
1950s clip art
and gluing them crookedly
on their 24 half-folded
pages of truth
and one day
16 years from now
they will wake up one morning
in their $1000 bed
from Pier One
and wonder
where their childhood went
they will wake up one morning
and wonder
why they were so angry for so long
they will wake up one morning
and wish
desperately wish
they could go back to that convenience store
and start all over again
and do it right this time

The mod kids are in front of the convenience store again
They sneer at me
and ask me for a dollar
so they can go buy some Dunkin' Donuts.
In exchange,
they say,
they'll give me
the condoms
they received
at Safe Sex day
at school
last week

"Keep the condoms,"
I say,
handing them a buck
and walking away.

"Hey, man,"
they yell after me.
"Thanks."

"No problem,"
I say.
And I keep walking.

Copyright 1998, Jason Pettus. All rights reserved.