AfterThought

I'm just me
And they're just them
And we're supposed to be
Brothers,
United in Blood
Yet divided we stand,
Because I'm not worth their
Presence of mind
To ask "What's up, dog?"
In their city-kid fake-black
Ballpeen-hammer-filled Jacuzzi
Rap way of Talking.
And my absence brings no stirrings
     Among the ranks of the impotent
Until my sudden appearance
Forces me back into their consciousness
From the corners of their minds
Like half-digested mashed potatoes
Being vomited up from some communal septic tank.

But that's the way it is.
Shut up, Green Day,
Shut up, shut up, shut up -
     For you know nothing of walking alone
     In some forsaken boulevard,
     You, you silver-spoon Rebels Without a Clue,
     You will never know the painful void
     Of being an afterthought
In the minds of people who put on their masks
And act as though they care
Until the curtain falls.