Ian Copestick

Bad Advice


I was talking to
a friend today.
I was complaining
about not having
been laid for years.
as I tend to.

He told me to go
to a whorehouse
in Stoke, this is the
second person to
give me this advice.

The thought of it being
a financial transaction
is a massive turn off
for me.

But, then he told me
that when he went there
the Polish, or Ukrainian
girl couldn't understand
him.

They had to communicate
via Google Translate.

I said

Didn't that ruin the
atmosphere ?

He looked at me
as if I was insane.

Copper, you don't go to
a brothel for the atmosphere.

Perhaps I am insane.

7 thoughts on “Ian Copestick

  1. No, it is an insane world in which it is thought the norm human trafficking from war torn countries all fits into a nice package of a system we call capitalism; in which it is we who are found odd for thinking that making everything a transaction, and insisting it must be so, is dehumanizing, degrading, exploitative, domineering, and ultimately, corrosive of the human soul.

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  2. Well your intentions certainly came off exactly as such. I think a poem like this is really exemplary of what a poem can do, or what I’m thrilled when they do. It offers a very concise picture of something deeply important in life, hard to face, though it comes across with artistry; be that what it can be, here as humor. And it totally works. It being true the most vital part of it. I hope you continue to produce similar works, and would be very interested in reading more of your work in the future.

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      1. Well, to some extent the articulation can also become a bit vulgar, or maybe that is what criticism is. But what I mean is the point of poetry or art over say prose or just explaining, is that it gives a picture, that one can interpret. It’s not meant to be didactic. It’s meant to have those gaps we fill in as the reader. Not to mention that a lot of time art is coming from a subconscious place where the artist might not even be fully aware of all that it means or it is trying to express. And this is good. The point of art isn’t to explain, more express, describe. And then we pick up on that. Cool that you are reaching out in such a way! Awesome, I will send you a letter!

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