Ego Of Sly Pettiness
© Surazeus
2026 04 26

The strangest aspect about the Third Man,
who lets cool rats play pool with his eyeballs,
is how he paints planets on bowling balls,
then stands outside gate of the factory
and plays dissonate melodies of despair
on broken guitar with five rusty strings.

Embracing ego of sly pettiness
through innate talent of the snarky jibe,
the Third Man takes his face off in the glare
of spotlights gleaming on the creaking stage,
then shouts electric satire of despair
in silent void above highways of cars.

Empowered by negative interdicts,
stones of contempt hurled with mocking insults,
the Third Man tangles lines of sizzling words
in tattered wings he found on jagged rocks
by sea shore with eager Icarus fell,
then pontificates on world theater stage.

Stacking bricks of baked mud in pyramids
on solid foundation of shifting sands,
the Third Man builds cave in heart of the Earth
where ghost of his ancestor with sharp stick
fights monstrous dragon of the wounded soul,
then barbecues burgers in the state park.

Pretending he is not the seventh son
who falls in love with fourth daughter of Death,
the Third Man spreads honey on molded bread
while bragging about every game he won
till the butterfly girl in hippie skirt
marries the banker who runs Babylon.

Excited about joining the circus of clowns
who tour country towns sea to shining sea,
the Third Man milks the sad cow before dawn,
then stands outside grocery stores to preach
about the second coming of the king
who will appear on the purple giraffe.

Exhausted by attempts to fool the squares
who live normal lives, working eight to five,
the Third Man leans against greasy phone pole
and watches cars zoom past for ninety hours
till wise tortoise of the waste land arrives
to teach him lessons in morality.

The most boring thing about the Third Man,
who sews secret messages inside shirts,
is how he is an expert at spreadsheets
and longs to work as the accountant clerk
at the company that sells kitchen ware
because his girlfriend who died loved to cook.

surazeus.blogspot.com/2026/04/…

Orpheus goes bowling with balls painted like planets that knock over pins painted like politicians and businessmen in gray suits of fiscal power.

#Poetry #Poem #Pastoral #Necropastoral #MetaModernism #Transrealism #NewSublimity #NewRomanticism #AmericanDream #Cinemism #Existentialism #Surrealism #NegativeCapability #NewGnosticism #MetaRealism #NewTranscendentalism #Astarism