GENERAL MOTORS
gm 2010 annual revenue: 6.172 billion usd,
wikipedia
you got yourself a new motorbike
although you didn’t need it.
you have no money.
no worries we’ll loan it to you.
what should you be for the rest of your life
if not our slave
promise we’ll help you if you can’t pay us back
and then if you still can’t pay us back later
we’ll help again. promise.
worst-case scenario we’ll repo your bike
(a green product, no doubt)
we’ll lower your credit score
you’ll frazzle a little and thank our bank
so what? it happens. take it.
work away then and see, retard,
if you can get a loan for a ferrari
just the tires perhaps, on your salary
delay payment for fifteen minutes
and a friendly hand waits at the keyboard
saw and tooth. an environment-friendly hand no doubt
the guy at the industrial compound
who says he wouldn’t favor anyone
you are an employee of general motors too
friend to the environment and a patriot
faber castell colored pencils in your boy’s backpack
the other day we went in dad’s ferrari
to plant saplings with my teachers
from the private school
environmentally friendly green saplings
dad said to his friend that
we can reach a hundred kph in four seconds
he works at general motors, a patriot,
an environmentalist
their revenues sometimes approach
seven billion usd for one earth year
i like dad’s friends a lot
they are kind, understanding, cheerful people
you should see how environment-friendly they all are
they make engines in their spare time
checks and ious for the third world
you should see dad
he is organized every day like an engine
respectful, understanding
with good communication skills
just one bad habit though
if you don’t pay your debt
he’ll evict you and make your flowers wither
(green flowers no doubt)
he’ll repossess everything you have
it can happen
so what
dad has friends in the police department
so he got a special plate
if you have an accident with your motorbike
he will send a tow truck
if you lose your family
he will summon their spirits
with insurance
he’ll send a wreath to your funeral
(an environmentally friendly one)
if you die your family will inherit your debt
we’ll help you worst-case scenario we’ll destroy you
(in an environmentally friendly way)
communication, security, peaceful living spaces
are sine qua nons
we’ll die at your pleasure
we’ll kill for it
we make one-minute commercials
for your quality of life
thanks to your poet friends going on about justice
we appreciate it
you know they are respectable employees of general motors
their salaries are paid on time
they are peaceful obedient kids
sometimes they accelerate to one hundred kph
in three seconds
they have friends in the police department
we screw and unscrew a nut all together
in the warehouses of general motors
a nut gets unscrewed here and there though we screw it tight
followed by screams from the ditches
get unscrewed from slums
poor people bring hot food to the wake
tv is watched respectfully on mute
worms wait for the night
speaking a secret language
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space mechanic
when engines converting hydrogen
in the air to water
become cheap
oxygen will come out of the waterworks
when flying cars ride on water
capitalists will bill the sea
left unpaid
petrol will be so cheap then
such a common material
when cryptocurrencies become widespread
grocery stores will be done for
with empty shelves
food will be in pill-form in any case
plants and animal species already
dwindled down to zero
robots will walk around in human form
recognizing the real humans at first sight
good robots vs the bad ones
—here is my gene map
—no need, we have it in the archives
spirit seances will be broadcast live in abundance
no more birthdays (because there will be no days)
or minutes hours months calendars
due to orbital changes
one thing that will remain the same
vendors on the kadıköy ferry (in hologram)
movability of space—it is all yours
—we will get three units of accommodation
no need for a space elevator
teleportation will be invented in any case
(i send get well wishes to nasa from here)
breathing will have a price
oxygen masks will have counters
your job description for the day
goes like this
measure the change in gas density per unit in space
and report to hq
then you are free to fly in specific sequences
when the earth is cut off from the milky way
first the lava will pour out
then kids who drilled a hole from the top
will come out at the bottom
they’ve already grown up and climbed the towers
when all the poems in the world
are translated into turkish
and coded onto ultra pcs
will you look at the absurdity
complete rubbish
because languages will be dead by then
having become a freak of nature
look what you got a space shuttle to deal with
i feel fine these days
said a robot
from among the oxygen tubes thin as nails
there was this place called earth
where call to prayer was heard in the forties and fifties
xxx
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white teeth with tinned ipana*
thank you very much, shakira, mille merci
we have white teeth thanks to you
if you didn’t make billions
if we didn’t whiten our teeth
how could we live
so filthy. behind trellised windows. us, old istanbulites
in the military, everything is so cheap, shakira
ipana abounds all around
i see your shiny boots from here every day
what nice teeth you had in 2010 in africa
i wonder who you cheered for
during the ghana-uruguay game
we give you a standing ovation
you can share first place with ipana
on the list of the most powerful women of the year
seize the moment, shakira, do your belly dancing,
have fun, small world
donate one thousandth of your income to africa
you are the prettiest woman of tooth-brushing
you wouldn’t say yes to any old commercial
i look up to your teeth
white straight orderly like new york
artist of the year
of lebanese descent
speaking three or four languages
in the harvard church
fly, shakira, why don’t you
we need time to work on our relationship, though, shakira
after all you squeeze the toothpaste tube
just once or twice
*ipana: a Turkish toothpaste brand
xxx