.31 alife

currently listening to:
keep breathing
ingrid michaelson

so his t-shirt was what caught my attention,
purple
with blue wobbly text
saying "feelin alife".

amusing as it was,
this kind of error is pretty typical
on a lot of the dodgy
pretending-to-be-westerner
apparel to be found where this interaction took place,
(the hongkongonese will know what i'm on about).


but now it makes me think,
isn't it random
when people adorn clothing bearing a message
that seems to be reflected not one iota
in their expression?


now as it happens
the aging chinese man in question
had a rather charming - if not relatively toothless -
appearance,
but he's not who i have in mind.

various other nobodies,
as it happens,
i have brushed past recently
informing me that
they love such-and-such a city
or that they're a fan of highway to hell
or that they're an environmentalist (save a horse: ride a tractor)
or that yes we can
or that communism is the answer
or jack daniels.


but their t-shirts and their faces don't match.


if you really love/hate/change,
why's it only say so
on the outside?


mine said 'hope'.


yet last night
i turned the volume up
to shut out the sounds
of weeping;
and i honestly would
raise my hands up in the air
i would,
if it wasn't for the fact that i wanted cover my face;
and i myself
am sick of signaling to people
dressed-up falsehoods
and of my only options being embarrassment
or regret
and so methinks
i've actually
got to start standing tall again
or replace my wardrobe.