Phil Anselmo Writes Poem For BoxingInsider.com
Down/ex-Pantera frontman Phil Anselmo has recently contributed a poem to BoxingInsider.com. You can check it out below:
A trained; composed; skilled fist
can strike out at an opponent for only so long
before it connects directly into the hearts of loved ones closest.
A pugilistic dementia reaction of habit
with a system in slow motion.
Done by thirty-three
and bitter about it.
What could have been!
Not a single promise kept.
No limelight.
Golden gloves trophies, colorless ribbons
and lost timelines…
gather dust
next to a stack of unopened mail;
forgotten for months.
Or years.
Bloodstains on a battle tested brain.
A warrior
fed back to the cruel streets unwanted and
left to cope alone
with predictable failure lying await in ambush
ticking like a time bomb inside of himself.
Whether it be nerve-damaged ticks
violent, abrupt outbursts
fists through framed family photos
or bottom shelf tequila—
this man is but a trapped, wounded hero
with torn pride inside.
A sad baggage to heave around
with nowhere to put it,
nor knowledge of how to.
The Retired Journeyman will be remembered
as the portrayal of a man that left his mark
as the loser of boxing matches
by those of us who lived through his losses
and have scorned his name because of them.
But let us take a moment to allot compassion for him
because to remember his name
is to know the unparalleled and oft-misguided courage it takes
to climb through the ropes, and into the ring
with nothing left.
For every champion, they must first meet The Journeyman…
who’s scarred face serves its purpose
and with every punch it receives, it
only serves as a detriment to this man’s health
and further distances him, from him.
Woe to The Journeyman—
a hollow young man
with only directionless; puzzled memories of combat
left on his head.
Bereft of family or friends
sitting quietly in his lonely squat—
uninvited, yet familiar company is kept
and can always be found seated in an opposing corner of the house
in a dimly lit smoker
waiting for the bell to ring
in The retired Journeyman’s
aspiration-dead
imagination.
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52 Comments on "Phil Anselmo Writes Poem For BoxingInsider.com"
Member
4. writes:
As retartedly jock/fratboy a$$hole cowboy type thing that phils sound like when he speaks, his lyrics have always been really good in most cases; and at times, profound.
Not to mention prophetic every once in a while:
(Fallout boy singing "You Cant be something youre not!")
So I'm not surprised in the least that this is actually really good, especially for a man as chemically-f***ed up as mr. anselmo. :)
Now Playing: Blotted Science- Night Terror
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Former Contributor
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11. writes:
That was quite a nice poem. Especially from a man I had thought had nothing left and became an emotionless husk (as harsh as that sounds, he has always sounded cold a bitter). I enjoyed it a lot and it's good to see an old dog can still do the same tricks.......I failed poetry.....and English.....altogether.
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16. writes:
I find it quite amateur, personally. The message is nice but the lines do not flow into each other and some are very prosaic. He repeats himself and the imagery is stale. All I can say is the atmosphere is represented well, he just doesn't capitalize on it for me.
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18. writes:
I also think this poem is a revealing look in Phil Anselmo - and regrets he may have, and things he could have done differently. Guilt perhaps? Just my take on his work. He reminds me of the character or boxer/journeyman he is writing about. Most poetry or song lyrics have truth in them...and this seems to be the case with this poem.
Writer, Reviewer
19. writes:
The guy IS a fantastic writer, and he's got some great ideas coming through in this poem. But there's no structure to it. I really can't call it anything more than musicless lyrics without a form or style to the line/stanza structure. Not to mention it's all one long stanza... eww! And there's not a lot of decent imagery coming through...
Sorry guys, I'm kind of a poetry elitist lol
Tx, you and post 9 are right. The poem isn't about boxing, it's an obvious metaphor for how he feels about how his life has gone and what's left after the glory days. The similarities are plain to see.
Member
20. writes:
Well I don't really know much about poetry, so this poem seems pretty good. I do have poets friends, and it was always said that Johnny Cash, especially as he was near death, wrote very revealing lyrics about his life, and his thoughts regarding the after-life. American IV and V - are legendary.
Member
21. writes:
I guess I should've mentioned I'm an English/Creative Writing: Poetry major. I'm actually researching graduate schools right now so I can get my Master of Fine Arts: Creative Writing in Poetry. I'm also writing my creative thesis. One stanza poems don't bother me, but Phil's lines here are so freakin' choppy and hard to carry over. And like I said, the imagery is stale. He gets so prosaic it becomes a mundane drone chanting the same thing over & over.
Writer, Reviewer
22. writes:
^Man, the degree I really SHOULD have done... I went for business/arts to get into marketing/advertising coz I figured there was good cash in it. But it's so BORING! lol
Glad to see someone else who enjoys poetry though, I don't know a lot of people who do. Can't get over Swinburne at the moment. The man amazes me.
Former Contributor
23. writes:
I think it has some great moments - like SJR lyrics there's just some things that only Phil could put so bluntly but have so much meaning, i.e.
"Done by thirty-three
and bitter about it."
"gather dust
next to a stack of unopened mail;
forgotten for months.
Or years."
"left to cope alone
with predictable failure lying await in ambush"
Member
Writer, Reviewer
25. writes:
Nick Flynn? I'll look into it. For some reason I'm in a classical poetry swing at the moment. Don't really know too much about contemporary stuff. Swinburne gets me for his ability to express an idea with an image, makes me cringe at how bad my english is in comparison hahah.
Member
26. writes:
If you're into imagery, you'll love Nick Flynn. I tend put a lot of contemporary poets into three categories: Imagists who still believe a poem should be a photograph with words (I'm in this one), Techies who utilize science and math (there are a few poets basing their forms around the Fibonacci sequence, I dabble here) and the philosophical/linguistic poets who, I get impression think no new images exist, so they play with words, not my forte but I respect them.
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Writer, Reviewer
28. writes:
You would find me more in the philisophical/linguistic poet segment, then. I don't necessarily think no new images exist, I just prefer the expression of an idea to an image. Using images to express ideas (by which I generally mean some sort of philisophical musing) is pretty much the pinnacle of poetic art for me. And if you can do that in a technical form (ie Fibonacci sequence) you are pretty much my God. Graphic poetry, I'll say straight up, bores me. Like writing a christmas poem so that the lines form the shape of a christmas tree, yeah? For me, that's just tacky. But I can see how it would be difficult to do, and could be done in a quite artistic way, so I think I could respect someone who does it well.
The intellectual elite stigma IS bs, but personally I prefer intellectual poetry... so... leaves me in an odd space. Hard to write intellectual poetry for those that aren't really intellectuals, you know?
Member
29. writes:
No, no, when I say graphic poetry I don't mean arranging the words to resemble an image. I mean literally drawing out the action of a poem, coupling it with pictures or illustrations.
And I understand what you mean by, what we call here in the states concrete poetry, being tacky. I say here in the states because I think we had cultural mishap there.
And yes, an image expressing an idea is the pinnacle of poetry, but the philosophical/linguistic poets seem to be more interested in how a word is applied rather than actually applying it to an image. Perhaps I should call it semantic poetry. And, I mean, word usage is at the base of poetry but the poets I've read in this area use little or no imagery and it almost reads like a highly condensed essay.
Speaking of the Fibonacci sequence, I also read about a woman in Colorado who "is also developing a new project called 'Quantum Poetics: The Science of Imaginary Solutions' in which she investigates poetry in relation to theoretical physics such as string theory, quantum mechanics and relativity."
Writer, Reviewer
31. writes:
that's one hell of a project - glad it's her and not me hahah! ahh I see what you mean by graphic now, that's a LOT less tacky than that other rubbish :) christmas trees... (snorts)
ahh yeah, see most of the poetry (I use the term loosely here) that I write tends to focus more on an idea than on images... so yeah, semantic if you like, I'm just not quite up to the level I'd like to be at with my writing. Imagery is DIFFICULT, and imagery as a metaphor or allusion or whatever, is just silly hard. Plus, I've only really recently started attempting to write in a structural form, so I'm definitely not much of a poet hahah. But it's something that I find interesting and keeps me amused, so whatever - hey, practice, perfect, it's a building, yeah. Gotta start at the foundations :P
I wish my degree allowed for more creative writing. Try sticking imagery in an essay about international economics and its relation to domestic consumer-based marketing... it'll either get ignored or you'll get marked down for writing in an unclear fashion lol
Member
33. writes:
All I can say is if you guys are in a job or field of study you enjoy - I am happy for you. Lots of people enter certain work fields and find the work either too repetitive or too challenging. In my case, I am happy with my job(social worker), but definitely find it mundane and repetitive.
Former Contributor
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35. writes:
I suppose it's all brain chemestry Psythe. I tend to think and process through images, even my essays haha. If I could physically draw, I would. It helps that my essays are critical analysis of novels/poems but even that can be quite technical...in a different way than business/economics obviously.... Although post-modernism is close haha. I'd love to read your work if you're willing to share.
Tx, poetry has its mundane and repetitive moments. Writers block and revision are a b1tch. But I love the feeling, really the high of finishing of poem. Creating something from nothing is second to none. And when you get published, you want to start all over again.
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Writer, Reviewer
37. writes:
I don't do a lot of refining - something that would definitely help, I know. It's not that I get attached to the first way something comes out, I just tend to write from spur of the moment, so revising something later, I'm usually not in the headspace of the piece anymore. But then, I guess that's why it's a b****, huh?
I also don't update it too often, but every now and then I blog something on myspace. Sometimes a 'poem', sometimes just an idea, sometimes someone else's work which has impressed me. I mostly put stuff up there so I don't lose it, so you'll understand if it's not exactly up to publishing standard hahah. Anyway, my myspace is myspace.com/ethermortal - anyone's more than welcome.
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42. writes:
That's kinda funny actually. I listen to thrash, death, and black metal mostly, as well as the doom, goth and stoner. But on the lighter side I love singer/songwriter style music as well as folk, outlaw country and some bluegrass. Cat Stevens is one of my all time favorite artists as well as Harry Chapin, Jim Croce, Simon and Garfunkel, and James Taylor. I cant be all death all the time. Need something to help you wind down :) I guess I'm just lacking the middle ground.
Supporter
Member
46. writes:
This is no surprise. This dude is losing his mind (and not in a funny way). He's going to be mush one day if he don't stop and get help. He has the frontman curse. He does not see his own faults. He will never admit his problems in the Pantera break-up. He is still great in concert but after this I am not buying that he is straight.
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51. writes:
I'm American and I have to agree. Hard to drink a tasty Skullsplitter and then go to a bland Miller Lite. Just no comparison. Although I am not above drinking our beer, I just prefer foreign brews. As for lite though, Sam Addams Lite is a fine light beer. In fact Sam Addams, Samuel Smith and Saranac are probably the best bigger name American breweries. There are several micro-brews that get it right but they are not always readily available unfortunately.
Member
52. writes:
He is not losing his mind he is just tellling it how he feels, and him telling peeps how he feels is more manly than you will ever know. this is truely healthy speaking out and you're an ignorant piece of Sh&* for not reconizing it. Even though it was for boxing media, he is pouring his heart out and to censor somebody that is speaking their mind is wrong in itself. That is what makes good writer/music those that go against the flow, those that piss u off. Say what u want but Phil has been a staple in metal for over 10 years so say what u want but the man is a legend. Just because he doesn't fit into your homo aZZ music doesn't mean he has lost it.....ever. This is to Lady-reaper and those that doubt w/ her.
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1. Jenny writes:
I was surprised I actually liked it. Although some lines didn't stand out, others stood out a lot. I got the mood. After reading it for the second time I say it's pretty cool.
A simple, 'common' story line expressed in detail. I dig the lost, smokey feeling some parts had to them; they made sense to me.