Henry Rollins

I used to write him
as a teenager verging on the young adult phase
he wrote me back
twice
I used to read his poetry and relate to every fucking word
I listened to all his music
I saw him live once, doing his spoken word
I witnessed his interactions with people
behind the scenes
he was a complete asshole.
I walked past him when the show was over and he smiled at me.
A friend saw him at a bar that night and said he was a complete asshole.
Now he is a humanitarian
wow
if you've ever read anything by him
the first few books of poetry is brutal
and truthful
that he goes around now and actually cares about this world?
it amazes me that a person that wrote the bleak
black words he did
ever made it to thirty
I still feel his words
I still relate very well to them
I haven't quite progressed from my utter contempt of this place
I still breathe in
I thought I would change once someone married me and I had children
Who knew that makes it even worse
divorced now
children growing up in a world falling apart
with even more war and racism and greed and narcissism than when I was growing up
things haven't gotten even remotely better

but he travels the world and puts a spotlight on how life is in these desolate
places with people packed in and 50 people using one toilet
and using that water from the toilet for
everything
and how things can GET BETTER
even coming from that shithole shitfest
and he has hope
???
I don't get it
Henry?
How did that happen?