Sid's Opened Lid Sid's Opened Lid's Super Funky Summer Issue 02 | Page 10

A Seventeen Year Old Boy who Dosn't Know What He's Doing and is Stuck in Puragtory Explains Role Models to Us

"Jacob Yoder is a 17 year old kid who recently moved from California to Texas. He doesn't know what his plan in life is and he feels like he is stuck in purgatory because all he does is wait. His influences range from Bukowski to Raymond Chandler to Quentin Tarantino." - The Zac Efron lookalike, who runs on junkie time and probably was an asshole to his new neighbor in Texas, himself.

9

Role Models

i have a brother who is

eight years younger than

me and he believes

i am the greatest thing

on this earth.

he draws a cross on

his left knuckle

and

an anchor on

his right calf,

just like the

tattoos i scarred

myself with.

i left him

five years ago

with

a mom who hit him

a dad who always worked

and a sister who was a selfish cunt

this kid?s reality is

so fucking skewed

due to all of the

fighting and

yelling and

leaving from

all sides

that all he has is

videogames

because it is

too hot to go outside

and he?s

too poor to do anything else.

so there he sits

days fade to night

as he absorbs himself in this

alternate reality

because it?s the only stable thing

in his life.

in reality you can?t be

adventuring

fighting

dying

reviving

conquering

building

destroying.

so he burrows himself

in his dark room,

growing fat as

the sun falls onto the plains

the sparrows fly north

and

the dog howl louder than

the madness of existing.

now i?ve returned to

the land of the

cold houses

and

hot sidewalks.

the more time i spend with him

the more i see how much like

his dad

his mother

his sister

he is.

i see the little

things he picks up from

me and

it saddens me.

i?m no man?s role model.

all i want to do is grab him

and tell him

?Go outside!

Have a fight!

Read a book!

Create a painting!

Meet a girl!

Break a bone!

Make a friend!

Skip a stone!

anything but

sit upstairs in

a house full of

people who do nothing

but push each other off

the life raft

as the ship sinks.

get out of here

and don?t look back.?

you know,

maybe i do want

him to look up to me

because everyone looks

past the flaws of

their idols.

tattoos i scarred

myself with.

i left him

five years ago

with

a mom who hit him

a dad who always worked

and a sister who was a selfish cunt

this kid?s reality is

so fucking skewed

due to all of the

fighting and

yelling and

leaving from

all sides

that all he has is

videogames

because it is

too hot to go outside

and he?s

too poor to do anything else.

so there he sits

days fade to night

as he absorbs himself in this

alternate reality

because it?s the only stable thing

in his life.

in reality you can?t be

adventuring

fighting

dying

reviving

conquering

building

destroying.

so he burrows himself

in his dark room,

growing fat as

the sun falls onto the plains

the sparrows fly north

and

the dog howl louder than

the madness of existing.

now i?ve returned to

the land of the

cold houses

and

hot sidewalks.

the more time i spend with him

the more i see how much like

his dad

his mother

his sister

he is.

i see the little

things he picks up from

me and

it saddens me.

i?m no man?s role model.

all i want to do is grab him

and tell him

?Go outside!

Have a fight!

Read a book!

Create a painting!

Meet a girl!

Break a bone!

Make a friend!

Skip a stone!

anything but

sit upstairs in

a house full of

people who do nothing

due to all of the

fighting and

yelling and

leaving from

all sides

that all he has is

videogames

because it is

too hot to go outside

and he's

too poor to do anything else.

so there he sits

days fade to night

as he absorbs himself in this

alternate reality

because it?s the only stable thing

in his life.

in reality you can?t be

adventuring

fighting

dying

reviving

conquering

building

destroying.

so he burrows himself

in his dark room,