Rest in peace, Kurt Vonnegut.
O bard of war,
O master of whimsy, you
were the voice of
a generation,
rich & famous & much-loved
& yet
the bad voices drove
you to attempt suicide.
Bastards!
I must admit
I never read your books
though at Reed I carried
Slaughterhouse-Five everywhere
& talked about it
as if I’d read it.
Jon Ive says he read the first
few pages of Cat’s Cradle
& found it boring
& fell asleep.
A bit unkind of him, I think.
We asked you to be in our
“Think Different” campaign.
You said you hated computers
& wouldn’t even meet me.
Too bad.
We would have paid you a lot.
Now you are dead.
So we can use your image
without your permission
& without paying you.
So it goes.