Comics Will Break Your Heart
My second poetry collection is coming soon. Be on the lookout for the Kickstarter sometime in 2021. Until further notice, it’ll be called “These Poems Kill Fascists”. My next poetry collection will have much more of a political edge than my first collection. It’ll be less about grief and the death of a friend and more about life under late-stage capitalism. But this doesn’t mean it’s just social commentary and not about personal introspection - Not at all! In fact, one of my favorite poems in the second collection is titled “Comics Will Break Your heart”. The poem’s title is a nod to a famous Jack Kirby quote. Please read the refrain whenever it’s written because it’s written very differently each time.
COMICS WILL BREAK YOUR HEART
BY: NICK ULANOWSKI
“Do you have a problem with me?” I asked, like a hot-headed fool
That probably shouldn’t have been the first thing I said, it wasn’t cool
But I’d been bottling it up for months, tossing and turning in bed
I couldn’t understand why you didn’t stick up for me, so I was seeing red
I didn’t know if it was because you disliked me now or if you just didn’t care
I’m sorry I didn’t even say “hello,” I just burst out and asked you there
It was a complete lack of tact, I was rude, and to my credibility it was a blow
Like, maybe the lies you heard were true and I’m just a low-life zero
Asking you in Artist Alley “is there a problem?” like a crazy weirdo
I’m glad you engaged maturely and we had a heartful, meaningful conversation
To your credit, a different person could have made that a shittier situation
Comics will break your heart, kid
They’ll break your stupid heart
Don’t read sequential art, stick to reading prose
Because comics will break your heart, kid
Comics will break your heart
You said that wasn’t it at all and you were still cool with me
But when I told people you were my friend, it put a target on your head
You said when I dropped your name in my report, it was “like a conflict of interest”
I was reporting a horror comic writer who physically threatened me
I wanted to be able to walk the convention without feeling sick to my stomach
I didn’t want to have to worry about him approaching me and flexing his muscles, ick
This writer had intimidated me in Artist Alley and boasted security would take his side
“Who are they gonna believe? Me or you?” he proclaimed, my guts tearing up inside
It turned out he was right because the showrunner banned me from the con instead
I reported a powerful figure for what he did and he was able to get me removed instead
Allowing him to continue his behavior as a predator with fake-ass good-guy cred
Comics will break your heart, kid
Comics will break your heart
Don’t let this be your passion, don’t go to shows
They’ll only break your heart, kid
They’ll break your fucking heart
The harassment policy on the convention’s website explicitly mentions false accusations
I guess this applied to me, it was fucking bullshit and felt like total devastation
So, I posted online what the horror comic writer did and how the convention handled it
And how the con accused me of lying and how they banned me as if I were the troublemaker
When I said this horror comic writer made me feel afraid, I really truly meant it
But I guess in this process I made an enemy of a showrunner, what the shit?
To your wholehearted credit, you told me you cut your ties with this horror comic writer
But that wasn’t because of me but because of others he used and abused
It sounds like you didn’t care about me and I’m not sure we were ever really friends
You said me telling people you were my friend was “like a conflict of interest”
You said I went up against a showrunner who runs a con where you make money
But I wasn’t trying to attack the showrunner, I just wanted to be able to feel safe
Comics will break your heart, kid
They’ll break your fragile heart
But you can’t let it get to you, you have to just move on
Comics will break your heart, kid
People will break your heart
