If I had a chance to enter a mind of anyone on this world for an hour, it wouldn’t be Bill Gates or J.J. Abrams. It wouldn’t be George R.R. Martin, or even Quentin Tarantino. It would be the mighty Dr. John Cooper Clark.

John Cooper Clark, best known as the punk poet, is a rock star. The man behind the hairstyles, he often called himself. It was not too long ago, that I started reading all his poems. Those brilliant lines, those bold words and rhymes. Those beautiful, beautiful creatures. He writes like dynamite.

Cooper has performed and toured with The Clash, The Sex Pistol, Elvis Costello and others, gained his name at 70’s punk era. He has an honorary degree from Salford University. Funny how the world turned because it was just years ago that I was dreamed to take a degree on Acoustic at Salford :)) Which of course I’ll never had by now.

Alex Turner, the front man of Arctic Monkeys had Clark’s name tattooed in his arm. He said if it wasn’t because of Clark’s poem, he wouldn’t  started writing like that. Oh, you know how Turner’s writing looks like. And now you’re going to know the man who inspired him.

Turner fancied the man so much, he made a song out of Clark’s poem as the last track on Arctic Monkeys’ latest record, AM. The song, titled I Wanna Be Yours, is a beautiful song. But you’ll be chilled to hear the original poems. Watch Clark reads his poem I Wanna Be Yours here.

Read about him here.

Read some of his poems here and prepared to be blown away. Up to the other galactic.

I Wanna Be Yours
By: Dr. John Cooper Clark

I wanna be your vacuum cleaner
Breathing in your dust
I wanna be your Ford Cortina
I will never rust
If you like your coffee hot
Let me be your coffee pot
You call the shots
I wanna be yours

I wanna be your raincoat
For those frequent rainy days
I wanna be your dreamboat
When you want to sail away
Let me be your teddy bear
Take me with you anywhere
I don’t care
I wanna be yours

I wanna be your electric meter
I will not run out
I wanna be the electric heater
You’ll get cold without
I wanna be your setting lotion
Hold your hair in deep devotion
Deep as the deep Atlantic ocean
That’s how deep is my devotion

Arctic Monkeys at Glastonbury 2013

Tonight, the floor of Webster Hall is a sea of illuminated rectangles, with fans shooting video for minutes on end. Turner is ready for the crowd and the cameras now – he puts his guitar down to strut and dance, drops to his knees for solos when he does play, flirts shamelessly with the female fans (he introduces the band’s early hit “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor” with an almost Beasties-ish cry of “laaaaadies!”).

It’s a very unnatural environment to be in, up on a stage,” he says later, admitting that his early shyness never really went away. “So you put up defenses to hide. Like looking at the ground with your hair in your eyes, or being tightly wound and quite aggressive and uncooperative, as I used to do.” His newfound showmanship, he suggests, is just a better way to hide.

How Arctic Monkeys Reinvented Their Sound by Brian Hiatt (October 24th, 2013 issue of Rolling Stone)

In fact, I never wrote anything about my year of being Fungsionaris LFM 2009/2010 here. I wrote some draft, which becomes unfinished, until now. I guess it’s hard to describe something that you don’t know what the name of the feeling is. This is just me, being speechless. As today, I write new piece that successfully drove my tears (again).

My year becoming Fungsionaris had a rocky start to begin with. I became resistant to anyone. So as a year passing by, many tears flew down and I remember yelling at people. But it all paid off in the end, as another tears shed, I remember hugging and holding hands with each other. I remember the How I Met Your Mother-esque video. I remember being happy.

About being Manajer Pendidikan, more than indescribable (is that even a word?). Mixed feelings, some mostly about being happy. Having people to care about is always such a wonderful feeling. Not to mention I had a marvelous teammates of Tim Pendidikan 09/10 ♥ (dearest Dinoy, Sabar, Farin, Keni, Nana, and Icha). I  can hardly forget our daily laugh was, and our regular meeting. I remember giving them chocolates). I remember eating sushi and the laugh on the night talk after that. I remember hugging you back then at Kongres, the feeling still giving me chills by remembering it.

After that, I got songs for my graduation. A Sheila on 7, my favorite one. From dearest Cakru 2009 ♥. I warn you, the feeling becoming a Manajer Pendidikan as a fungsionaris is hardly compare to anything, it is too wonderful. I got more than 6 dozens of children, who I will remember as a product of dreams. And mostly, my dreams. I poured so much love to them that as seeing them right now is such a pride, that they’re grow up too great to be true.

About being a Fungsionaris, I used to see the miniature of the world. Being a fungsionaris is never about being a leader nor the manager, not about being able to be multi tasking. It is way above those things. It is about learning and giving, about growing up, about being a bigger person. I did learn my lesson back there. To stay true to yourself, to trust people, to laugh about bad days, to let loose.

Then, I happened to have another eleven people to enter my life. Eleven partner in crime, which turns out today being “people who I always missed”. You know, I’m not the type of person who likes to bluff about friendship. I don’t like calling people “my second family”, calling sweet names, having dress-code, or being overrated about the stereotypes of friendship. I think each and every friendship doesn’t need to be defined, because there will be no name for it. It just simply a group of people who comfortable with each other and risking their trust to share some feeling. And if you feel like not sharing, then it is fine. There is no exact rule about it, there is no “Bro Code” of it. It’s like the kind of thing I’ve been searching all my life.

sehabis Kongres, ketika mata merah, perut belum buncit, dan rambut masih gondrong

So, I’m glad to meet you all. The kind and caring Mangasi, the extremely cool and brainy Insan, the sweetheart hipster Sella, the awesome tough girl Ayu, the adoring high achiever Vina, the oddly surprising guy Ijul, the marvelously funny (and the one who-you-definitely-want-to-call-first-if-emergency-occurs) Alvin, the stylish mood-maker Angga, the wise and pluffy (soon-to-be-president) Lukman, the amazing hyperactive Bravo, and the brilliant muscle Praba. It was and always be an honor to have you all filling my days.

sehabis wisuda, ketika cantik-cantik dan ganteng-ganteng

This story is just another ordinary one when you compared to Puty’s or Kevin’s that I just read a while ago. But that was that, I could never have written all of my feelings because there was too much of it. It took me years to write such ‘short’ passages, because, like I said, it is hard to write something that doesn’t have a name. Now that I will finish this passage, I want to say thank you (to everyone and everything) for leaving warmth in my heart.

PS: For dearest Fungsionaris 2012/2013 ♥, enjoy the ride and feel that rhythms, you won’t understand the feelings until you get to the end. And I assure you, it is marvelous ;)
Special congratulation goes to Angga and Praba, who will be graduated this April. Gentlemen, you’ve done a great job.
Extra special love goes to Ayu ♥. This too shall pass, dear. I know you can do it. Do give us an awesome amazing closing ceremony :)

If I have to mention what the best thing I buy for last month (or months). This one.

I adore Vantiani’s artwork since a long time and to finally have it on my hand, it feels so great :) And these all will  surely be on my wish list.

Ika Vantiani is one of my favorite crafter and the owner of Vantiani. Focusing her works on handmade paperwork, the powerful fingers of her already made plenty of magic. Vantiani’s artwork mostly features collage made from vintage pictures, recycle paper packs, and various of art papers. Do visit her shop on Etsy and her adorable blog here or here.