All They Wanted Was Just The Tip

Author: Richy

Text:

Press your D.
no, not that one
Your ‘D to Dance’.
Then we’ll get some.
You feel that groove?
You wear the hat?
Return to your favourite spot just where ya sat.
          Now stop.
       Make eye contact.
Yeah, him, or her, just anyone. Quick! They see
you – now
Scoop me
C     a     r     e
F     u     l     l     y
             Do it: press ‘T –
- to throw a snow
Ball’. For me? Why, thanks!
I’ll go… But you have to come get me
I know I’m second place
To the ace everyone goes to Club with
I’m just nIce, I’m just cool, I’m just a secret to
the newly joined fools
But then they’ll be told by those who know
about me. Then they’ll all come and go.
Never staying longer
Unless I put on a freebie or a festival show.
They berg and barg-
ain, again, and again
about who’ll be first to tip me
To go deep and take my pearls,
taped-on pride like teenage virginity
But they’ll spend it on other things
and with everyone, back for the same and more
Even though everybody seas
I’m just forgotten ashore

So fuck em. I’ll never change.
I’ll stay the same, let them all play their game.
Gonna try to tip me over? Is that all they got?
Try harder, soon I’m gonna be turned off.

But for now, away from everyone
I think it’s just you and me
Come sit down, scoot over, massage my back
Show your love, do your D ance. Make me sea.

In 2005, the “Iceberg” was introduced to players of the Massively
Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game Club Penguin (2005-
1) as a room accessible only by clicking on its icon in the
game map. While the room is one of the oldest, its appearance
and room-specific interactions between players has remained
unchanged throughout the years. Penguins either visited the
room to play the “Aqua Grabber” minigame for coins, or en
masse to ‘tip the Iceberg’ by equipping their hard hat helmets
while standing on one side of the berg. Despite its status as a
.jpeg file, penguins constantly tried to animate the Iceberg into
being tipped over. It was persistent; all day and every day. This
poem was written in memory of the room, but more so, as a
reflection on how the Iceberg may have felt about this decade-
long relationship it had with players, dating all the way back to
2005.