Walking in a circle.
Ranging to be relevant.
Curious comments leave one
Lacking in insight.
Talking to the wall.
Telling secrets of the talents.
Tangled in a triumph.
Believing lies galore.
Cackling on a mountain.
Bounding part of grieving.
Balanced by the water.
Backed to the beaks.
If the walk is long,
Jack a telling fact-urge.
Bring the reaching jangle.
If.
Solid shaking smooth triumphs
Rewind angel loop raw beeping
Leveled tangles lovely toward
Look leave sweep beloved loud
Part slick dueling backward tall
Belief talking swore shallow
Blink separated bringing peek
Swiped smear s’mores rearrange
Mares slinging reach wrong
Rotate leaks lifting lounge leaped
Walking weaved morph sliding
Swallow tall squawk brave mouth
Plucked pound mock lacked part
Wrought milieu smock lad rank
Attractive is not talking, for me.
It is keeping silent, without hostility.
Friendly is not talking, for me.
It is listening, with empathy.
Peaceful is not talking, for me.
It is being alone, without loneliness.
Activity is not action, for me.
It is thinking bold thoughts.
So, where does this take me?
Into a world full of dreams.
A world on the brink of something big,
Shaking the foundations
Of what we call normal.
Questioning everything.
Lifting up those
Who have been forgotten.
Loving the unlovable.
Caring about the underprivileged,
Who have a lot to give.
The disabled who may be quite able,
In their own way.
Recognizing the quiet voices,
Who deserve to be heard.
Why not?
Wouldn’t the world
Be a better place for it?
I think so.
This month, the poetry group that I belong to in Tallahassee, Florida, Big Bend Poets, has several challenges assigned to them to incorporate into their poetry. One of them is experimental poetry, which, if you’ve followed my blog at all, you know I already do, on a regular basis. I call it, “Unpoetry”. I have already posted a guide to it in the menu for this blog, but I thought I’d revisit the topic a little bit, as I’ve had a few more thoughts about it lately, considering this month’s challenge for my group.
First of all, I am fully aware that this type of poetry that I write is very difficult to understand, at least on face value. What I’ve always hoped, though, is that it is something that can be appreciated by a process of “reading between the lines”, so to speak. Although one of my purposes, one that I try to convey constantly, but sometimes am not completely faithful to, is absurdity.
When I write these poems, usually, I pick my words very carefully, so as to not “connect the dots”, so to speak. I purposely do not want any syntax, any pattern of meaning. Although I do believe there is meaning to be found, if one searches and thinks and analyzes hard enough, I do not keep this possibility in mind as I am writing. In fact, I mostly try to avoid it. Sometimes, I may start with syntax, then break out of it, or vice versa. It is difficult to write, and sometimes, I am just lazy, I’ll admit.
Like most writers, I believe in what I write, even if I do not always have much hope in my heart for most readers to understand and appreciate what I’m writing. What I do hope for, is that every now and then, a person will come along and be able to appreciate it. After all, I think that if I can get something out of writing it, why can’t someone occasionally get something out of reading it?
It is a very narrow road that I tread in writing this stuff, usually, and it is a lonely road. I do not have many peers who do anything similar, at least that I have come across, in my 30 or so years of writing. Possibles might include James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, Gertrude Stein, and some of the surrealist writers that did automatic writing, although my writing is not really automatic (is anyone’s?). So, I continue to write it, use it, depend on it, trust it. I hope some of you enjoy it. Thanks for reading.
Something creeps,
It crawls on me,
It plagues my brain,
I am uneasy.
Something near,
Quite too close.
It hurts my heart.
I’m just morose.
Such a thing
Hangs like a noose.
I’m dangling.
What does it prove?
Have I a care?
I wonder why.
It hurts to think.
It blinds my eye.
Such thoughts are hard,
Harder than stone.
They weigh a ton,
They are no fun.
Why must they be,
To follow me
Into the night
Where I can’t see?
I don’t like it,
No, not at all.
It seems like it
Will hurt to fall.
That’s really not
A pleasant thought.
Do you blame me
For trusting naught?
Perhaps, I live
Too carefully,
But I am cautious,
Naturally,
Because I’ve suffered
At the hands
Of reckless persons
In this land.
I will worry,
When I’ve cause.
I will take
The time to pause
At the merest
Hint of threat.
Do you balance
With no net?
Resist, fight for whatever,
Equality in all its forms,
Straight ahead, fumes and foreigners,
Flowing, crying, foreseeing, contemplating.
Combining messages. Foretelling.
Do you describe me? Can you see
The silver lining of the elephant in the room?
A costly guess, a rheumatoid arthritis
In the brain, coming from deep in the bowels.
A little prophecy. A lengthy diatribe.
A teaching from a cloud.
Seeing through the false claims,
The criticisms, the confusion,
The not-so-clear explanations, justifications,
Defenses and attacks.
Nicely done. Not so.
Knowledge in a bottle.
Jolly harbor hype never below bites
Behind below before beer name
Battle clip kill crap kick mock move
Mill wipe yell whip wall wallop ripe
Rip beneath slip swallow never nip
Muster sweep mail wrong rip vamp
Ramp recess sip raid twice ship grow
Hello front went slip twerp zoom wet
Front height grapple flaunt miss want
Press knock lock walk jump tramp trip
Miss mass muster ward veer zoom gelatin
Brunt blow cross broken whisper mop
Crest flip west exam blimp post pest
Brunt dump drunk crimp plot plant print
Flaunt front triumph freeze cream kneel
Rambling cruelly through a desert of creativity.
Hard to believe, I know, as much as has spewed from me.
But trust me, I’m suffering, so try to support me.
I only want friendly, good vibes from the family.
Don’t you think syncing with you would be lovely?
Tech talk can be empty, I know, but that’s just me.
Let’s do lunch or maybe a dinner together
At my house or your house or maybe at Denny’s.
Let’s have coffee, talk freely, be friendly, do something,
Go somewhere, represent, move ideas, change society.
I want to come alive when I can and change the world, don’t you?
Let do it so freedom can echo from the rooftops!
Let’s rock this and transform everything so everybody
Can be be equal and free and happy and loving!
I want us all to get along, but I want more than that.
I want community, cooperation, give and take from everybody.
I want all to feel valued and included in the dreams and visions
Of this great nation that has fallen into a sewer of stupidity.
I want us to escape from all the lies in the media and the talking heads and the egos.
I want everyone’s vote to count, and I mean every single person,
Republican, Democrat, Independent or any party.
I want all of our voices to be heard, so let’s make it happen, can we?
Meek and slow,
Such a rainbow.
Throw a stone down,
But won’t flow.
Maybe you
Can stop the might.
Maybe we won’t
Choose to fight.
Maybe we
Can call a truce
Between the sides
That both hail through.
Just a touch
Of patience can
Build a bridge
So we can plan
How to make
Things work for all.
Just don’t lie,
And don’t stall.
We must do away
With all the bombs,
All the weapons,
Big or small.
We can make
A better earth.
It will be
A second birth.
Drip, drip. I sit, a fit coming on.
I don’t seem to fit in this slot.
Circumstances seem to favor me,
Occasionally, and yet I don’t feel
Comfortable. Like a slow torture,
Like trying to sleep in a storm,
Without the rain, without anything,
But my confounded brain,
Sensing storms that don’t exist,
On land as peaceful as can be,
At least until I hear the news,
Of other places, from other people,
Of all hell breaking loose.
Why must we fume and fight?
Why must we kill each other?
Why can’t we feel safe in our homes?
Why can’t people walk or drive
Down the street, without being harassed,
Without being shot at?
It’s crazy! What is wrong with people?
I don’t get it. Our world is not well,
And it is not well with my soul.
Is there still freedom in this world?
Some of my friends would say,
You are free because you’re white.
That may be true, to a certain degree,
But I am a prisoner of my own mind,
My own creation, my own upbringing,
My family, my schooling, misinformation,
Prejudices, confusions, delusions.
In this world, there are many types of prisons,
And the greatest prison
Is in one’s own mind.
I am trapped in my own mindset.
Ha! You’ve got it easy, I hear you say.
Maybe I do, maybe I do.
But we all carry demons.
We all have shame.
We all feel guilt, for something.
I am embarrassed by things
I hear, people of my race,
Acting cruelly, violently, recklessly.
People have lost their minds, I swear.
Think as I type, I tap to a tune,
Wish I was immune to all the flack,
While you wack me for my snack
I just have a knack for eating,
You understand. So back on track,
To get a clue, I’m in the mood
To be quite rude, but hold my tongue,
Of course, cause I’m the type to spare
A life, not take one, especially for fun.
Are you numb? I wonder, sometimes.
Let’s get real. We can have a meal,
And talk it over, be like friends,
Even in cruel weather.
We can be as close as mates,
If we put away the fire and stakes.
Let’s be true to our best values,
Not the ones we get off issues.
Let’s topple all the hassles.
We can skip the loop and lassos.
Are you new to being hassled,
Or have you been there in the satchel?
Rough reviews will hurt one’s knuckles.
Winging it comes out all typos.
So, what’s the point in all this hot air?
We don’t need a rerun, not anywhere.
Give if you can, but not if you can’t.
Maybe a little, but not a rant.
Sink your battleships real quick.
Hope for just a bit of luck.
Lone birds are better than earlies,
But not if you are stuck with hurling,
Curling, stealing or kneeling.
Do the thing we all will do.
It comes natural, it’s real cool.
Be yourself until the end.
Keep your temper, then press send.
Stumbling along the sidewalk 