hello, can i be a real poet now?
TRANSCRIPT
-
7/28/2019 Hello, Can I Be a Real Poet Now?
1/21
Hello, Can I Be a Real Poet Now?
By: Josh Jordan
-
7/28/2019 Hello, Can I Be a Real Poet Now?
2/21
Raven
Free bird,
Where will you alight
tonight?
Where will your
black feathers fall?
I could feed you,
dear Raven,
but it
would not satisfy.
I could warm you,
dear Raven,
but it would not
stop your chill.
So fly far,
fly fast,
fly free,
dear Raven.
And once in awhile
rest
on my sill.
-
7/28/2019 Hello, Can I Be a Real Poet Now?
3/21
Raven IIMy Raven,
as beautiful as she is,
grows even more so
when she molts.
When her blackened feathers fall,
she grows glorious,
bold,
feathers.
which are jealously ripped out,
and replaced again by sooty black.
But each molting is faster,
each new coat is brighter,
and the effort necessary to steal them
grows.
One day, we will burn
the sooty feathers,
or sink them in the ocean,
we may just stuff them in a jar,
a reminder,
a testament to our past. but
What I
know
for sure
one day her coat will be
Gold.
-
7/28/2019 Hello, Can I Be a Real Poet Now?
4/21
Sick
I am sick of
waiting.
Waiting for the
day when different,
unique,
special,
Arent all synonymous
with
Freak,
weirdo,
abomination.
Waiting for the day
when bigotry
is shameful,
and repudiated
at every turn,
when cruelty
is unacceptable,
And when the 15th Amendment
is not a privilege,
but an
inalienable
right.
I am sick of
searching
For decency,
humanity,
kindness,
in people whose
-
7/28/2019 Hello, Can I Be a Real Poet Now?
5/21
first thought
each day is
the purging of non-conformity.
Because
I am called non-conformist.
I am marginalized,
overlooked.
I am cast wary,
sidelong glances.
But soon,
peace will come
or we will bring it.
-
7/28/2019 Hello, Can I Be a Real Poet Now?
6/21
Numbers
They are the
scraps of paper
clenched
to your chest
As your writhing mind
wanders to
love
Fear and
Future.
They are the ruby
slippers you click
when youre no place
like home,
And the tornado that
flew you there.
They are
Confirmed rejection
Unending Purgatory
Or
the Beginning of Bliss.
Just append an
area code.
-
7/28/2019 Hello, Can I Be a Real Poet Now?
7/21
In Your Head
The end,
I say
is no end at all.
Glassy-eyed you look up.
So an act concludes,
the cast returns!
The smile
well, how I picture it
flashes across your lips
Ever so
Brief
ly.
My pink tongue
darts out
like a snakes,
And that does it
you laugh
until
you cant breathe
and your sides hurt
and the wrinkles near your
nose
leave deep impressions.
You forget your troubles
if only for
a short while,
But
Im just your
Imaginary friend.
-
7/28/2019 Hello, Can I Be a Real Poet Now?
8/21
Letters In My Box
Friends,
new and old
gathered together in one
little nook.
a happy glowing cranny
crammed to overflowing
with old
salutations.
Ive read each
Many, many times
And thought
if only...
If only I were wittier.
If only I could
sway a heart
like my pens dancing nib.
-
7/28/2019 Hello, Can I Be a Real Poet Now?
9/21
Nothing Is Still
Even in solidity
There is viscosity,
there is movement,
Molecules in a perpetual
dance.
Electrons ebbing and flowing
between atoms.
Nothing is sedentary.
Nothing is still.
We all hum
with the breath of life
with the fire of existence
so change we must,
and change we will.
Nothing is sedentary.
Nothing is still.
-
7/28/2019 Hello, Can I Be a Real Poet Now?
10/21
Truth
Truth spews from the pen.
the only Truth
I speak
is in ink.
i lie
often
and boldly.
But most of all
i lie to myself.
-
7/28/2019 Hello, Can I Be a Real Poet Now?
11/21
Warmth
When was the last time
someone touched me?
When did i last feelhuman
warmth?
I have gotten so cold,
so tired,
so worn-out.
But contact,
touch,
refreshes me.
I reach for it.
I wrap myself around it
to bring it into myself.
But then the fire dies
and I am left shivering in the cold once more.
-
7/28/2019 Hello, Can I Be a Real Poet Now?
12/21
My Songs, To You I Sing
My songs, to you I sing
(and you listen with your heart)
You hear tales of loves
(though few with you)
You hear stories of places
(few of which youve seen)
You hear of faces
and hands,
Palms
with entwined fingers
feet
locked in step
Eyes
in sharp focus
(none of which you know)
Why do you trust my words?
From where do they pronounce themselves true?
For they are fraudulent.
To believe them is to believe lies.
-
7/28/2019 Hello, Can I Be a Real Poet Now?
13/21
#22
darkness
spreads
from the rising moon
blotting outwards
to stain Days
fine white linens.
rising over Earths
sullen
silhouettes,
and only the lake
breaks through
mixing with the brown of fields
-
7/28/2019 Hello, Can I Be a Real Poet Now?
14/21
Fireflies
Fireflies dancing
lighting your cheeks
As you smile
lighting my heart.
They dance
like the sparkle in
your eyes
that locks my gaze
in its warm embrace
never to let go.
They sing,
Or would sing
if they could,
a glorious ballad
in time with my
hearts percussion.
-
7/28/2019 Hello, Can I Be a Real Poet Now?
15/21
Cats
I wish i was a cat
so that i could walk up to you
and sit in the most inconvenient places
until you started to pet me.
I wish i was a cat
so that i could meow
like a maniac
until you listened.
I wish i was a cat
so that i could sunbathe
in your lap
and you wouldn't care.
because that's just what we cats do.
-
7/28/2019 Hello, Can I Be a Real Poet Now?
16/21
Dreams
I.
Im pretty sure you
stopped
dreaming of me
a long
time ago.
Or at least,
those dreams stopped
being happy.
Now all I give you are nightmares
and fears
and worries.
I leave your nights sleepless
And your heart aching every morning
No matter how often I apologize,
i cannot
assuage your fears.
even my own are too great for me.
-
7/28/2019 Hello, Can I Be a Real Poet Now?
17/21
II.
In my dreams,
you live next door,
and we go see movies
just to escape the warm summer sun
(you dont want to tan).
We hold hands
and run past sprinklers
you scream
and laugh;
both of us, soaked
to the bone
we find a shady oak
and grass that smells like
spring
and
Plop!
land in each others arms
to find eyes
sipping languidly
on toothy grins.
-
7/28/2019 Hello, Can I Be a Real Poet Now?
18/21
III.
Youll never dream of me
will you?
Ive dreamt of you for so long
and even if I recount
each
and
every
one to you
You will still have a blank
canvas
every night
that only your mind
may paint.
-
7/28/2019 Hello, Can I Be a Real Poet Now?
19/21
The Moon
Hanging in still silence
round as lovers eyes
cutting a path through the night
though just a reflection.
Brilliantly bold
and stunningly beautiful
silently drawing your gaze
almost magnetically.
Not gaudy as her sister
but brighter than her cousins.
Shining forth light
to guide in dark times
providing a path for the blind
and direction to the lost.
-
7/28/2019 Hello, Can I Be a Real Poet Now?
20/21
Norma Sings
Sing for me Norma
Please?
Sing the song
That reminds me of you.
That song
that wriggles
into
my
brain
and lets you live there,
forever.
Pick it up
In a voice
That, honestly,
isnt that amazing
A voice that shows the
timidness
covered by your brash exterior.
Norma, sing for me
in the voice I love
When the notes
I hear
are the hushed nights
whispers
And the words
so heartfelt
I forget,
They arent yours.
-
7/28/2019 Hello, Can I Be a Real Poet Now?
21/21
Sing so I can forget
my troubles
So I am not
alone,
And Ill lend you an ear
so you can
feel the same.