The Newcomer’s Lament
I am not from here.
And for that, I think I give thanks,
I know I give thanks.
I am thankful.
Look at Yourselves –
So many different, beautiful people
with different looks and languages,
arts and actions,
predictable patterns
and unplanned paths.
Drop. Dead. Gorgeous.
All of It.
All of You.
But so much hate
so much discontent
so much whythehellwouldyoueverdothat?
Why the hell, indeed.
And your landscape.
Good Lord.
Mountains
Valleys
Oceans
An Apex
A Nadir
The Abyss
Yet you walk on by.
Walk – who am I kidding?
You drive
Are driven
Flown
Right past it all,
never Lingering to Look.
Holding what you Have.
Marveling at the Masterpiece.
In fact, it appears
you are Determined to Destroy
Bent on the Butchering
Aiming for Annihilation
I don’t get it.
Apparently,
Neither do you.
And since you don’t get it,
You shouldn’t get It.
You are undeserving
and more alien than I.
NaPoWriMo – Day One
It’s National (Global) Poetry Writing Month (#NaPoWriMo or #GloPoWriMo). In 2020, I did this at the challenge of a friend, and it literally changed my life. THANK YOU, CARLA JEANNE JORDAN!
Prior to last year, I’d never written poetry that didn’t feel contrived, poser-ish, and/or flat out awful.
You may think nothing has changed.
That may be true – about the poetry. But I am profoundly changed.
I no longer care what you think of me or my writing. Sure, the validation is nice, but it’s no longer a life-giving need. And MAN, is that a good feeling.
…without further ado, our daily prompt (optional, as always)! Sometimes, writing poetry is a matter of getting outside of your own head, and learning to see the world in a new way. To an extent, you have to “derange” yourself – make the world strange, and see it as a stranger might. To help you do that, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem inspired by this animated version of “Seductive Fantasy” by Sun Ra and his Arkestra. If you don’t feel after watching it a little bit like the top of your head’s been taken off, and your thoughts given a good stir – well, maybe you are already living in a state of heightened poetic awareness!
defying atrophy 