Poem #1: Homage to a female force!

Master of reinvention, creativity bounces out of you
Athletic … even more at 60something
Dazzling dancer and so demanding of yourself
Ongoing curiosity with life and proponent of improvement
Never satisfied with the status quo, early HIV/AIDS advocate
Navigator of life to epic proportions
Amazing …

A pop icon, a writer of children’s books and films, a director, and the list goes on. Is there anything you can’t do? An inspiration to us all!

Thanks, Madonna!

Someday Sentiments are Letters to the Dead (Hour 4)

Hey Man,

I didn’t want to contact you like this.
Letters to the dead are really just letters
to the living from the living,
trying to reconcile with what we regret.
If what I want to say is so important, why did I wait until now?
Why had I lost all contact with you for the past decade?
You see? I told you. Regrets.

I guess I wrote you off sometime in my past,
drew a line and placed you on the other side;
time just continued to pass. Sentiments would arise,
but I never took action to reconnect,
just buried you prematurely
and tried not to think about it too much.

I heard you stopped by my parent’s house a couple of times
while you were visiting the old neighborhood.
I wish I could have been there, or got a chance to hear your voice once more.
I guess we never know when we are experiencing the last of something, or someone.
We just assume we have a choice in how our lives proceed.
It’s easier to believe that we have some form of control over what happens to us,
so we put the important things we aren’t ready to face off to the side,
to be attended to later… on someday…later.

I’ve thought about our friendship so much since I got the news of your passing.
We had many good times. I was happy and I believe you were happy too.
There were some hard times as well, real times,
blows to the heart, loss of breath times, bleeding times.

I heard about how it happened.
You were just doing the same shit we always did,
but the body can’t take living like that forever.
I think it was an accident.
I don’t believe you meant to do it. I feel bad.
It haunts me how you can consciously make decisions
that invite your own death without realizing that you’re doing it.

There is so much more I want to say to you.
There is so much more I want to say to you that won’t fit into words,
that I can’t constrain into speech or confine to a single letter.
So I’ll just keep talking to you from time to time,
wherever I’m at, whatever I’m doing, however I may be remembering you.

I hope the afterlife isn’t cold. I don’t like to think of you cold.
Wherever you are, I hope you can still be warmed by love.

Your Friend.

4. i think i hope this finds you well

To whomst the contents of this electronic, very bland, correspondence may concern:
“Whomst” is not a word.
Not necessarily.
But it is necessary to tell you the places that we used to go where it was a word, well, they’re brighter now.
And the non-word is quite prevalent in my dictionary.
Brighter now.
More vibrant.
Devoid of your shitty attitude. Oof. Too brash? fuck you, snowflake. I can’t remember the last time I said “sorry” and meant it.
That’s what the people on my side are supposed to call the people on your side, right? Snowflakes?
Funny how in a country where everyone is free to pursue whatever, whichever, whenever with whoever,

we choose to peruse a single side that the partisan partition falls between like a goddamn wigwam.
Knocking heads into uTtEr wOkEfUlNeSs.

I remember the days melting into one psychedelic jelly tape of muscle spasms, Ocean Lights, and sad stories.
Filling pages with graphite doodles instead of inked scribbles before the escorts got home. Staying up listening to your favorite music, because that’s what was going to help us get through the night.  When I sweat so much that my drawings smeared onto my face like some kind of twisted, psychedelic warpaint. I thought I was Van Gough. But bigger, and with both ears.
At that point you shouldn’t look in the mirror though, lest ye glitch and slip into awareness. I did. And I was no longer afraid of myself. I was terrifying. I liked it that way.
I liked it that way.
Because that meant that when you said you were in love with me, that you meant it.
On the streets of that side of town that we stayed up to watch the sunrise in.
I couldn’t sleep, obviously. When you’re iN lOvE such things are menial. So Instead I locked myself out, walked to breakfast, noticed how green the trees were, how crisp the day was, like it had waited for me to arrive and it had vacuumed, put the clean dishes away AND waxed my car.
You cried in the street when you kissed me.
Later. A month or two. I’m railing lines of jet-fuel, and standing in front of a mirror holding an axe. Instead of a B&E and Murder in the Second degree, I load your shit into my hatchback
and a two-man, two-hour job is cut all the way in half when I dump your writing desk in his driveway.
Look at me, waxing poetic.

I wish you longevity, dullness, complacency, conformity, and all of the other things you never thought you’d be, but were set up for anyway.
I wish you all the substances, and none of the inspiration.
I have to admit it, I’ll never forget you.
I have to admit it, you were never The Raven.
You won’t be missed. Not anymore.
– The Wolf

Been a while

Hey. It’s been a while

Since the last time I gave you a dial.

 

I know it’s late

And I’m keeping you awake

But I just wanted to say

That I miss you everyday.

 

And I also wanted to tell you

About all the things that I’ve been through.

And, maybe, you can tell me

About all that has happened, lately.

 

Because I just want to hear your voice again,

My dearest old friend.

 

Letter to Mama

My Beloved Mother,

How are you? You would be wondering why I am writing you a letter. Do not wonder. I am thinking about you and all memories that I hold dearly. All the lessons you taught me still guides my every thought. You left me when I was barely leaving the cradle. There was no one for me to handle. You were there in the beginning. You did not tell me you would not be there for me till the end.

How are you? I need to ask you that question because you never ceased to ask me the same question when you were alive. In case you do not know, my father died recently and he was so fond of you. My sisters and brothers are grown and have left the house. I visited our house last year and it is kept the way you would want it. Clean. But mama, you were there in the beginning. You did not tell me you would not be there for me till the end.

I missed you. My children are missing you. Although you did not wait to meet them, I have shared your memories with them. Particularly, the day you took me to school and the rain drenched my uniform while the fierce wind stole the tiny umbrella from your grip. Forgetting your own welfare, you carried me. I felt loved. You were there in the beginning. You did not tell me you would not be there for me till the end.

Our family is good. But your friend, our neighbour, has also passed on. She died in her sleep. I am sure the two of you would meet somehow in heaven. Did you just smile your disarming smile, mama? That is one of the things I inherited from you, the ability to smile easily. You were there in the beginning. You did not tell me you would not be there for me till the end.

Do not complain about my letter. I have not written you a letter before. Let me tell you a secret. I am participating in a Poetry Marathon. One of the assignments is to write a letter to someone who is dead or who we have not seen in a long time. That is why I am writing you this. Because you were there in the beginning. But you did not tell me you would not be there for me till the end.

Mama, I need to stop before I drench the computer keyboard with my tears. I got that from you, too. You cry easily. But you have taught not to cry. You said tears do not wet new dreams. I believe you, mama. I will write again. Soon. Regards to dad, if you see him around.

Harriet

Ninety miles she walked,

towards liberty or death

with God’s voice in her ear.

 

Ninety miles she trudged

through forest and stream

she knew her worth and did not fear.

 

Ninety miles she led her people,

like Moses led the Israelites,

from bondage to a new frontier.

 

Oh, Harriet, 

the struggle continues,

we remember you and persevere.

Hard Life

The cracks cackle…
The canvas with spills of ink
Leaves trails of smears…
The mind thuds hard
To the discordant tunes of hard life…
With the burden of living near zilch

Life is hard
When the financial rhythm wobbles

When the ugly rage of hunger beckons
To an empty pocket

Life is hard when the landlord bellows to your depleting pocket

Your muse also fizzles to the whiff of the thankless moon at twilight…

Life is hard
When the rains
Drought-turns
And sunset spins to
Sunrise at dusk

Life is…

Dear Anonymous American

 

 

 

Dear Anonymous American

 

I know it’s not your fault.

You caught it by default.

 

All he ever wants – exalt.

We wander through double talk.

 

From the top we get assault.

Our wounds get rubbed with salt.

 

You’re now in burial vault

of his askew surreal pole vault.

 

His mind flexible as cobalt

while your life was lost.

 

I’m sorry this thunderbolt

somersaulted your life to halt.

 

And if I say I’m sorry

it’s from one deep in worry

 

that you’re one of the many

his lack of caring had to bury.

 

 

To miss you Poem 4 themed


The feeling of your soft embrace again

Would produce such a light and energy,

however we never know when.

Sporadic,

erratic,

However somehow the hopes will never fail me.

To truly be by my side,

one must learn how to enjoy the ride.

The one who truly knows your soul,

When we don’t have to ponder, what is their ultimate goal

Forever, shall I miss our laughing moments

of pure bliss.

Only the dark side of you. It’s what forces

me.

To continually miss.

And ponder the could have been

should have been

would have been.

Thoughts that will enter the mind.

And we must learn to put it all behind

 

Hour 4: Dear Sorrow

Dear Sorrow,

I haven't seen you in a while—it's been a good six years since you visited. 
I still think about you, our close times together—but less and less. 
There are some times months when you never come to mind.
In fact, i do believe I'm beginning to forget you more than not, 
but they'll always be a bit of you that I carry around on my shoulders, up my sleeve, in my pocket.
We spent so much time together—just the two of us that you are in my blood. 
I tried to break with you many times but you were always so dedicated to me, so loyal, so noble.
How are you? I hope you have made new friends, I'm sure you have moved on. 
You were always able to meet new people easily, it's in your nature, you devil you.
I must be honest, I don't miss you at all. Actually, I am happier with you not around. 
Even though we were so close, there was always a bit of self-righteousness that you carried with you 
which made me a bit uncomfortable, I must confess. But, I wish you the best wherever you are these days. 
Sometimes I think I see you but it's just that personality of yours that is so recognizable in people. 
Take care of yourself, mate. We'll always have those late night candles and poetry we shared. 

Cheers,
JohnnyG