He's reading a poem tonight
written in my hand
because he can never reliably read his own.
Sitting on his couch the hour before
with his book
on my knee, and my pen in my hand,
the most careful letters I've ever made
wrapped themselves painstakingly around his words --
the gleaming scales of fish,
mortar and brick --
images he crafted
for another girl.
Sitting on his couch
with a belly full of marbles, I realized
that this was the closest I would ever come
to holding his heart in my hands.
Even though
mine was right here,
pressed between the pages of this book,
his book--
pressed like a month-old flower
between the images he crafted for another girl.
She has whole chapters --
want and then love and then
his heart crumbling
in a broken confetti of mortar and brick.
But if I could just say the thing to earn a page,
be the flickering overhead light
that reminds you of lightning--
the lighter spark that sparks the thought
of some new image,
some new line--
If I could take the aching passage of time
and fill it with meaning,
even if it isn't mine --
This is what keeps me
tasting words and collecting those so rich
they swell and roll into the back of your throat
almost gagging --
What keeps me
crowding in between
the artificially aged walls of
pretentious coffee shops,
finding conversations
and sucking them in
like the thick cigarette haze
and trying not to cough.
The hope that, maybe
I could say just the thing to earn a page,
That I could be
as much at the heart of your poetry
as your poetry is the heart of me.
Author notes
Keep in mind that this is intended to be a slam-styled poem, if not precisely a slam poem in the truest sense. The idea is that you understand it the first time you hear it.
Comments
1 - 5 of 5
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resignation
i will tell you my first impressions then,if that was the idea,i saw you reading someones poems and loving what you read,but feeling resigned and a little sorry for yourself because you knew you could never write anything as good..,the idea though,
isn`t very original,writing a poem about not being able to write,it has a Salieri-Mozart type feel to it(in a small way)but it clearly illustrates your stand out talent as a writer,i just wish the topic was a little more illuminating.
. Rewarded 8
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I gotta agree with Brian
I'm not familar with slam style poetry. Though I think we did some in 5th grade, not sure...
But anyway, I love it! It's deep and thoughtful. It got me reading it, and usually sometimes, but rarely, long poems kind of make me stop for some insane reason, even if I like it! I don't quite understand that. Anyways good job
Keep writing,
Hope -
I'm not familiar...
with slam style poetry. But if the point is to get even with someone who hurt you then writing your poem over the top of something he did for another girl because he spurned you even though you were right there with him that would do it. -
I loved it! It was really quite deep, and it really kept me reading, unlike many other poems. =
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hey bailiwick
great work here. i read so many woman scorned poems where they slam the guy it bores me.
here you resign yourself to second class status, not like you feel sorry for yourself but with dignity and resignation. sentimental but without trying to be, you wish but...
slam is criticised because the work may not stand up on the page (without the performance) this does.
dave. Rewarded 6
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