Daily Archives: February 22, 2013

How I Became A Poet And Such A Miserable Bastard Too

you know what they say

born in snakebite
die in hemlock
accident and healing
one and the same

they crack about cracks
say that’s how
the light gets in 

I was fractured early
thank Hell
a good flow
seeped in
a dark syrup
no light
no filler
when it crusted thick
I sealed

that badly broken
that closed up that early
I could have become one
of three things
artist
who makes it shine
criminal
who makes it pay
amateur actor
who makes it disappear

I was two of those
by nature already
so I said gimme more
I said
fraud
of thee I sling 
garbage in
and prophecy out
or vicey reversa 
I said as much as I could
never stopping to breathe 
still at it
still grinning

there is an analgesic effect
when one is wordslinging 
you can forget a lot
even when you’re writing it down

I can’t talk about the side effects right now
buy the book when it comes out 
this is just the short con
you want the big one for the full payoff
trust me on that

nod your head and I’ll
set the hook 
afterward you’ll call it art 
I will too
if you’re listening 


naked protest at the capitol

we are ashamed
of the country’s actions
but have stage fright
about confronting them — 

what about the old trick?
if we imagine
the entire country
naked

will that give us
dominance over 
our shame about
what the country
has done?

maybe it would help
if we got naked too?
after all,  
we are just as much
part of the country… 

soon enough we are standing
in parking lots
and on
official steps,
naked and demanding

and soon enough caught up
in square centimeters of exposure
and which angles make nice
with the mikestand

once again 
caught up in the phrase “will this
make the news?”  

we’re caught up
in such inclusive
jeopardy
it would be
almost sweet
if it were not for our
naivete

if it were not 
for the shameful things
which led us here
in the first place
and soured
and co-opted
the naked truth