2023-11-14 edit
i like to think im a poet
when i notice the world’s
workings: the little pats between brothers,
a turtle head peeking from a bush, how words
feel mouthing them, my heart sighing when
the world asks for more from me
and it feels like i have nothing left
to give.
i can recommend this way of thinking
(although you might find it calls you
to change) it’s better to think about life’s
hardships romantically, to appreciate them
for all the life force that bursts out with each
little squeeze.
i look at each eye who will meet me
these days. i think of each pupil as a capital
letter that follows "Once upon a time…"
in other words, my worlds are lost
in the space between commas and i'm scrambling
among seams, running over hills of punctuation
and scaling mountains of parentheticals to find
the perfect sentence. The kind that kinda looks
like a run-on, but is breathy and elongated in all the right
ways and manages to overwhelm just enough to provoke the reader
into thinking "Huh, what was that all about?"
When I'm washing the dishes I don't think about the meaning
of life or what word is best before the other word for my dusty poem
instead, I am watching the contours in this ceramic bowl
I am remembering the story behind how I acquired said bowl,
at a mom-and-pop shop in Japantown at a STORE CLOSING sale where
they were very excited to take a "long vacation" and after looking
for about 30 minutes or so, I decided on this single bowl
with the earth-green bespeckled sides and the Milky Way-like pattern.
I guess I was looking for the universe, and I found somewhere
to place my hopes in.
This is what I mean when I say to look "romantically"
at the world. I mean—Approach life as it is
Come without any preconceptions of what is good or what is
meaningful and certainly not what is poetic. I mean as Mary Rufle
so poetically (although I gander that she would oppose this phrasing)
remarked that poetry is "a wandering drift of unidentified sound"
and by that she means that it's like going to the grocery store
without a list or reading a book without a purpose or walking
absent aim except for what your nose says will be devishly interesting.
but most of all i like to think im a poet because it's really
quite fun. rushing in the fullness of life, loving til your heart's
bursting (all the time, really), and dreaming so many dreams, but
simple things, mostly: a split orange, a warm bedside lamp, and someone's
legs under the covers to warm my cold feet.
original
i like to think im a poet
when i notice the world’s
workings: the little pats between brothers,
a turtle peeking out of the bush, how words
feel in my mouth, the feeling of my heart
sighing when the world asks more
of me and it feels like i have nothing
left to give.
i can recommend this way of thinking (although
you might find it calls you to change)
it’s better to think about life’s hardships
romantically, you can appreciate them
for all the life force that bursts out with each
little squeeze.
i look at each eye who will meet me
these days. i think of each pupil as a capital
letter that follows "Once upon a time…"
in other words, my worlds are lost
in the space between commas and i'm scrambling
among seams, running over hills of punctuation
and scaling mountains of parentheticals to find
the perfect sentence. The kind that kinda looks
like a run-on, but is breathy and elongated in all the right
ways and manages to overwhelm just enough to provoke the reader
into thinking "Huh, what was that all about?"
When I'm washing the dishes I don't think about anything grand
like the meaning of life or what word is best before the word
instead, I am thinking about the contours in this ceramic bowl
I am remembering the story behind how I acquired said bowl,
at a mom-and-pop shop in Japantown at a STORE CLOSING sale where
they were very excited to take a "long vacation" and after looking
for about 30 minutes or so, I decided on this single bowl
with the earth-green bespeckled sides and the Milky Way-like pattern.
I guess I was looking for the universe, and I found somewhere
to place my hopes in. This is what I mean when I say to look
"romantically" at the world. I mean to approach life as it is,
to come without any preconceptions of what is good or what is
meaningful and certainly not what is poetic. I mean as Mary Rufle
so poetically (although I gander that she would oppose this phrasing)
that poetry is "a wandering drift of unidentified sound"
and by that she means that it's like going to the grocery store
without a list or reading a book without a purpose or walking
absent aim except for what your nose says will be devishly interesting.
but most of all i like to think im a poet because it's quite simply
really fun. rushing in the fullness of life, loving til your heart's
bursting (all the time, really), and dreaming so many dreams, but
simple things, mostly: a split orange, a warm beside lamp, and someone's
legs to warm my cold feet under the covers.