Poetry is a Rebel

 

 

Poetry is a form of rebellion.

It’s me, telling you, I don’t want...

you.

 

I don’t want...

you.

 

Don’t want to be in a relationship with

you.

 

Hell nah

 

Poetry is me sprinkling words on a page

to get out what I couldn’t say in person...

that you are arrogant.

 

And I bet you think this poem is about you

don’t cha?

 

Nah

 

To be a poet we don’t make our verses to elevate

or deflate

a being who couldn’t connect with our soul

 

Nope

 

We vomit the goin-thru-the-motions sickness

that you left us with

and we feel better after.

 

(to the other poets:  You know how that goes!

everyone nods)

 

Poetry is a form of expression.

It’s a means to spill the clutter

from the closet of the brain

to a wordage wasteland...

turn your back on it, and

allow it to decay.

 

 

To be a poet you’re willing

to tell everyone that you miss someone,

or something,

like I miss the smell of my bird Zoabi.

You’re willing to admit that you’ll never get back

that sense of comfort...

Even if no one listens.  Even if no one can relate.

 

When you’re a poet...as I am

You write to and for the man of the street,

not the bourgeois.

You can’t write for the white-collar man

if you’re a hood rat seeking cheese in an impossible environment...

as I am.

 

To be a poet you must know misery.

You must get drunk with Bukowski, even if you don’t drink.

You must fall in love with Neruda, even if you’re jaded.

You must fall in love with some thing - simple as a blade of grass -

without using a hallucinogenic.

Because poetry is about getting high off words.

 

Poetry is after all a facelift.

It’s the wrinkles that tell divine stories

of struggles and resurrections.

It’s an ecstasy that can erase a death

if only temporarily.

 

Poetry is an attraction...

a reason to smile...

to argue...

to protest...

vindicate...

and lure...

 

To be a poet you must never make a retraction.

Never be afraid to rebel.

Never be afraid to live...

 

 

even when you feel like you’re dying.

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

"To be a poet you must never make a retraction.
Never be afraid to rebel.
Never be afraid to live...'
Writers and Poets have great responsibilities. They must leave the truth about this world. I like the description of a writer. A writer must be fearless. Maybe loved or hated. But the words must be written. Thank you for sharing your thoughts in this outstanding poem.
Coyote

[Colette]

thank u Coyote for devouring my words! :)

[Jay Niebel]

I think I have just read my favorite line of all, about what it means to write; "It’s a means to spill the clutter from the closet of the brain to a wordage wasteland...turn your back on it, and allow it to decay." You have described the catharsis of writing as only a poet could and I shall dwell in your 'wordage wasteland' for as long as you have clutter to dispense. Terrific write Colette!

[Colette]

Hey Jay...this was for a Challenge write I gave to my Almost Dead Poets! Give it a go! WRITE ON!
https://www.facebook.com/notes/almost-dead-poets-society/poetry-is-a-challenge/331365736933766

[Sami Khalil]

A very lovely and interesting poem...Thank you for penning...:).................

[Everett DeValle]

Amen. :)