Too Strong for Poetry

Too Strong for Poetry

-

sometimes one’s feelings are

even too strong for

poetry.

 

as though no matter

which words you write down

on the page

which letters you manage to scrawl out

on the back of your hand

or a napkin

or a

laptop.

 

No matter which metaphors you use

or how you turn a phrase.

 

it will all end up seeming empty

and blank

without meaning

without substance

a half-empty glass

of

the soul

that you aren't even sure

matches even one percent

of what you

meant

to say.

 

sometimes my heart aches

like a small child reaching up

for its mother’s n****e

to suck upon,

then finding nothing there

but disappointment.

 

just another

bottle

of cheap Merlot

or

happy pills

or

more work piling up on my desk

or

another sigh of a long

long day

gone by.

 

sometimes

I want to write a poem

when I feel the moment is so very fresh

but then there are no words

available

to tell of this expressionless emotion

which is

life’s bitterness

and sweat

and tears

and heartache

and death.

 

how can you turn

a raging fire into

a pool of fresh water

using just a poem’s

words?

Reviews

[rutherford]

Reading this back to back with "The Words" is a nice contrast--sometimes language is everything and sometimes not enough. You have a natural ability with this (for lack of a better term) Bukowski-like structure. My favorite lines and I think the crux of the poem: "how can you turn/a raging fire into/a pool of fresh water/using just a poem’s/words?" All that said, by writing about the unwritable, you've at least partially expressed the feelings.

[bobc]

K...your mission should you choose to accept it...even words that capture the moment in a small way are better than not trying. I've found that sometimes, if we don't aim for the poetic, it just happens...bobc

[stephen dillon]

i face this struggle everyday in my work thanks for shining a light on this problem

[jacob erin-cilberto]

i like your work better than both kerouac and bukowski...not a fan of theirs...but i do really like this poem...and relate to it very much this way..

i worked in restaurant for almost 30 years...i wrote so many poems on napkins...

and often as i have written over the years i have come to conclusions...and sometimes it seems to me that i haven't really felt life or pain or whatever it is..it is as if the feelings bypass me and go directly to the poems...this raises the question...did i ever feel the feelings that go into the poems...or it is a sham...
the poems are based on nothing i felt...just totally made up emotion.

well anyway, your poem prompted those thoughts..

nice work...i shall be reading more of you...

bukowski and kerouac can stay on the shelf.

jacob