Tortoise

living at a different tempo

Why must I be loud to be happy?

All around, the crowd says, "Make it snappy."

Did God make instant oats, or just impatience?

Don't you know that joy comes with a wait list?

Why must I go faster to match your pace?

Who let life become a mindless rat race?

Preacher says to worship at our time clocks.

Reaper laughs as his accomplice Time knocks.

Hitched to the grind, it's a shotgun wedding.

Itch in my mind, but no tears come shedding.

No time to cry, 'cause I'm late for a meeting.

No time to die, angels aren't competing.

Nose to the grindstone, hands in the air.

Fingers on the keyboard, thousand-yard stare.

Mold on my cheese, 'cause I'm too damn slow.

Stomach on E, paycheck's too damn low.

Zen is a sin and I hate to meditate.

Where to begin? Think I lost my steady state.

Running out of time, but I'm running in place.

Escape route privatized, now there's money in space.

In America, Christ is a tax collector,

Loan rejector, wealth protector,

Resident ejector, and bank erector.

We are to be his co-defectors.

On Wall Street now, no more streets of gold.

Ring 'em till their last bedsheets are sold.

Thou shalt steal if it turns a profit.

We can monetize the deaths of prophets.

Skyscrapers soar, block out the sunset,

And the powers that be ask why we're upset.

Capital gains, bullet trains, smoking gun.

They'll charge to steal your freedom if you're smoking one.

Don't ask if I'm okay

With blood streaming out my eardrums

Unless you first explain

Why you ignore the beating war drums.

No, I haven't checked my phone

For nothing in your world is urgent.

If you please, leave me alone,

So I can listen to the earth spin.

Reviews

[Ayvid N]

This is such a great contemporary poem. I'd love to write like this. Its about the real, here and now. I appreciate your need to go at your own pace and relate to it very well. No one must be forced out of their comfort zone if they are aren't ready. In the end, the tortoises catch up with the hares, the water levels, the landscaped is evened and it all comes to naught. So its only wise to not give up listening to how the earth spins just because someone wants you to, for some very expendable reason.

[Vertigo Cat1111]

This is lovely. Wow, I love this, the rhyming, the words, the feeling, the meaning, it all feels wonderful and like so many chunks and walks of life combined. I adore pieces of art like this. They go on and rhyme and intertwine everything in the most beautiful, charming way. It reminds me of some of my favorite singers and songs, Phoebe Bridget’s, Charly Bliss, and I simple adore it. I’m extremely fond of what I’ve read of your writing. It felt the more and more it went on the more catchier and whole it felt. Thank you for sharing, this will definitely be going into my favorites. I can’t wait to read more!

[Earthrise]

Cat- can i call you Cat?

this review is so overwhelmingly kind i almost don't know how to receive it. these right here are the words that keep writers going. for what it's worth, you wrote maybe my favorite poem i've found on this site so far, and i hope you put a lot of this energy back into your own writing.

thank you again. i truly appreciate it

[Vertigo Cat1111]

Thank you so, so much. Your poem is deserving of it. I dont go around on this site telling people their poetry I’d beautiful for more review. I do it because i know how wonderful that feeling is, that another writer enjoyed it. Thank you infinitely! This means the world to me, and yes! You can call me cat. (:

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

"On Wall Street now, no more streets of gold.
Ring 'em till their last bedsheets are sold.
Thou shalt steal if it turns a profit.
We can monetize the deaths of prophets." My favorite part because it rings with so much truth. A solid poem.

[willweb]

Wow, I do not know if you planned this poem the way it read but I found, due to your word and line usage, I was reading faster and faster as I got towards the end which to me is amazing. I mean, how does one do that. How do write in a way that someone reads life into the theme of your poem. Wow again, that was pretty damn cool.

[Earthrise]

I have to say, I'm glad you found some meaning in what was ultimately me jumping back and forth between different meters because I didn't have a plan lol

Thanks for the review! I'm glad you were able to enjoy it in that unique way.