motions in an apathetic circle

A Poem by jacob erin-cilberto

i want to be intellectual,

but simple

i want to write deeply metaphorical poetry

yet easily imagined and related to

i want to be sophisticated in my manner

yet approachable

i want to write tragedy

in comic tones

i want to be me,

yet Gary Cooper, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Bogart

smoking a cigarette on a dark corner of life

i want to love you till the end of time,

but be by myself more often than not

i want to write you engaging poetry

without caring if it is accepted or rejected

i want to be immune

yet feel every ache, cut, scar

that bleeds existence into a poet

i want to be you

not me,

never me

i want to live outside myself

in the safety of my own mind

i want you to understand

all that i don't

and hold that in highest regard

without regards to what i write

after all

it's all just a bluff

and i am holding a dead hand

even as the fingers still touch

the breathing keys.

erin-cilberto

6/7/17

© 2017 jacob erin-cilberto

My Review

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Reviews

Robert Trakofler

Wow I got no words-- me--i got no words... Ah-ha, but it seems you are in fact all of the above and then some in this great smash smack of emotions you wrote! I love this every last drop.

Posted 6 Years Ago

6 Years Ago

thank you so much, Bad bunny...i am surprised to see this one resurfacing...and glad it works for re.. read more

6 Years Ago

yes this i am shelving

kentuck14

J.
I almost missed this one! May I say this is top notch stuff! Not that I don't enjoy your current work, but I think it is possibly your best . . . to me (right along side your poem about a Bronx street turning into a wave). Love that line near the end, "after all/it's all just a bluff." What an honest confession! Are we not walking contradictions!? This poem expresses so well how we live out so many convolutions. "I want to live outside myself/in the safety of my own mind." Oh how bi-polar are are desires . . . wanting to go beyond our fears and phobias, prejudices, self deceit , etc . . . yet not willing to give up the very things that beset us so.

Wonderful and exacting poem my friend. Congratulation.
Tom

Posted 6 Years Ago

6 Years Ago

thank you so much for your very kind words, Tom.
j.

Ken Simm.

My first impression was but you do all that Jacob. And then I got deeper into the poem and realised more.
So excellent writing by, (I will still say it) someone I regard as a master.

Posted 7 Years Ago

7 Years Ago

7 Years Ago

You're welcome..

Writeforlovely

wow this was good! bravo!

Posted 7 Years Ago

7 Years Ago

thank you!
j.

Corset

I want to be the author of this poem :P we can be whatever we imagine ourselves to be, at least in our own minds? I don't want to be Bogart though..."To have and to have not", my favorite of yours I think ...