the shallow poet's bucket list

the shallow poet's bucket list

 

 

i spit on meaning

want to write poems

about nothing that mean nothing

 

don't want beauty either

to hell with imagery

alliteration

anything that shines a light

 

want to write poems

about nothing that mean nothing

 

don't want abstract, contract

or cataracts from too much reading

or thinking or expecting then rejecting

ideas

 

just want to write words

and words and more words

to fill a space

not an emptiness of heart

or soul

but i want control

of syllables, put a lasso around them

keep them so simple

they are meaningless

but just fill a space

a page

 

a little butter on the clutter

to slide them all into a verse

to curse all of the metaphors

allegories

and meanings between the lines

i don't care if it is a strict yellow line

i don't want to cross it

with anything that has thesis

or jesus ties

 

just want lies

that nothing matters

and what i write

are poems 

about nothing that mean nothing

 

then i could die happy

without a care in the world

as i spit on meaning

clutching my Thesaurus

with my cold bones.

 

erin-cilberto

12/20/24

Reviews

[Soren]

There are an ocean of these poets out there and I have read some and their water leaves me thirsty. It is salt water in a large sea of poems but then who am I to judge art is in the eye of the beholder and there are many fish that do quite well in a salty sea. Lovely write Jacob

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Poetry is definitely in the eye of the reader!
thank you, Soren,
j.

[Red Brick Keshner]

Oh, beautiful and brief, Soren (Paton my cutting in,j; Christmas you see) an excellent analogy, oh that we like the salmon could be born in fresh water but lives to ride the sea!

[lov]

To EXPRESS!!! explanation kills art. this is literally what I feel like when I write. Sometimes I don`t have a fcking clue what it means, it just needs to be out. I like that a lot. Just spitting out your sorrows, your anger, your whatever and making art out of it, something beautiful.

I like to say to myself that everything bad in my life has to be something good, even if its just a little, tiny thing. Something good must have come out of it. It must. I will search for it and I`ll write.
Your words relate to me so hard, it makes me feel understood.

thank you so much for your words, J.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you for your kind and understanding review, lov,
j.

[Lydia Shutter]

"a little butter on the clutter" loved this line! So often the reader reads the poet's words and believes they have deep meaning when, in fact, they are nothing but a bit of clutter. Like throwing paint on the canvas to see what it looks like, we can throw words on the page....and someone will find meaning in them. Lydi**

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I do a lot of cluttering...thank you for your kind words, Lydi,
j.

[Thomas W Case]

Tremendous work. The writing of a writer.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you, Thomas,
j.

[Fabian G. Franklin]

You watched "Grumpy Cat the Movie" didn't you? Seems at least one of the Welsh thinks we ought not die happy but "raging against the dying of the light". My favorite poem on death is No Coward Soul is Mine by Emily Bronte. My second favorite is by a different Emily, Because I Could Not Stop for Death. I want to burn like Autumn leaves into the heart of winter; ablaze like burning meteors that fade into the night. Have a swan song. I admit to having never heard an actual swan song. I was attacked by a swan once but I attacked him right back and that threw him off his game. He was hissing and puffing as he walked away. And he walked. He did not run or fly. He was letting me know he wasn't scared but a crazy human that growls like a mountain lion and waves his arms might be best avoided. Swans aren't entirely stupid. (laughing)

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I teach "Because I could not" in my lit class...the students always enjoy dissecting that one.
Love your story about the swan....
j.

[Fabian G. Franklin]

What's funnier, my wife and her cousin were watching me from a screened in porch. They saw me but not the swan. They thought I'd lost my mind.

[LisaCarol]

Wow! This was such a fun read. I came to this platform to learn and grow as a writer. I shall favorite this one as an example of a great poem. Thank you for sharing your writing.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you for your kind words, Lisa,
j.

[Desert Knave]

Methinks you enjoyed this a bit too much. Yeah, metaphors and allegories and meaningful stories have no place on the stage. ~Jim

[jacob erin-cilberto]

then let's shut the play down, Jim...:)))

[Chris Shaw]

The shallow poet’s bucket list. I think you enjoyed writing this j. I sense you smiling as you penned the lines and it has made me smile too. There is certainly nothing shallow in your poetry. Writing about nothing and poems with no meaning are quite hard to contemplate.

Chris

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Yes, I admit...this was fun.
thanks, Chris,
j.

[Brandy]

Your description of a ' shallow writer ' brings a smile. : )
For someone to write about nothing and it mean nothing, sure seems to care a lot about the meaning behind what they haven't created. How it will turn out.

Not so shallow after all.
Well, not about poetry anyway.

You are so clever and creative, Jacob.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you for your very kind review, Brandy,
j.