Slaughterhouse Poetry

I.                    Be poetry.

 

Be the reason someone, anyone

did not give up yesterday. Be the courage

to toss a match into the place

where someone no longer fits;

watch it burn and walk the hell, away.

Be the style a man or woman adopts

at age 40. Top hats and hip-hugging jeans.

Low cut blouses and a nice jacket.

Be your grandfather’s feet

in a new land or your grandmother’s hands

making the same bread dough

she learned when she was 12.

Be the nursery. Give false promises

to dreamers. Start big. 

Travel with your best clothes;

never as light as you could. 

Be sure to always end

your journey of 1000 miles

at the slaughterhouse.

 

II.                 Be a poem.

 

Be the stray dog that wandered into

the lobby of a 5-star hotel. 

Be so beautiful

that you slowly kill anyone unequipped

to love you properly. Be so ugly

the sun hides his face for

5 months of every year. Be the child

chastising world leaders

about the buying and selling

of her birthright.

Shine so brightly that your enemies

will write and talk about you

but cannot stand to be in the same

physical space, as you. 

Burn them to ash 

with their own envy. 

Be the lamb

that escapes the slaughterhouse

and is adopted by the child

of the frost-tipped mountains. Be

the recipe for perfect bread.

Wear your second best clothes 

to weddings and your best,

to funerals. Be sure to learn

which is which. 

 

 

III.              Or just be a poet.

 

Burn hypocrisy to the ground

in huge bursts of truth and arson. Light

the matches. Feed stray dogs and people

who ask for too much from the world.

Take your lovers to places they never

even heard of. Always eat what a child

offers you; always try what the waiter

brings you- even if you are vegetarian.

Especially if you are a vegetarian. 

Startle your enemies into telling the truth

about themselves. Start a small land war.

Tell the child to keep the lamb. Help him

name it- after his grandfather

or favorite river. Fall in love with a

river. Fall out of love with your partner

and climb into the moon’s bed instead.

Have an affair with starlight.

Have an unplanned pregnancy with Time. 

 

Confess all of this

to your mother on her deathbed; then to

your son, on yours. Use your best scissors-

cut a piece of your homeland from

the fabric of your culture. Use it

to cover a journal. Take it with you

to record all your conquests-

new hearts, lands, soul acquisitions.

Teach everyone to love a little better.

Remind them to live a little freer.

Tell your mother why you chose

to be born to her.

Be anything but boring. Please.

The last thing the world needs

is another person so empty of themselves

they need to fill themselves

by cutting others into pieces. This place

already has 

more than enough slaughterhouses.

Reviews

[emmajoy]

' Fall out of love with your partner - and climb into the moon’s bed instead.- Have an affair with starlight. - Have an unplanned pregnancy with Time. - Confess all of this - to your mother on her deathbed; then to - your son, on yours. Use your best scissors - cut a piece of your homeland from -
the fabric of your culture. '

Dear Lord, how your words make me both wonder and weep, R! Seems you've conjured up near enough every emotion, situation, would be desire, failure - everything in this epic piece. But then, you've always done that.. somehow. Somewhere in your acres of words, you've planted would be beautiful flowers and the most vicious of weeds. Your varying samenesses peep out, but in different contexts and that makes for pauses, second thoughts, Ages and their places, creatures, comforts and darknesses thrust up from it all. If I read this again and again.. and again.. think there'd be a salient point i missed previously.

Magnificent.

[emmajoy]

Returned to read this epic poem yet again.. one of the finest ever. Written from heart and mind, extraordinary. Dear MA, your letter received and hundred percent welcome. Stay safe.

[Pankhurst]

I can't describe why, but 'Slaughterhouse Poetry' is a charming, touching poem that represents how beautiful poetic literature can be. It hints at how poetry can impact other people an change their lives, and encourages you to use your talents. The metaphors used are not only fitting but are brilliantly used.

[Ladysue]

this poem says it like it is with all its raw beauty. Be the poetry, the poem or the poet. What an incredible, inspiring, poignant write. truly magnificent..

[Derek]

So many good verses in this. I could say tons. A saying that I like is, "Be the change you want to see in the world".

[Ken Simm.]

As you said to Dana, no formal review, as yet. Just an appreciation for one of the most epic, developed and remarkable pieces of art it has ever been my good fortune to read. I will take this one away and consider its sparkling text for a long time before I ever come near scratching the surface of its meanings and force. It is simply a tour de force. A beauty in its own right. A universe of poetry. And I still don't feel I am gushing.
I will be back.

[bob, small b. aka invs]

this is the best poem i've read in a long time. it makes me want to do all those things while there's still time. you are a true poet. gorgeous words.