The Loser Poet

Once again, sometimes it just seems that way

 

 

 

 

The Loser Poet

 

Losing is a habit

engrained upon my hands,

claiming to be something I am not

Peering in with one wicked eye

fashioned of big words

from worn out dictionary pages

 

my thoughts are fire in lower case flames

complete with soiled ash

and filaments swinging in the breeze

searching for the unburned match

the last one… in a long line of empty phrases

 

blank pages filled with everything conceived

along street water girths and cigarette butts

arranged in the shape of a question mark

on my Walmart coffee table…

never once questioning why

 

Oh I have written, I have penned

and my quill is soft and filled with ink

of another’s pain, dripping on tree leaf mosaics

and carpenter footprints,

leading down that path that I lure

unsuspecting verses now lost with me

 

For I am the loser in this game

only because I chose to play by my rules

Penalties don’t count in my court

for I am blind to the truth

that I am nothing more than me…only what I seem

Author's Note

Thank you for reading

Reviews

[Azure Montessa (Blue)]

You have a natural talent to express your sentiments in poetry so eloquently. :)

[Joiedevivre]

hmm i know what you are communicating here, sometimes we all feel like genuine frauds. Well expressed, but you don't really seem like a loser to me, losers don't write like that!

[Jack...]

Thanks so much...some days it just feels that way. Ups and downs...life is one wild ride.
read moreThanks so much...some days it just feels that way. Ups and downs...life is one wild ride.

If you don't mind me asking, how do you pronounce your name?

[Victoria PoetryBunny]

A lot of thoughts written within this poem, and a nice one too. I like the picture above the writing as well and The Beatles to help tie things together.

[Jack...]

Just a little self examination. Thanks so much for your visit.

[iliOZ]

i often hear the remark about a person who "looks like loser". my question here is, do we really know what a loser looks like? or for that matter do we know what winner looks like?
in my mind one thing is certain. we don't know how to lose! we are geared towards winning.
it is welcome to see fallen and vulnerable.
how else would we remain compassionate ....
thank you jack

[Jack...]

Thank you so much my friend. I appreciate you stopping by today. Winning or losing is all in how you look at it. Some lose only to win while other's only want to win and fall when they lose.

[icelandicblue]

I feel a double meaning in this one. There are times I feel the first person narrative and there are other times it feels that you might be alluding to something (someone) else. You've created a very interesting perspective in this poem.

[Jack...]

Read it how ever you like my friend...you may be on to something. Thank you so very much for everything Anne.

[Angi]

I don't know if you remember my old, 'On poetry' poem or not but, some of the stuff floating around makes me scratch my head and say, 'Duh...' I had been sitting here, reading and reading all day long, I couldn't make sense of anything. Some days are still like that. I regularly screen lit mags and journals to submit to. So many (many, many, many) times my poetry feels so plain jane compared to these wordy-wordy creations. I am me and I will always write like me. The wordy wordy stuff will never be my style. You write beautifully, humorously and real, Jack. You are a poet, mister. Angi~

[Jack...]

Thanks so much Angi. I know I appreciate they way you write but I can tell you...I have seen you leaning in a wordy fashion lately. I have seem a change, subtle, but a change in your work and it is fun watching your poetry evolve. Thanks for your kind words.

[Angi]

But I don't want to be one of those wordy-wordists! ha! Thank you so much, Jack. ...and you are always welcome, mister.

[Coyote Poetry]

I like the Walmart Poets. Good topics to be motivated by. I never wrote to press. I was always the angry Poet.
"my thoughts are fire in lower case flames
complete with soiled ash "
I enjoyed the tale. Always a pleasure to fall into your stories and words. Thank you for the excellent poetry.
Coyote

[Jack...]

Thank you so very much my friend. I truly appreciate your visits.

[Ruth]

Gotta be the self Jack and purge as we see fit...each poet is unique and if remembered or not, least we sent a few ripples into the ether on our way lol xx

[Jack...]

Thanks so much my friend.

[gabrielle]

While i may not have a background in literature, i knew that there were poets of the past who were not given proper credit at one point in their lives because what they wrote or the style they apply deviated from what the traditional/conventional poetry. but today, they are now given fitting recognition in the fields of arts. Being a loser is just a state of mind. And i don't think that there could be a loser or winner in writing poetry.

[Jack...]

Thanks so much for your comments my friend. And you are correct, there is no winning and losing in poetry...but some poets are definitely losers

[Girl Friday (Sarah W.)]

The point of it all is that you bear your heart... In terms of poetry, I've read what is considered "masterful", and I have read work from the undiscovered, and so often I am more moved by the words of those who aren't praised on a worldly level. You have a knack for reaching into the reader's chest with your writing and really forcing them to feel. For that, you will always be a winner in my book.

[Jack...]

Coming from you my sweet friend, those words are priceless to me...for I admire you so.