I Am A Poet (bleeding Ink)

From 2007...

 Words from my pen drip

with the blood of dead poets

I lie awake at night hopelessly

trying to erase the rhyme 

 

Like a virus the words eat away at my soul

night after sleepless night

until I rise and give them sanction

allowing them to write themselves

Word after word 

repeating in tempo

I know it is a gift yet a curse

I lie awake as they echo through me

 

It's as if they were with a life of their own

 a soul of their own

The words chisel into my mind

embezzling and bedazzling each thought

 

The foreshadow of something coming

 yet never quite arriving

My heart bleeds the ink

of poets past

 

Like a plea of insanity

straight jacketed in my mind

They can only be released

through the tip of my pen

 

Even then they repeat

night after sleepless night

embedding themselves in my soul

and overpowering my heart

 

I am a poet, I am a poet, I am a poet,...

 

© 2007 bj Smith

aka shallimarRose

 

 

Author's Note

I was born with the gift of rhyme and was rhyming before I could actually write.. It is a gift I know but at night when I try to sleep words align in my head in tempo ..I call this Poetic insomnia. It took me years to learn to write without rhyme which I think I am quite good at now.. Rhyme remains dear to me..

Feel free to comment and or critique my work.. xo shallimarRose

picture from Google images..

Reviews

[jacob erin-cilberto]

you do have the gift of making rhyme seem natural...and yes we are inspired by poets of old...and yet..we want to be our own poet....and the best way is just to let the words write themselves...otherwise we are usually mouthing the words of others...copying, etc.

the best words, the best poems are ones that write themselves.

i like this...

[shallimarRose]

Thank you Jacob.. I am so pleased you came to read.. xo shallimar

[Angi]

Sometimes it does feel like a curse. Sometimes I just want to rest. These damn words choose the craziest times to show up. Knocking on my bedframe, knocking when I shower, knocking when I am working. By the time I get to a pen, they just float away. Rhyme or no, being a poet is hard stuff! Nicely done, Angi~

[Einstein Noodle]

yes you are! enjoyed this lament.

E.

[shallimarRose]

Thanks Einstein... and thank you for the friend request.. I have accepted. shallimarRose

[rhythm&blues]

I like the notion of "bleeding ink", I really enjoyed your poetry here, how I wish poems would form in my thoughts at night. Great read.

[shallimarRose]

Thank you R&B... xo shallimarRose

[SyberRose]

Nicely penned indeed...I dream at night of writing poems too...I wish all my poems would write themselves...but my muse can be stubborn at times haa...Rose:)

[shallimarRose]

Yes my muse sometimes goes into hiding... Thank you for reading Rose, xo Rose.. lol

[Demme]

Beautiful emotion here...and perfect explanation of why a poet simply has to write. Have missed your poetry as well...godd to read you here again!

[shallimarRose]

Thank you Demme.. Looking forward to sharing much more with you again my friend.. xo shallimar

[Demme]

Thanks...same here.

[Ian Faraway]

I believe any true poet has gone through nights when sleep avoided the tiresome mind because rhymes, tempos, words, and imagery captivated our attention and we translate them into words. But we're not satisfied and unable to finally rest until these words make their way onto paper. Only then will sleep finally come to us. I don't know if it's in our blood or if it's just a habit that manifests itself through time but it is both a curse and gift, I agree. J'adore! -Ian

[shallimarRose]

Well In many cases I believe it is in our blood.. My father loved poetry.. wrote a little but love to read it as well.. I have a grandson who at the age of ten began having poor sleeping habits. When he would sleep over i would find little pieces of napkins, paper tpowels.. scraps of paper in the room after he left with rhyming lines on them.. At eleven he bagan writing short fun poems.. Now at 17 he has lost interest but i have no doubt that one day he will realize he is a poet.. Thank you for commenting Ian.. Rose

[Ian Faraway]

It's slightly difficult for me because no one in my family is interested in writing. My father doesn't even like to read. Mother used to write but she has had... a messed up life so she does neither read nor write.

[shallimarRose]

My husband is not really interested in what I write.. He knows I am good at it because it has brought in some money here and there but we do not discuss poetry and unless I force it down his throat he reads little I write.. Perhaps when my books are out he will read..? One could hope... lol Rose

[Ian Faraway]

Maybe if you HINT at him that you have a book out and get more assertive over time then maybe he'll get it. :D -Ian

[shallimarRose]

well I only have some poems published in a book of mixed poetry.. I am working on a compilation of my own works now... Maybe then yes... xo

[E.R. Jonas]

I think you managed the poem without rhyme quite well shamillarRose. I still find the poem easy to read and it has a nice flow to it, and I think a lot of writers will recognise your words. There's no doubt, jugding only from this piece alone that you are a poet.

[shallimarRose]

Thank you for reading and for your kind comment.. Yes I write mostly free verse now but still love rhyme.. shallimarRose

[E.R. Jonas]

Very understandable, I love rhymes as well, but it doesn't mean I can't appreciate a good poem without it ;)

[The Rock And Roll Cowbo..]

What a great poem to read to introduce myself to you... we are a product of the past and there is not an original word that has not been expressed, nowadays it is how we reuse those words to fit our heart's pains and desires.

Fabulous piece.

[shallimarRose]

Thank you cowboy.. I have accepted your friend request.. Looking forward to sharing much more.. shallimar (or many call me Rose)

[The Rock And Roll Cowboy(REBEL WITH A CAUSE)]

You are welcome... I look forward to sharing more as well. You can certainly call me cowboy or my birth name Dale.

[shallimarRose]

Thanks Dale.. I like Cowboy... ;)