Untouchability
Drizzling dusk, I sit with lightening evening
at my dim lit room, I can not see from the front
all the things flashing back from behind, funny
are the things! An emotion wrapped up with
reason coming up from the lower part of the
stomach of me, a smile on the face, foolishness,
but body is feeling a queer nausea, how a touch
of a man makes unholy another one! Things are
here funnier! That man one day on the table discussed
some wonderful philosophy, he defined magnificently
dialectic materialism with patriotic affinity and affirmed
firmly ‘ I believe in humanism and in one humanity ‘
I see in his fingers, five rings in numbers though he
cursed me to believe in the things non-matter but he
refused to take with me a cup of tea, more dark
descended around me as I on the bright light of
Sunday morning see hypocrisy! Hypocrisy!
On the pages of matrimonial all the young
demand bride of their own caste, I shall not touch any
book of poetry till the death of Untouchability, let all
the poems get dust as they continue to dropp the trust
to the sea, No more I can bear with this lie, really,
really man is from the monkey!
poem by Abdul Wahab
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
Uh-Uh
No need to tell me you don't understand.
Uh-uh...
I'm not the kind to seek a rhyme or reason.
No!
Don't snap your fingers and from me demand.
Uh-uh...
To have me do
What you want.
Just to be pleasing you.
I am no monkey in a zoo!
Uh-uh,
I'm told you talk about me with your friends.
Uh-uh...
What makes you think I have armored feelings?
So,
There are some things about you I can't stand.
Uh-huh...
You like the kind,
To be backstabbing people like you,
I may be weak but not a fool!
Oh...
No need to tell me you don't understand.
Uh-uh...
I'm not the kind to seek a rhyme or reason.
No!
Don't snap your fingers and from me demand.
Uh-uh...
To have me do,
What you want!
Just to be pleasing you...
I am no monkey in a zoo!
Too many folks like you,
Don't appreciate.
Or affiliate,
With what is good!
You think you are the world.
And others should
Accept you as their precious diamond!
Wishing to touch you,
As they stand in line!
Oh, uh-uh!
I'm told you talk about me with your friends.
Uh-uh...
What makes you think I have armored feelings?
So,
There are some things about you I just can't stand.
Uh-huh...
You like the kind,
To be backstabbing people like you,
I may be weak but not a fool!
Don't snap your fingers and from me demand!
Uh-uh...
To have me do
What you want.
Just to be pleasing you.
I ain't no monkey in a zoo!
Oh, uh-uh...
I may be weak but not a fool!
I'm through!
My time is not all about you!
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Things Are Getting Better
Well I worked for a week and I got no pay.
(things getting better.)
Well my babys coming back home to stay
(things getting better.)
Well shes coming back home, but I havent got a dime
(things getting better.)
But Ive got my love to keep me fine[? ].
(things getting better.)
Oh-oh
Things getting better.
Things getting better.
Well since my babys been away,
(things getting better.)
Well things got worse from day to day.
(things getting better.)
Well now my babys come back to me.
(things getting better.)
Yeah, itll get better, wait and see.
(things getting better.)
Oh-oh
Things getting better.
Things getting better.
Oh-oh
Things getting better.
Things getting better.
Well I pawned my watch and I sold my car.
(things getting better.)
The money Ive got wouldnt get me far.
(things getting better.)
But I dont mind now that youve packed.
(things getting better.)
Its a fact, that
Things getting better.
Things getting better.
Oh-oh
Things getting better.
Things getting better.
song performed by by Kinks
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Fake People
All the time
I look in your eyes
But what I see
And what you say to me
Are two totally different things
You pretend you put on a façade
I only wish you knew that I'm not
The only one who sees it as odd
Fake people
The things they do are oh so evil
Because of their own insecurities
They try to pass on to you their idiosyncrasies
Thinking they are your friends you let them into your lives
But then they turn around and about you tell nothing but lies
Jealousy is such an ugly thing
Almost as ugly as hypocrisy
Fake people
The things they do are oh so evil
Fake people
Fake people
So now I must ask who are your friends
Are they really what they seem to be
Or are they just trying to hide from you their envy
Do your friends really have your back
Or is it that that's where by them you've been stabbed
I once had a friend
One I thought would be there for me till the end
Then one day my happiness ended and theirs began
And when I needed someone to lean on
Behind me did no one stand
Fake people
The things they do are oh so evil
Because of their own insecurities
They try to pass on to you their idiosyncrasies
Thinking they are your friends you let them into your lives
But then they turn around and about you tell nothing but lies
Jealousy is such an ugly thing
Almost as ugly as hypocrisy
Fake people
The things they do are oh so evil
Fake people
Fake people
Be careful who you let know your business
'Cause in the end
Rumors about you they could be spreadin'
Don't put your trust in people who don't trust you
There's no telling what they're liable to say or do
Grow smarter with each experience
And you'll see true friends
Are the friends who are their with and for you till the end
Fake people
The things they do are oh so evil
Because of their own insecurities
They try to pass on to you their idiosyncrasies
Thinking they are your friends you let them into your lives
But then they turn around and about you tell nothing but lies
Jealousy is such an ugly thing
Almost as ugly as hypocrisy
Fake people
The things they do are oh so evil
Fake people
Fake people
(1998)
poem by Dionne K. Kelly
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Strong Enough To Break
Well I haven't been myself today
Just a figure in a big Monopoly Game
The struggle is the price you pay
You get just enough just to give it away
There's something 'bout it floating away
Just throw me a line so I can anchor my pain
The fabric is about to fray
The fabric is about to fray
Well maybe you could take a look at yourself lately
Maybe you could take a look at yourself lately
Maybe you could take a look at yourself lately
Things keep coming and I keep wondering
I start feeling the walls close in
Things keep coming and I keep stumbling
I start feeling I'm strong enough to break
Oh I start feeling I'm strong enough to break Oh
You've been running through my mind today
Scenarios to add to your hypocrisy
No one ever takes the blame
But everyone is searching for a cure to the pain
Nothing ever seems to change
Oh nothing ever seems to change
We just play like broken records in a deaf man's charade
Well maybe you could take a look at yourself lately
Maybe you could take a look at yourself lately
Maybe you could take a look at yourself lately
Things keep coming and I keep wondering
I start feeling the walls close in
Things keep coming and I keep stumbling
I start feeling I'm strong enough to break
Oh Ho
Oh carry on just a pawn in this same old song
I'm still holding on
The fabric is about to fray
Well maybe you could take a look at yourself lately
Maybe you could take a look at yourself lately
Things keep coming and I keep wondering
I start feeling the walls close in
Things keep coming and I keep stumbling
I start feeling I'm strong enough to break
Things keep coming and I keep wondering
I start feeling the walls close in
Things keep coming and I keep stopping them
I start feeling I'm strong enough to break
Oh I start feeling I'm strong enough to break
Oh I start feeling I'm strong enough to break
song performed by by Hanson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Well We Might
There once was time to sit and spin
The dream without, the light within
When young ideals like creed and rote
Would wreathe their blue tobacco smoke.
When wine was certain at each sip
When answers leapt at every lip,
Such were the days, when we all knew
If we were asked, what we would do.
But life began to call us in
And time, as such, has grown so thin,
We rush to do the things we must
While dreams, ideals, are things of dust.
And soon we turn our backs on them
Those shadows that were once young men
Who never dreamt hypocrisy
Would spill their dreams, philosophy;
And rule them with a rod of steel
And teach them well how not to feel,
And lead them blindly through their days –
They spare no thought for younger ways.
And where that dream, ideal, that once
Was held to spell deliverance?
Well we might ask, and well we might;
It’s life, not death, puts out the light.
26 September 1986
poem by David Lewis Paget
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Green Things Growing
O the green things growing, the green things growing,
The faint sweet smell of the green things growing!
I should like to live, whether I smile or grieve,
Just to watch the happy life of my green things growing.
O the fluttering and the pattering of those green things growing!
How they talk each to each, when none of us are knowing;
In the wonderful white of the weird moonlight
Or the dim dreamy dawn when the cocks are crowing.
I love, I love them so - my green things growing!
And I think that they love me, without false showing;
For by many a tender touch, they comfort me so much,
With the soft mute comfort of green things growing.
And in the rich store of their blossoms glowing
Ten for one I take they're on me bestowing:
Oh, I should like to see, if God's will it may be,
Many, many a summer of my green things growing!
But if I must be gathered for the angel's sowing,
Sleep out of sight awhile, like the green things growing,
Though dust to dust return, I think I'll scarcely mourn,
If I may change into green things growing.
poem by Dinah Maria Mulock Craik
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Its All Coming Back To Me Now
There were nights when the wind was so cold
That my body froze in bed
If I just listened to it
Right outside the window
There were days when the sun was so cruel
That all the tears turned to dust
And I just knew my eyes were
Drying up forever
I finished crying in the instant that you left
And I cant remember where or when or how
And I banished every memory you and I had ever made
But when you touch me like this
And you hold me like that
I just have to admit
That its all coming back to me
When I touch you like this
And I hold you like that
Its so hard to believe but
Its all coming back to me
(its all coming back, its all coming back to me now)
There were moments of gold
And there were flashes of light
There were things Id never do again
But then theyd always seemed right
There were nights of endless pleasure
It was more than any laws allow
Baby baby
If I kiss you like this
And if you whisper like that
It was lost long ago
But its all coming back to me
If you want me like this
And if you need me like that
It was dead long ago
But its all coming back to me
Its so hard to resist
And its all coming back to me
I can barely recall
But its all coming back to me now
But its all coming back
There were those empty threats and hollow lies
And whenever you tried to hurt me
I just hurt you even worse
And so much deeper
There were hours that just went on for days
When alone at last wed count up all the chances
That were lost to us forever
But you were history with the slamming of the door
And I made myself so strong again somehow
And I never wasted any of my time on you since then
But if I touch you like this
And if you kiss me like that
It was so long ago
But its all coming back to me
If you touch me like this
And if I kiss you like that
It was gone with the wind
But its all coming back to me
(its all coming back, its all coming back to me now)
There were moments of gold
And there were flashes of light
There were things wed never do again
But then theyd always seemed right
There were nights of endless pleasure
It was more than all your laws allow
Baby, baby, baby
When you touch me like this
And when you hold me like that
It was gone with the wind
But its all coming back to me
When you see me like this
And when I see you like that
Then we see what we want to see
All coming back to me
The flesh and the fantasies
All coming back to me
I can barely recall
But its all coming back to me now
If you forgive me all this
If I forgive you all that
We forgive and forget
And its all coming back to me
When you see me like this
And when I see you like that
We see just what we want to see
Al coming back to me
The flesh and the fantasies
All coming back to me
I can barely recall but its all coming back to me now
(its all coming back to me now)
And when you kiss me like this
(its all coming back to me now)
And when I touch you like that
(its all coming back to me now)
If you do it like this
(its all coming back to me now)
And if we...
song performed by by Celine Dion
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Tonight I Draw Your Smile
tonight i draw your smile,
a smile that makes me feel satisfied,
feeling it touch my weary heart,
as if it has only began to played its part,
a touch of a child to my heart,
which makes me want to fall apart,
for a baby's touch is ever so mild,
a smile that makes my heartbeat intensified,
for it can make my heart feel warm,
If only I could ask God to just add one more heartbeat,
I would, for I want to see you smile,
Even just a second longer than i'm suposed to be,
a smile that can take me to paradise,
feeling nothing but happiness inside,
i wish i can see it every now and then,
i wish i can see it when i start and end my dream.
a smile that stops my heart from crying,
for it gives me more reason to continue living,
and makes me feel stupid of all my dying wishes,
for God's miracle is always been that simple,
with one smile that no one can ever defy.
-GanNi
poem by Geovanni Leaño
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Little Things
THE LITTLE THINGS
You dont have to buy me all the gold there is in Rome
Dont have to surprise me with the most expensive home
Dont have to travel round the world for me at all
Baby, the way you smile at me is self explainable.
Oh baby baby baby, I dont want much
Just say you love me now and then
And mean it is more than enough.
Chorus 1:
Its just the little thing, the simple little things, babe
I know it may sound funny but
Sometimes they mean so much to me
Makes me feel secure and puts my soul at ease
Baby the little things are things that matter to me
(Hey, ooh babe, oh yeah baby, yeah darling)
Oh you dont have to be a movie star on the TV, no baby
Dont have to be a knight in shining armor to rescue me, no
Dont have to promise me the moon and stars above, darling
Just keep sure your there for me it keeps me in love.
Oh baby baby baby, I dont want much
Ooh just say you love me now and then
.And mean it is more than enough.
Chorus 2:
It just the little things, the simple little things, babe
I know it may sound funny but
Sometimes they mean so much to me
Makes me feel secure and puts my mind at ease
Baby the little things are things that matter to me.
You dont have, to go out of your way baby
Just say, that love, will always stay darling
Oh baby, I dont, dont really want much
Cause if you really love me baby hey
Thats more than enough.
Chorus 3:
Its just the little things, the simple little things, babe
I know it may sound funny but
Sometimes they mean so much to me
Makes me feel secure and puts my mind at ease
Baby the little things are things that matters
Little things are things that matters (Things that matter)
A little things are things that matter to me, hey, ow.
song performed by by Toni Braxton
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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When I Want A Man
I want a man for they have more esperance to pleasure me
I want a boy to play games with
I want a man to know how to make the sun melt inside of my stomach
I want a boy to be loose with
I want a man for they know what I want before I even know
I want a boy to create new and interesting things
I want a man to have a serious relationship with
I want a boy to not care with
I want a man to take some risks with
I want a boy to have some fun with
I want a man to know when to shut up
I want a boy to show off in front of me cause it’s just so cute
I want a man to be there when I go to bed
I want a boy to always want to go
I want a man to know when I say no that means no
I want a boy who always let me get my way
I want a man who loves me for me
I want a boy who’s afraid of loosing me
I want a man who I can trust
I want a boy who never breaks my heart
I want a man that is not afraid of breaking my heart but makes it up to me latter
I want a boy to mess around on
I want a man to give me that fire in my stomach
I want a boy to teach the things I know to
I want a man to makes my hole body burst into flames
I want a boy that’s older then me and acts like a man but a man who is like a boy
poem by Mrs. Cynosure
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Things I Do N Dont Do
the things i do for love
the things i do for me
the things i do because im scared
the things i do because im lonely
the things i do coz im failing my self
the things i do for family
the things i do when im angery
the things i try and stop my self doing is suicide
self harming
overdosing
having stomach pumped
drinking
hanging ur self
all help when u think bout it till sum1 stops u
and gets u help
ask a doctor or a friend
dont bottle things up like i do i dont trust me m8s
or family i speak to strangers coz they dont know u
they cant gudge u or make asumstions bout u
the things i do for love
the things i do for me
the things i do because im scared
the things i do because im lonely
the things i do coz im failing my self
the things i do for family
the things i do when im angery
my family and friends push me into situation
i cant handle so i take me blade to my wrist
wait for the blood and get a rush to my head
poem by Claire Finch
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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And In The Morning
(hall)
In the early morning when Im lying by your side
Doubts go through my mind, thoughts I try to hide
Lying there I wonder if your love for me is real
Or just another fantasy
Then I try to think about the way things used to be
Misty memories, hazy like a dream
All we did together, all the things we planned to do
There was only me and you
And in the morning I touch you
And I find youre still there
I want to tell you that I love you
Please never leave me
In the morning light I turn to look at you
And hope that you still care
When I look back on our life, the pieces fall in place
Words that went unsaid, pictures of your face
All those things we shared, yet stay together day by day
Cause our love was never far away
And in the morning I touch you
And I find youre still there
I want to tell you that I love you
Please never leave me
In the morning light I turn to look at you
And hope that you still care
song performed by by Olivia Newton-John
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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More Poems To Come
More poems that do rhyme,
talking about people in the big time.
More poems that tell a story,
about happy things, not gory.
More poems to come on Christinasunrise,
where I will make you realize,
things can brighter and bigger if you fantasize.
For we live in our heads all day,
we should think of funny things to say.
That’s why my Pissed Off poems are really funny,
like “Skunkman Is Afraid Of The Easter Bunny”.
poem by Christina Sunrise
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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What We Want
What we want
is never simple.
We move among the things
we thought we wanted:
a face, a room, an open book
and these things bear our names--
now they want us.
But what we want appears
in dreams, wearing disguises.
We fall past,
holding out our arms
and in the morning
our arms ache.
We don't remember the dream,
but the dream remembers us.
It is there all day
as an animal is there
under the table,
as the stars are there
even in full sun.
poem by Linda Pastan
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Strong Emough To Break
Ohh
Well i'm not feeling myself today
Just a figure in a big monopoly game
Struggle is the price you pay
You get just enough just to give it away
I'm sinking more than floating away
Just throw me a line so i can anchor my pain
The fabric is about to fray
The fabric is about to fray
Maybe you could take a look at yourself lately
Maybe you could take a look at yourself lately
Maybe you could take a look at yourself lately
Things keep coming and i keep wondering
And i start feeling the walls close in
Things keep coming and i keep stumbling
I start feeling strong enough to break
I start feeling strong enough to break
I've been running through my mind today
Somebody has to catch your hypocrisy
No one ever takes the blame
But everyone is searching for a cure to the pain
Nothing ever seems to change
Oh, nothing ever seems to change
We just play broken records in a deaf man's charade
Maybe you could take a look at yourself lately
Maybe you could take a look at yourself lately
Maybe you could take a look at yourself lately
Things keep coming and i keep wondering
And i start feeling the walls close in
Things keep coming and i keep stumbling
I start feeling strong enough to break
I start feeling strong enough to break
I start feeling strong enough...
Oh yeah
Strong enough to break
Strong enough to break
song performed by by Hanson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Angel And Beauty
An angel with butterfly wings,
gossamer touch of beautiful things.
A satin sash and golden rings,
life is a wonderful thing.
The scarlet touch as sunset dies,
behold the world is full of lies.
The angel spreads its wings and flies,
to everyone’s breathless sighs.
The shadow of reason clouds our mind.
Where are we in ageless time?
Oh, behold my wonderful find,
the reason for living given in this sign.
Step back from this perilous world,
and let the beauties at your feet unfold.
Gaze upon the wealth untold,
of arms stretched out for you to hold.
Look around at things you’ve done,
at pleasures you have found,
and seek the soft and sandy ground,
where lies the happy children sounds.
poem by David Harris
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Strong Enough To Brake
Well I haven't been myself today
Just a figure in a big Monopoly game
Struggle is the price you pay
You get just enough just to give it away
You're sinking more than floating away
Just throw me a line so I can ache my pain
The fabric is about to fray
The fabric is about to fray
Maybe you could take a look at yourself lately
Maybe you could take a look at yourself lately
Maybe you could take a look at yourself lately
Things keep coming and I keep wondering
I start feeling the walls close in
Things keep coming and I keep stumbling
I start feeling strong enough to break
I start feeling strong enough to break
I've been running through my mind today
Scenario has to catch your hypocrisy
No one ever takes the blame
But everyone is searching for a cure to the pain
Nothing ever seems to change
Oh, nothing ever seems to change
We just play broken records in a deaf man's charade
Maybe you could take a look at yourself lately
Maybe you could take a look at yourself lately
Maybe you could take a look at yourself lately
Things keep coming and I keep wondering
And I start feeling the walls close in
Things keep coming and I keep stumbling
I start feeling strong enough to break
I start feeling strong enough to break
I start feeling strong enough...
Oh yeah
Strong enough to break
Strong enough to break
song performed by by Hanson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Bandit
Turnin' the pages in this old book
Seems familiar, it might be worth a second look
Wrapping up dope in a paper bag
Talking to yourself taking a drag
Were you kidding with what you say,
What does it matter you'll never hear it anyway.
Gotta get past the negative things
Lawyers and business, you get what you bring
No one's sorry you did it yourself
It's time to relax now and then give it hell
Someday you'll find what you're looking for
Someday you'll find what you're looking for
You didn't bet on the Dodgers to beat the Giants
And David came up,
Now you gotta pay up
You didn't count on that
Geez, half the money's gone
The month is still young
Where are you gonna go now?
Things are closing in
You gotta trust someone...trust someone
Someone you trust.
Gotta be carefull...carefull
Can't go to your brother,
the money's all gone.
Can't go to your friends
Someday you'll find everything you're looking for
Someday you'll find everything you're looking for
Someday you'll find everything you're looking for
Someday you'll find everything you're looking for, yeah
Made out like a bandit for so many years
What are you working for?
One more big score?
What are you trying to prove?
Try to get closer but not too close
Try to get through but not be through
No one can touch you now
I can touch you
You're invisible, you've got too many secrets
Bob Dylan said that
somebody like that
Someday you'll find everything you're looking for
Someday you'll find everything you're looking for
Someday you'll find everything you're looking for, yeah
song performed by by Neil Young
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Skull Ring
(feat. The Stooges)
Skull rings
Fast cars
Hot chicks
Money
Skull rings
Fast cars
Hot chicks
Fancy things
The touch of a hand in the wasteland
you're walking asleep and dreaming cheap
A bird's wing don't beat for free
You're freezing cold and your family
Skull rings
Fast cars
Hot chicks
Money
Skull rings
Fast cars
Hot chicks
Fancy things
Fingers on fire to do what's bad
Ring on the finger is a skull man
Strong as a bar of steel
Weakness is that you can't feel
Skull rings
Fast cars
Hot chicks
Money
Skull rings
Fast cars
Hot chicks
Fancy things
My life is dirtied, my mind is loaded
I'm feeling and breathing and fighting
To see
People get ready now
Baby come on give your heart to me
Skull rings
Fast cars
Hot chicks
Money
Skull rings
Fast cars
Hot chicks
Fancy things
song performed by by Iggy Pop
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Politics of Narrative: Why I Am A Poet
Jill's a good kid who's had some tough luck. But that's
another story. It's a day when the smell of fish from Tib's hash
house is so strong you could build a garage on it. We are sit-
ting in Izzy's where Carl has just built us a couple of solid
highballs. He's okay, Carl is, if you don't count his Roamin'
Hands and Rushin' Fingers. Then again, that should be the
only trouble we have in this life. Anyway, Jill says, "Why
don't you tell about it? Nobody ever gets the poet's point of
view." I don't know, maybe she's right. Jill's just a kid, but
she's been around; she knows what's what.
So, I tell Jill, we are at Izzy's just like now when he
comes in. And the first thing I notice is his hair, which has
been Vitalis-ed into submission. But, honey, it won't work,
and it gives him a kind of rumpled your-boudoir-or-mine look.
I don't know why I noticed that before I noticed his face.
Maybe it was just the highballs doing the looking. Anyway,
then I see his face, and I'm telling you--I'm telling Jill--this is
a masterpiece of a face.
But--and this is the god's own truth--I'm tired of
beauty. Really. I know, given all that happened, this must
sound kind of funny, but it made me tired just to look at him.
That's how beautiful he was, and how much he spelled T-R-
O-U-B-L-E. So I threw him back. I mean, I didn't say it, I say
to Jill, with my mouth. But I said it with my eyes and my
shoulders. I said it with my heart. I said, Honey, I'm throwing
you back. And looking back, that was the worst, I mean, the
worst thing--bar none--that I could have done, because it
drew him like horseshit draws flies. I mean, he didn't walk
over and say, "Hello, girls; hey, you with the dark hair, your
indifference draws me like horseshit draws flies."
But he said it with his eyes. And then he smiled. And
that smile was a gas station on a dark night. And as wearying
as all the rest of it. I am many things, but dumb isn't one of
them. And here is where I say to Jill, "I just can't go on." I
mean, how we get from the smile into the bedroom, how it all
happens, and what all happens, just bores me. I am a concep-
tual storyteller. In fact, I'm a conceptual liver. I prefer the
cookbook to the actual meal. Feeling bores me. That's why I
write poetry. In poetry you just give the instructions to the
reader and say, "Reader, you go on from here." And what I like
about poetry is its readers, because those are giving people. I
mean, those are people you can trust to get the job done. They
pull their own weight. If I had to have someone at my back in
a dark alley, I'd want it to be a poetry reader. They're not like
some people, who maybe do it right if you tell them, "Put this
foot down, and now put that one in front of the other, button
your coat, wipe your nose."
So, really, I do it for the readers who work hard and, I
feel, deserve something better than they're used to getting. I
do it for the working stiff. And I write for people, like myself,
who are just tired of the trickle-down theory where some-
body spends pages and pages on some fat book where every-
thing including the draperies, which happen to be burnt orange,
are described, and, further, are some metaphor for something.
And this whole boggy waste trickles down to the reader in the
form of a little burp of feeling. God, I hate prose. I think the
average reader likes ideas.
"A sentence, unlike a line, is not a station of the cross." I
said this to the poet Mark Strand. I said, "I could not stand to
write prose; I could not stand to have to write things like 'the
draperies were burnt orange and the carpet was brown.'" And
he said, "You could do it if that's all you did, if that was the
beginning and the end of your novel." So please, don't ask me
for a little trail of bread crumbs to get from the smile to the
bedroom, and from the bedroom to the death at the end, al-
though you can ask me a lot about death. That's all I like, the
very beginning and the very end. I haven't got the stomach for
the rest of it.
I don't think many people do. But, like me, they're either
too afraid or too polite to say so. That's why the movies are
such a disaster. Now there's a form of popular culture that
doesn't have a clue. Movies should be five minutes long. You
should go in, see a couple of shots, maybe a room with orange
draperies and a rug. A voice-over would say, "I'm having a
hard time getting Raoul from the hotel room into the eleva-
tor." And, bang, that's the end. The lights come on, everybody
walks out full of sympathy because this is a shared experi-
ence. Everybody in that theater knows how hard it is to get
Raoul from the hotel room into the elevator. Everyone has had
to do boring, dogged work. Everyone has lived a life that
seems to inflict every vivid moment the smears, finger-
ings, and pawings of plot and feeling. Everyone has lived un-
der this oppression. In other words, everyone has had to eat
shit--day after day, the endless meals they didn't want, those
dark, half-gelatinous lakes of gravy that lay on the plate like
an ugly rug and that wrinkled clump of reddish-orange roast
beef that looks like it was dropped onto your plate from a
great height. God what a horror: getting Raoul into the ele-
vator.
And that's why I write poetry. In poetry, you don't do
that kind of work.
poem by Lynn Emanuel
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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