March 27, 2012 - 0500

A goal that I have tried to attain ever since middle school was to learn something every day. Mr Roberts, my 7th and 8th grade social studies teacher said this to his classes and it stuck with me. Whether it's reading something new, seeing something in a different light, or going someplace unknown I have tried. And when I am gone, I hope that someone that I have had contact with, will take that lesson and carry it on to the next generations.

Lessons Learned

In 38 years what have I learned?

When I am on my death bed what can I pass on 

Before I pass on

What are the lessons I can impart before I depart?

In 38 years I have learned

That growing up isn't always done

Where you grow up

That maturity is done when you are gone from home

In 38 years I have learned

That training, knowledge and experience

Are sometimes no match for cunning, deceit and lies

From those who practice this every day

In 38 years I have learned

That your friends will be there for you when it's easy for them

But that best friends never go away

Even when they are far away

In 38 years I have learned

That children can be cruel

Adults can be evil

And that both are learned behaviors

In 38 years I have learned

To ignore the jeers, embrace the laughter,

To remember the tears and to learn from the mistakes

Because none of these come often or last forever

In 38 years I have learned

That I have learned a lot in 38 years

And that there is a lot more to learn

In the next 38 years

March 20, 2012 - 0520

I watched the documentary "Louder Than A Bomb", about the poetry slam contest that takes place in Chicago, and I wrote this after seeing Adam Gottlieb give a jaw-dropping performance. If you haven't seen this movie, and consider yourself any kind of poet, you are doing yourself a disservice. See it now. Twice. It is inspiring.

Who Do I Think I Am?

Can I be as good as this man

This child who lives in the City

This half-my-age literary genius

Who brought me to tears with his words?

I see the open mike calls

The contests and competitions

I see the friendly messages for poems

And I think I can do it

Then I hear this man

This child who lives in the City

This half-my-age literary genius

Who brought me to tears with his words

I say to myself "I can do this"

"I can go to this open call"

"I can write something that they will like"

I think I can...

And then I hear this man

This child who lives in the City

This half-my-age literary genius

Who brought me to tears with his words

I put my words on "paper"

The virtual page where I collect my thoughts

With the thought that I can go to the mike

And share with the polite applause

But then I think of the man

The child who lives in the City

The half-my-age literary genius

Who brought me to to tears with his words

And I close the "book" and walk away