here's the thing

i've never considered
myself a poet
an artist
or even
a creative person

i wrote my first poem
for my flower patterned
skirt wearing
folkie english teacher
in the tenth grade
i didn't want to

but i loved how
that skirt flowed
with her hips

so i did the assignment
and
somehow
wrote something special
to her

i thought it was
bullshit

but i loved how
her hands moved like
cats

so i kept at it

i never read much poetry
i thought it was
pretty much
all the same
can't get shakespeare
or most english lit
the beat generation
was exactly that
and don't even ask me
about those guys in
coffeehouses
reading in that
deliberate
self important and
frankly
ridiculous cadence

there have been
some fortunes
in between
uncle buk
disguising his pain
in the memoirs
of a dirty old man
brother saul
not settling for being
afrocentric
and becoming
the voice of the
oppressed heart
mr. frost
writing it all down
in a dusty vermont cabin
and stealing zen
for the common folk

yes there are
a few

i'm not a poet
i just write stuff down
because i can
like to
need to
and besides
my interpersonal skills
leave much to be desired

there is much beauty
in the world
sometimes i catch it
but more often
i get lazy
and let the horror roll in
and let's face it
ugliness doesn't make
for great poetry

and that's the
problem

g*d gave us
too many poets
but not
enough poetry

still

i loved how
she walked in
that skirt
like dolphins rolling
under emerald waves
so i keep banging
them out

sixteen years later
and i'm still doing
extra homework