Poetry Written By A Collage of People


Including Friends and Famous People

not that my friends aren't famous...

What if
Perry Brass


What if I don't just want to be entertained?
What if I'm sick of junk canned music being imposed on me?
What if I believe my time alone is more important than your time selling me crap; more important than your time bothering me, being stupid, inconsiderate and rude to me?
What if I like dead white males?
What if I like dead white females, too?
What if I'm an unrepentant elitist because I don't believe everyone will be doing exactly the same thing in exactly the same way?
What if I don't like "hip" music?
What if I am not hip at all?
What if I'm completely out of it, what if I'm not in it?
Not in the running, not in the market, not even in the ball park?
What if I stopped being interested in you just because you are as cute as your think you are, which is not enough: what if I like fats, fems, and freaks?
What if I'm too bored with shallow boring people not to find eccentric people attractive?
What if I find fashion silly, and am not interested at all in it?
Or in bad movies that tomorrow will be on TV and the next day in the garbage can?
What if I really enjoy being myself, and find my own quiet company amazingly pleasant?
What if I can no longer sell, hype, or delude myself— or anyone else?
What if the only thing that's important to me is loving someone who can see inside me, and value me, who needs me— what if nothing about that person appeals to you?
What if I find your "friendship" unnecessary?
What if I stop needing to spend my time around people who are there only to dilute my spirit instead of strengthening it, who are only there to keep me diverted— and from myself:
what if I stopped needing them? Or you?
What if I told you that — what if I said you are no longer welcome in the unusual, difficult place I have made for myself, and I am no longer interested in just being comfortable?
What if I found myself impassioned, in love, involved with someone more then you could see— would you find me insane?
Of course you would; and also expendable, ridiculous, and pointless. Of course you would find me that:
so what if I told you there's the door?


Poem
Frank O'Hara

Lana Turner has collapsed!
I was trotting along and suddenly
it started raining and snowing
and you said it was hailing
but hailing hits you on the head
hard so it was really snowing and
raining and I was in such a hurry
to meet you but the traffic
was acting exactly like the sky
and suddenly I see a headline
LANA TURNER HAS COLLAPSED!
there is no snow in Hollywood
there is no rain in California
I have been to lots of parties
and acted perfectly disgraceful
but I never actually collapsed
oh Lana Turner we love you get up

for sara berghoff... a poem at your funeral
Christopher Voris

sigh. she's dead.
i thought she was alive.
nope. wrong. dead.
it really makes you think
that people who you think
are alive. they aren't.
dead. they're dead.
remember that time. remember?
we were fucking drunk. in
class! in class we got fucking
intoxicated on a weekday
and then remember? that one
saturday? do ya? we
were in lafollette eating
lunch. on a saturday.
and no one was fucking
intoxicated? that was crazy!
stupid freshman!
oh oh.. and don't forget!
when we were going to
repossess all that shit
from erica. cause she stole
everything. and then you did!
you took your cord!
sigh. you're dead. it's
still fresh in my head.
i saw you the other night
and you looked fine but you
felt sick. and you said chris
i'm dying. and i said sara i'll
come to your funeral and
recite a poem for you. here is
your poem sara. you're dead.
and i'm writing a poem
for the deceased. it freaks
me out. hey!
you still have my crayons!
damn it.
now i've learned a lesson:
don't loan things to people
who think they're going to
die.


Everything Is Everything


Everything is everything
What is meant to be, will be
After winter, must come spring
Change, it comes eventually


I wrote these words for everyone
Who struggles in their youth
Who won't accept deception
Instead of what is truth
It seems we lose the game,
Before we even start to play
Who made these rules? We're so confused
Easily led astray
Let me tell ya that
Everything is everything
Everything is everything
After winter, must come spring
Everything is everything


I philosophy
Possibly speak tongues
Beat drum, Abyssinian, street Baptist
Rap this in fine linen
From the beginning
My practice extending across the atlas
I begat this
Flippin' in the ghetto on a dirty mattress
You can't match this rapper / actress
More powerful than two Cleopatras
Bomb graffiti on the tomb of Nefertiti
MCs ain't ready to take it to the Serengeti
My rhymes is heavy like the mind of Sister Betty
L. Boogie spars with stars and constellations
Then came down for a little conversation
Adjacent to the king, fear no human being
Roll with cherubims to Nassau Coliseum
Now hear this mixture
Where hip hop meets scripture
Develop a negative into a positive picture


Now, everything is everything
What is meant to be, will be
After winter, must come spring
Change, it comes eventually


Sometimes it seems
We'll touch that dream
But things come slow or not at all
And the ones on top, won't make it stop
So convinced that they might fall
Let's love ourselves then we can't fail
To make a better situation
Tomorrow, our seeds will grow
All we need is dedication


Let me tell ya that,
Everything is everything
Everything is everything
After winter, must come spring
Everything is everything


Everything is everything
What is meant to be, will be
After winter, must come spring
Change, it comes eventually

Unwanted Friends

Valerie Prieshoff

Unwanted friends
At times, we all have them.
Their eyes are like fire,
Burning through us to see our secrets.
They have octopus arms,
Waiting,
Waiting to grab us.
And when they do,
We're caught.
Deceit lies on their lips,
So when our back is turned,
People hear unreal things about us.
Pride is their necklace,
Taking it everywhere with them.
Never letting us escape
Great deeds they have done.
So why are they our friends?
Well, we should know.
Yes unwanted friends,
At times, we all have them.
At times, we are all one.

Mary
Hi, my name is Mary.
I am five.
I am a bad girl,
That's why Daddy hits me.
Mommy said if I wasn't so bad,
Daddy wouldn't hit me so much,
But Mommy is a bad girl too
Because Daddy hit's her.
Mommy and Daddy love me though.

Hello, I'm Mary.
I'm ten years old.
Something is wrong with my Dad.
He's hardly home anymore,
And when he is, I wish he'd leave.
Mom doesn't say much to either of us.
I wonder if Mom's mad at me,
Or if dad love's either one of us.

Hey, I'm Mary.
I'm going on fifteen now.
I've left that dump
And answer to no one but Mary.
My Dad's out of it more that he's in it.
And Mom's so deep in it, she can't find her way out.
I'm too young to raise them.
Since I'm not loved, I know I'm not missed.

Oh hi, I'm Mary.
I'm twenty now.
I wonder how Mom's doing.
I haven't spoken to her in years, I wonder if she's dead.
My Father's drinking wasn't my fault
I should've helped Mom get out.
Love is no longer an issue,
I see a pay phone ahead.

Misused Trust
You walk alone,
I wonder why
You stride my way
And say "Hi."
I smile,
You ask if I'll stay awhile.

We've been seeing each other
For two weeks.
You ask me personal questions,
I wonder what you seek.
My friends say, "Stay away,"
But I melt every time you look my way.

You drag me into drugs
I know I shouldn't do
But you look to me and say,
"Trust me, it'll help you."
My friends say,
"It's almost too late, you must leave,
You think he loves you,
But he decieves."

You say you love me,
You know what's best,
And if I love you,
I'll let you do the rest.

Weeks have passed,
And I don't feel good.
Are we going to far?
I'd erase it if I could.
I went to the doctor,
And went through testing.
I knew what the news was,
Although I pretended I was guessing.
For me, I was glad.
For you, was it good or bad?

I called you up
To tell you the news,
You began to sigh,
What would you do?
You said your feelings for me
Were not real.
You said I'd be fine,
But I knew the scars would never heal.

I've lost my friends
ever since you said, "Hi."
We both walk alone,
Now I know why.

Resume
 by Dorothy Parker

Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren't lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.

*Poems by Allison Brock*

pretending

we all pretend.
no matter what, dreams never end
wishing and hoping
for things that shall not be.
anyone know why
we are so hopeful
for stupid things
that just don't matter
will never matter
shall never matter
but...could...matter.

life

life carries on.
everything is past.
father time doesn't care
i'd like to kick his ass
people come
&
people go
please don't remember me
as that hoe.
we fought the battle
we won the war,
but all we're asked for
is more and more.
fuck all the teachers,
the parents & peers.
I'm sick of the gossip,
they don't understand our fears.
it hurts deep down to be ridiculed & beaten.
especially by your parents
who don't get the weepin'.'

damn it!!! quit watching the damn tv!

~alone w/my friend~
~lonelyness surpassed~
~watching tv in a daze~
~my friend is sleeping~
~or so it seems~
~watching tv in a daze~
~it suddenly occurs to me~
~i feel like shit~
~watching tv in a daze~
~so i get up and fall~
~defeated again and~
~watch the tv in a daze~
~i realize my friend~
~is not breathing, nor~
~watching tv in a daze~
~his face is blue, his eyes~
~are red, but not~
~watching tv in a daze~
~i slowly get up to call~
~and then sit back down~
~watching tv in a daze~
~a few minutes later i~
~pick up my friend who was~
~watching tv in a daze~
~i take him to the car~
~i am too young to drive~
~and return inside to~
~turn the tv off...~
~no longer in a daze~
~for reality has hit~
~a little too hard~
~now i sit around a lot~
~with myself~
~watching tv in a daze~
~because my friend is gone forever~
~he can only see black~
~screens now. blackness~
~to this day i wonder~
~if i should have let~
~him lay there and ~
~watch the tv in a daze~

The Power~ Cher


The king is crying from his throne
He had a queen but now she's gone
What is the magic that we speak
The might strong to mighty week


Every good girl hears it every bad boy fears it
No matter what I see I believe, I believe


The power touches me, the power sets us free
The power holds my hand, the power drives me crazy


The flower grows, an old man dies
And through it all we still survive
A poor man dreams but no one hears
Ain't nothing changed much through the years


Every bad day needs it, every good day breeds it
No matter how it feels when it's real, you know it's real
It's stonger than anybody any man has ever made


The power touches me, the power helps us see
The power holds my hand, yeah the power drives me crazy


It won't take long to understand
Just how lucky I am


Hey hey open up your eyes and see
It won't take long to understand just how lucky I am


Every good boy needs it, every bad girl breeds it
No matter what I see I believe, I believe
It's stonger than anybody any man has ever made
The power touches me, the power helps us see
The power holds my hand, yeah the power drives me crazy
The power touches me, the power helps us see
The power holds my hand, yeah the power drives me crazy


The power, the power, the power
If I believe in you and me
Do we believe that the power's gonna be alright?
In just my mind, yeah, yeah
In the power, the power of love
I believe in the power, the power of true love, baby


Of Course You Will Deny Me
Perry Brass

Of course, you will deny me--
you do not see whom you're taking in your hand.
You think I'm clever, attractive, nice;
the type of guy whom
you'd really like to stay with:
you don't see that I am deep, raging, angry, real, needful, overflowing
like a river filled with streams and dreams
that barely hold me: hold me from you, and yet to you.
This you do not see. I know you would deny me


if you saw this, unless you can see
yourself in me, your own needful, deep, and naked self,
and if you did, you would have to return with me
to the place where I began, and walk
those miles that took me to you: painful
as they are— could you do that?


Instead I only ask you to be still
and let me talk to you,
let me share my soul with you,
another man— forbidden as this is,
but not unbreachable: so I will burst
the boundaries between us for this moment
and make us truthful and holy,
intense in ritual and the desire to share ourselves
With something so much higher than we can be otherwise:


and in this I ask you
to get on your knees with me
and hold me that I not be so frightened,
for I am revealing so much
of myself for all the history blowing within me--
and must go on this course alone now
except with you hand; and though
we have not invented God at this moment
it seems He is blooming within us,
immense, strong, concurrent with desire
yet purged of it: this I know and I have seen
God's pattern in the world— filigreed, complex, yet blissfully simple, always One--
and have known my place in it, and I pull you to it:
and there we lie curled within each other
like time, unfurling each measure, springing,
rich, rapturous: like the bride at the end of the desert
offering water, her tents overhung
with stars: I walk up to you
and we know ourselves within our eyes,
and have spoken in God's own signals,
His language that lies at the heart of nature,
which is undeniable; and normal.


But I know most will deny me: they will
wrap themselves in carelessness
and pull their blindness to them as a shield:
they will argue for "common" sense and their own expulsion
from the garden of the Senses--
that is was too long ago, and they have forgotten
the necessities of childhood, which we do not outgrow.
They will forget how the flowering of themselves
was cut, and how deep the blood flowed
and the pain stung. To forget,
they will hurt me and strike at you:
they will cast you aside with Scripture
and Law, even knowing that I cannot
lie with you as with any other, as you
were mine before all others were created.


Will you come now
into my covenant and let me care
for you? I will promise
to look deeper into your face
and not see fear. Others will deny me,
but you will recognize within me
something that you have sought
outside the bazaars and markets
of your knowledge. Something you thought
you could only find alone, and now
I shall bring it to you: it is with this presence
that we will walk into the great Light,
as other hands will take us kindly
after death.




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