I want to write a poem

[Doreen Peri]

I want to write a poem that moans and weeps,
creeps itself beneath the surface of your skin,
begins in the middle of something completely
unexpected, resurrects the purpose of a breath,
and when the poem comes, death becomes a revision
with each additional image, each additional line,
inhales and exhales are granted permission to continue
with the rise and fall of a breastbone, each word coming
and becoming again. The poem I want to write will have
no end, lyrics drifting into what you thought would
be a void but what isn't at all, full to overflowing,
the call of a living mantra as decibels electronically vibrate
the warm sticky blood that flows through your veins.
The poem I want to write awaits the same way a man
will wait for a woman to come and the exact way a woman
lounges on the veranda while she stares at her cell phone
clock, each stanza walking in one step then the next, texts
being ignored as she pours herself a drink, thinks it
might be him who'll call next. This is how a poem can
arrive, not all at once but with bit-by-bit relief, as it teases
its way into a moment without warning and this is the poem
I want to write, one that seizes an empty night and lights a
fire in the pit of your sternum. I want to write a poem that
unbuckles Orion's Belt, starlight forming a halo around
his head.

[the mingo]

can i say (wiping sweat from brow) ?

[revolutionR]

My sense about this one, is that you are opening up deeper pathways
to your more hidden feelings. It's difficult to know about our secret
senses, that's where poetry helps with allowing those deeper areas
to come into play, call it the subconscious, the collective unconscious.
it's those in between places, the ones that we live with, that are
always present, that we get glimmers of when our blood flows
more freely. When we get that restless urge to write something down.
We might not know what we are going to say, but an image comes
into focus, like one of those fortune telling 8 balls, that when you
ask a question, and roll it over, it floats into position,

[Doreen Peri]

mingo... here's a hanky!

craig ... i'm getting back into writing again after a long time of being wordless. It's all pouring out. Though I write in many styles, this stream-of-consciousness style using rhythm and interior rhyme is really the most prominent style of mine. It just comes out that way, and the words write themselves. I'm only the vehicle for allowing the flow from the universe, my subconscious, or wherever it comes from. I wrote this last night in response to a challenge at "that other site".. hah! The challenge was to start a poem with the words "I want to write a poem" ... and this is what poured out of me. Thx for your reply especially 'cause I think you nailed it... that's the way I write. I didn't very much like the words "I want to write a poem" but I had to use them to meet the challenge. Poems about writing poems are a dime a dozen... though I'm sorta happy with how this one turned out. thx again

[revolutionR]

well, I don't know about the title, but the way it came out
kinda reminds me of the way I write, maybe not so much
the actual wording, but the way you did the wording. It's
just the feel of the flow, like it started in the middle, instead
of some beginning.
Placing the title story aside.

[Doreen Peri]

Thank you! ... when I met you on litkicks one of the first things I thought was he writes similar to me when I write stream-of-consciousness type stuff.... only I was impressed because your use of imagery is far superior to mine. You use images that blow me away! And your storytelling is much better than mine! i can't touch it... it's fabulous... but anyway, this is one reason I became a huge fan of yours because you inspire me with the way you let the words flow and I recognize it since it's similar to how I write a lot of times. I don't think much, really. Thinking ruins it.... but I do edit as part of the writing process to make sure it flows right. Oh crap, why am I telling you all this? Who cares what my process is? *rolling eyes*Sorry

[revolutionR]

No, I edit here and there too, kinda like pruning the tree
it depends, it's funny to me, how uptight some people
are about how people write. That whole stupid thing
on that other site.What did they gain? Nothing!
even that nice "out of the blue" lady just don't get it
she sided with the management, when all the dust cleared,
I wrote dust, as duck, and then I was thinking of Duck tape
that manager guy, won't let me even log in now. Just for
defending myself against insult. That other guy had it in for me
because, I kinda mocked his comment, about my comment
on his poem, when he said "nothing random", I let him know
that I through that unless it had randomness it really could
not be ironic, he used that word "ironic" I later said somewhere
that "calculated irony" is no irony at all. Anyway, I know my punctuation
is not something I pay much attention to, let alone any other rules. I
was never good at any technical rules, That was not my strong point
I was more into reading the poetry, and writing how it made me feel

[Doreen Peri]

ridiculous! .. "their shoes are tied too tight" - Lrod
He posted there, too... his stuff is archived at the bottom of the page (all my comments are removed from his stuff, though, 'cause I deleted myself once). Amazing he didn't get kicked out 'cause he used to get kicked out everywhere.. haha.. a different era when he posted, though... probably before the new management. Seriously... to block your log-in entirely? they just can't handle the truth, that's all. It's too bad (for me) because i post there for several reasons and we've already talked about it... and I really like having you around... but next time they piss me off, I'll be gone too.. that's for sure. As 68 said, he's going to celebrate when he leaves. Let's all throw confetti and have some champagne. The whole scene is dysfunctional. It's like there are some really fine writers and then this group of nazis that try to duct tape their mouths shut... i hate that about it... but i do get a kick out of speaking out against all the academic "rules" and telling them they don't know what poetry is about, but I try to do it in a subtle way because if I don't, my posts get deleted.... anyway, way too stressful sometimes.

I love the PEACE and enlightenment of Studio8 ... I love everybody here.I just love this site. Love love love it. It's not as active as it used to be but that's ok, we have a core group of fine writers who respect each other and get inspired by each other and we're here to WRITE, not ridicule. If I didn't know who ran this place, I'd say hats off to the management! Hahaha

xo

[revolutionR]

I miss Lrod too.

[Doreen Peri]

Yeah. So many do. He was some kinda special, that ornery, belligerent, ultra-creative hoodlum.

I think I'll change the title of this poem to something else. I don't know what yet.

[WIREMAN]

yet in person Clay was gentle and smilingly sweet.....all the times i was with him....

[Doreen Peri]

Yes, he was. That's why my comment says he was "some kinda special" ... plus "ultra-creative." He was a sweetheart.

Thanks for reading this poem I wrote about writing poem.

[Doreen Peri]

PS... those other words I used to described him were full of affection! Those are the words he would use to describe himself.

An ornery, belligerent, hoodlum. Oh, and of course, an outlaw and a fugitive. He loved creating his own bad boy legend.

[WIREMAN]

i will always read and comment on your poetry....

[Doreen Peri]

Thank you! Sorry.. I missed the comment on the poem. I appreciate it.