Hey there!
One of the many definitions of a blog is to act as a “web log”. A diary of sorts, if you will, that is published online. I’d be disregarding that definition if that never took place.
Time is slowly getting faster, at least it feels like so. Since I metaphorically sold my soul away in December of last year, it has felt like a race. Running to that ever-approaching date of May 23. When I no longer am obliged to follow the local guidelines which I have been held down on since 2009.
I feel old.
Whatever the case is, this past week in particular felt like it zoomed by, with a lot happening.
The major recent life-altering event is actually pertaining to the original reason why this post was conceived. Poetry.
I was required to perform in a poetry slam competition in my school against my peers. Even more so, I had the (un)fortunate honor of having to present twice. Once in my AP Literature class, and the other in my Creative Writing class. The former section is filled with the most judgmental condescending beings on the planet, while the other is more jovial towards each other.
Now, in my AP class, I did not make it past the prelims, as the other teams were much more determined to win. I didn’t care as I prefer going under the radar. The same cannot be said for my other class, in which we are proceeding to the finals during the Festival of the Arts.
Just one more thing to worry about, isn’t that swell?
Whatever the case is, I present to you the two individual poems which will not be performed.
Are they good? That’s debatable, you can tell that I have no idea how to really write poetry, much less what has to be presented in public (i.e.. slam), but here they are.
Sigh
Presented on April 3, 2024
You stop and listen birds chirping in the trees, the cars zooming down the cul-de-sac.
Hoping that you won’t feel down like other days like these.
Maybe, just maybe, today will be the day things change for the better.
But we all know that day isn’t today.
When you walk down the halls and you try to get to class on time,
Just to be stopped and listen to a teacher fruitlessly try to prevent a fight.
Having to wait ever so patiently for the people in front of you to realize that
Maybe, just maybe, people will realize that it is wiser to keep your head down.
But we all know that day isn’t today
You can leave the building by this point, just to go to another
As you need to work another job to progress your career one way or another
Relying on the generosity of others to allow you to get ahead
Maybe, just maybe, will I be able to have the needed skills to go out on my own.
But we all know, that day is not today.
Now, you are at home. Away from everyone and everything.
But wait! Now you need to work on the hobby that you do,
Persuading others that you work every second of your life to get ahead.
Maybe, just maybe, society will change in that teenagers don’t need to stress their life away.
But we all know, that day is not today.
When will that day be? That mystical day we all have been training
Our entire lives, in order to attain?
The day certainly isn’t today. Nor will it be tomorrow.
Compassion, and care, is all it takes
To even just attempt to make the next day
Just a little bit better.
Silence
Never Presented.
Silence.
You hear that?
Of course we all hear the silence.
But I feel like it’s around me
Surrounding me with deafening loudness
Because people seem proud
To leave others behind.
But why would that be the case?
When you are young
You are taught to yell out
To tell everyone how you feel
But when you’re always silent, you can’t
But they don’t care, don’t they?
They say you don’t fit the mold?
You fail.
Simple as that.
I moved up in the world
Physically and socially
And needed to yell out to get my voice across
It’s more difficult when you’re surrounded by people who barely know
No, much less can’t be bother to know, you as a person
Because you find it statistically near-impossible to open your mouth.
And people can’t be bothered to learn about you on your own.
So what do you do?
People would hear your voice
Just not the way you think.
Why focus on catering to their needs?
I don’t need to follow their decree.
Let me be and I assure you,
It would all work itself out.
One way, or another.
All rights reserved. No part of these poems may be reproduced, distributed, presented, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the copyright holder, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Author’s Note
This is probably as “non-traditional” of a post as they come. Nothing wrong with that, of course. If anything, it allows me to experiment with what I can publish here.
There may be vestiges of a membership system that is publicly available, but note that it won’t be ready for a while. Probably not until the Fall at the earliest. It’s just here for me to play around with. (Along with getting a possible money flow to support me in D.C but shh.)
Next week’s post, also non-traditional, has already been scheduled, and serves as a follow-up to Oh, To Write (Fiction).
Thanks for reading, see you next week!
