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Jan 2020 · 307
Virgil
Nolan Willett Jan 2020
I don’t want to put off living
And I don’t want to put off experience
I want to have everything life can give me
Be everything I can be
And I’m real sorry you don’t know the difference
Between being alive and simply existing
Hide these thoughts behind worthless rhymes
They say a coward dies many times
So you keep your eyes straight ahead
I want to die only when I’m dead
To die once is enough
Jan 2020 · 607
Centers
Nolan Willett Jan 2020
Dusk and Dawn,
Back-Streets and Alleys,
A portrait halfway Drawn,
The center of a Valley.

I like the In-Betweens:
Things which have begun but not yet Ended,
Where things are not always what they Seem
And our belief is Suspended.

A jagged Mountain grasping for the Clouds,
Not quite there-but well into the Sky
Like a prisoner Unbowed,
With a jailor to Defy.

The boring, uneventful Days,
Which alienate and leaves us Whirled.
Manifested, tangible Displays,
Of Space between Worlds.

Life is the greatest Halfway,
It’s not so long a Route.
So I will resolve to Stay
To see it all play Out.
Nov 2019 · 445
Reincarnate
Nolan Willett Nov 2019
I died.
Old and weathered by the sun
  Knowing that my race was run
   I was not contrite,
    I knew my time was finite
     But my story was told,
      And eventually I grew old
     A kind reality,
    Hopefully awaiting me,
   I did not know what my life was to be worth
  To a new and unknown earth
Kicking and screaming
I was born.
Experience forwards and backwards
Nov 2019 · 164
Bluegrass
Nolan Willett Nov 2019
Coal dust, pressure-diamond,
Blue men, horse people,
Pretend we’re Cincinnati-an
Some old Baptist steeple
Appalachia,dying slowly
Educashion, all flunk
Accent, speaking drolly
Moonshine whiskey drunk
Class traitor, transgression
Fly-over, fat food
Pensions, Matt Bevin
Impertinent, cancer brood
Capricious, whimsy seasons
Quaint house, rusted down
Leave, many reasons
Stay, familiar town
Jun 2019 · 1.0k
Bartleby
Nolan Willett Jun 2019
If you’d like me to,
I would change my world view,
I’d lift back up the veil,
And learn to see in Braille,
I would cut out my tongue
And leave some songs unsung,
I’d go to bed at a reasonable hour
And adopt some face that isn’t sour,
I’d work a nine to five like the best of them
Till the lights inside go dim,
Get a little overtime,
Follow the established paradigm,
It’s not so big a deal,
So I will make no appeal,
I’ll put on a suit and tie
And wait my turn to die.
Apr 2019 · 375
Untitled
Nolan Willett Apr 2019
I want to live in an age of letters
Of horse-carriages and cobbled roads
Maybe I glorify the past too much
But nowadays it seems we’re always in a rush

— The End —