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15.5k · Jul 2018
Wild Life
TB Dentz Jul 2018
Like a lion in the desert
Scrawny and rat-like but still fierce and intimidating
Thirsty but miles from water and used to it
Outcast but used to it
Dangerous and on the verge of death but used to it
12.3k · Jul 2018
Reinaldo
TB Dentz Jul 2018
Reinaldo was the name they gave the great white elephant
Who came to clear the jungles around Sao Paulo
A clever notion that because Reinaldo was born in the jungle
Any jungle would do just fine, Brazilian or Siamese made no difference
Just as clever was the notion that because I was a black man, educated
I would do just fine directing other black men to do work, English or Portuguese made no difference
Was I truly so much a fool, twice over?

Reinaldo occasionally was afflicted with slothfulness
Some of the men thought it was from lack of **** and whip
I was of a mind that it was due to lack of companionship
It was costly enough to ship one giant beast across a great sea
I left a wife, in Maryland, whom I never loved and who never loved me
I admit before the plan was in motion I never considered that Reinaldo could have a family
Sometimes, I wonder, did he have a wife who never loved him?

Loneliness became a common theme in our new home away from home
And Reinaldo and I became friends, at least I thought of him fondly
As far as I could say, of all the men he responded best to me
At times it seemed a load of lumber was hauled as a personal favor
For the handler too soft to handle with fear and anger
But as much as loneliness was a theme, so was change, and death

The lifespan of an elephant compares to the lifespan of men
Were this scheme of mine to have worked as desired
I could have sent for a cow, and made Reinaldo a sire
Soon it was revealed that slothfulness was a symptom of an elephant young, healthy and wise
Who sensed not his own, but a friend's imminent demise
Now I am left to wonder how Reinaldo will fare in a world stranger than I could have known
His softest handler and only friend bedridden, waiting for my disease to take its final toll
This poem is not about me
TB Dentz Jul 2018
Be open-minded and admit the possibility
That some things are objectively wrong
We all live in a constant state of gray area

I see you pretty often, maybe once every week or so
For a moment our bubbles come very close to overlapping
But they so far have always held firm
Which is, in one respect, kind of amazing
Yet in another, to be expected

Our bubbles are made of rubber and concrete
Our lives are so different - we’re separated by
Class, gender, age, ethnicity and health history
Different in almost every way you could imagine
Save for location, which again is amazing

If we ever step out of our bubbles one day
And I actually hope we do
It will be uncomfortable, I imagine, and also
Potentially dangerous for both of us
But it could turn out great

Most people ask themselves I guess
Whether it’s worth the risk
And say no and they probably make assumptions
And I so far haven’t made too many about you
Although to make none is impossible and so of that I am proud

Some things might be wrong even if
Everyone does them and even if
You or I do them constantly
Without an ounce of guilt
It’s possible anyway
This is about finding the ways society tricks us into believing we are good people.
3.7k · Jul 2018
Carbon
TB Dentz Jul 2018
I climbed to the top of a mountain
And rolled back down in a barrel of oil

I threw a plastic bottle in the ocean
Just to see what would happen

I visited the tropics, both of them
And littered in each one

I am the creator of worlds
And I am the destroyer
2.9k · Jul 2018
Patchwork Companion
TB Dentz Jul 2018
I’ll lose myself in another person again and again
Sometimes a different person and
Sometimes the same person over and over

Every time I come back a new person, myself
I picked up a piece of them and made it my own
Hopefully for the better

What I really hope for is that no one’s heart breaks
We might be sick of each other and that’s tragic
But if everyone is in tact everything will work out

I fear for the others more than for me
I’m made up of pieces I stole from others
I can’t be hurt for long
All I have to do is shed a layer
And I’ll be reborn
Ready to dive in again
If you are reading this I want you to know I like you a lot and I'm a great person so you should really feel honored.
778 · Aug 2018
Insert Art Here
TB Dentz Aug 2018
She's got art and power
And she's not afraid to show it off
All I've got is a few bad rhymes
Chilled to the bone by an internal scoff

She's a natural born creative
Confidence like a high class egomaniac
I'm an extraordinary type of average
And fragile like a budding lilac

Try to criticize her and she will deny you
Rebuke you, refute you, and defy you
Becoming stronger, harder and better
Nothing you can do will ever end her

Imply that I might somehow be inferior
I will run, hide, and be reduced to tears
Force me to face my greatest fear
Tell me I'm not good enough to be here

That is the difference between me and her
480 · Jul 2018
Leadership Paradox
TB Dentz Jul 2018
Wherefore art my purpose in life
I'm filled with passion, love, and fight
Bursting with spirit until I'm overcome
By social anxiety and a long line at the grocery store

I want to be good but I'm without determination
I've been taught leadership, sure
And I don't want to be a follower
But do I want to make others into followers?

Is it possible to do good and not be a hypocrite
To organize people for a purpose
Without taking advantage of them
Without rewarding their efforts fairly?

Verily I remain a thinker, a ponderer
And regrettably not a man of action
It must be a moral quandary that keeps me at home
Because I could never admit that it's only fear of failure
The main reason I'm not the president. Of anything
464 · Jul 2018
Faulty Charity
TB Dentz Jul 2018
Sometimes I neglect the people I love
And who are good to me and never let me down
Because I’m caught up on the people who failed me
Why do we all but lose ourselves over people like that

If the energy I put into trying to help
Someone who won’t even help themselves
Was spent on the people that deserve it
I would be person of the year every year

When there’s nothing left to talk about
When you’ve said the same thing over and over
And you aren’t getting anywhere because no one is listening
What do you do?

It’s like talking to a wall
Asking it to move
Don’t remember when the wall went up
But it’s there and there’s no way around it

What do you do
Try to climb over it break it down
Year maybe for a while until you realize you’re getting no where
Then you do the inevitable, walk away
452 · Aug 2018
Living OK
TB Dentz Aug 2018
Bury me again I asked for it
Fight me and I won't fight back
It's not about my religion this time
I'm a glutton for punishment

Where else can I be of service
I have nothing left to give
But here I am there must be something
Take it all leave me nothing

In a few years time I'll be free
Then I can begin again
To make my life my own
For now I will live for you
350 · Jul 2018
Fury
TB Dentz Jul 2018
When I look into your eyes
I see the jungle
When I watch you go mad
I fear for my life
When I see you fall in love
I’m inspired

Don’t come near me
You’re going to catch me up
In your whirlwind fury
I’m afraid I’m afraid

Do you hear the drum beat?
Drums of war
I hit the floor
And I’m afraid
This is a poem about when I was two years old and I went into a candy store and bought a rock candy sucker but it fell in the dirt and we were miles away and I never did get another one so here we are.
TB Dentz Jul 2018
Why so serious all the time
Why do the poems never rhyme
What's the meaning of
"2 AM
Standing outside
Smoking a cigarette
Talking to a trash bin"

Why do we have to act so wise
I'd rather set a poem to music
Than to set it on your eyes
But here we are because I messed up
And got no talent for anything but the abstract
It all falls apart in the end... sometimes sooner than later

— The End —