Tentative Sick of repetitive Sick of the space in between Being filled with a sedative What's left for remarks Has lost all it's spark And any chance to turn and dance Now contemplated as a farce
No swimming in the let go Too perplexed with the undertow And a personal perpetual head hunt That conceptually returns Then comes and goes. I scream. Can I stop carrying these Boulders? It seems the second I relax my shoulders Is the very instant that my desolate Impending doom smolders
I test tracing lines to vent my crimes But the paper seems like a stranger My last confidant left to respond Was taunting this balled up anger
"It would have never happened If you weren't distracted. And paid a little attention And gave a little practice. Your talent has been squandered. Your very soul grows cold Like an overlaundered actress. Maybe if you spent some time to write and rhyme you'd have something To show for it Maybe if you weren't a voodoo doll Filled with push pins In that instant you wouldn't blow it. Maybe if you had the patience To plant that seed you could grow it. And instead of extinguishing The first sign of a spark or fire You would just know it."
It's like being caught in an interview Between the lie you tell yourself And the distant truth And the web you weave Has too many deviations And you grow confused You grow tired and old And feel just as abused
Then a simulated head rush it seems With two strokes of the pens brush Can softly whisper sweet things While your cheeks turn to red blush Then comes back around To bite you like a viper When you realize you grew Complacent and despise to Naturally get hyper The life you could have then Gradually escapes the vice Of your fingers And here's the final zinger That kind of sentiment will linger
The hallowed out version of you Stepping in to be the ringer When all you ever feel is to reveal That you're actually a singer That you actually have more talent Than most in your little finger If you could just stop getting caught up In what was brought up, What he said she said And all those things That make you malinger
So wake me up when it's all over Get me off this roller coaster Take me away to that sweet place Where I was younger A time when I was funny and bold And filled with hunger Let me ******* dreams With not a wasted moment Teach me to fill this space Even while I make a small dent
This poem is dedicated to Eric Adams Partially Revised 19 Aug 21