Hello PoetryVoting

Vote

Voting-Boards

Home

HomeFollowingInboxNotifications

Read

ReadLiftedFeedsHeartedHistoryMy poemsNew poem

Explore

ExploreOrbitsWordsTagsClassics
Log in
0
Stars
0
Embers
0
Alerts
0
Inbox

Vote

Voting-Boards

Home

HomeFollowingInboxNotifications

Read

ReadLiftedFeedsHeartedHistoryMy poemsNew poem

Explore

ExploreOrbitsWordsTagsClassics
Log in
0
Stars
0
Embers
0
Alerts
0
Inbox

I don't want to be Billy Joel

writing songs sans artifice,

that grow better different,

different better,

the lyrics of a man growing older,

insides out, featuring his slips, all showing,

eyes squinting from hard lifestyle experience,

taking on wearied shades of beige yellowing,

a tanned blackness, time edits them, so now,

they sound the same but holier,

from the hazing of hazards

one builds for and by himself,

drilling & extracting the spit-shine of

all that all is fine,

but liquor & cat's paw black shoe polish

just can't quite cover 'em up (2),

the stabbing itch each of the every time

one quests and questions

his ego,

always another test…

 

why would I ever want that?

 

his fingers create tinkling at rapido pace,

tinkling an arrhythmia of rhymes

previously perviously (1) unseen,

self exploration, that we all realize

is an unforgiving, never ending,

source of melodic crying out loud;

and when the sensual, arrayed pleasures,

begin to bore

holes of no important consequence,

the querys~to~self get even harder

to explicate what they intimate,

who they implicate,

which parts of you,

failed to answer satisfactorily…

 

why would I want want that

forever?

Request permission to use this poem
Written by
nat-lipstadt
99 / M / NYC/Lippstadt/Kraków
Published
Aug 2, 2025
Lines·Words
36·186
Notes

(1)

Perviousness refers to the ability of a material to allow fluids to pass through. Pervious surfaces include porous pavement and asphalt. Unlike regular pavement, which is impermeable and creates water runoff, pervious pavement allows rainwater to filter through the surface and into the ground

(2)

https://www.google.com/search?q=cat%27s+paw+shoe+black+polish&sca_esv=ec9e5a722f530583&rlz=1C9BKJA_enUS1169US1169&hl=en-US&sxsrf=AE3TifNnqbBcvvGAf8A75ME-01M_C2ofQg:1754156528053&udm=2&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjgt_Cl1uyOAxU3k4kEHbPEKU4Q7Al6BAgSEAM&biw=1366&bih=969&dpr=2

Tags
#lipstadt#billy#joel#billyjoei#cat#paws#black#shoe#polish
Permission

Request to use this poem

Tell nat-lipstadt how you would like to use it. We review requests before forwarding them.

AboutBlogFAQPrivacyTermsContact
© 2009-2026 Hello Poetry/v27.0 by @eliotyork
Explore
Hello PoetryVoting
Write