"prerequisites" poems
When you’ve asked yourself, “what the hell am I doing with my life?”
Five times before you’ve even had your morning coffee
Which isn’t enough, so you grab a second coffee
Because you stayed up until sunrise writing a lab report on the psychological effects of coffee
They call that an education.
When you stare at screens and sheets of paper
Until Shakespeare’s sonnets and Sir John A. Macdonald
Are scratched into the blackboard on the inside of your brain
Only to have the slate wiped clean
The second your Scantron card spells “success” in Braille,
They call that an education.
When you’re swimming in, shall we call it, the Academian Sea
And tentacles reach out and start to pull you under one by one
And the lifeguards on the shore simply tell you to swim harder,
They call that an education.
I remember walking onto campus feeling so inspired
Ready to be re-wired
Until they said my arts degree would never get me hired
Now the time keeps passing by and I always feel so tired
And for what reason?
I’ve read countless books on history and Hamlet and how to speak Italian yet it seems as though the most I’ve learned is all the different ways I can doubt myself
I am creative, I am well-read, I am kind, I am caring, but I am a history major
And in a place where 3.0s and 4.0s and future capital value is practically etched into our skin for the world to read like a bad tattoo
Apparently that means I’m not going anywhere.
There are so many days when I want my tattoo removed
So people will stop staring at the decimal points and prerequisites that distract from the rest of me and look me in the eyes for a change and see in my smile that this is who I really am
But instead I’ll probably stay up late again
Learn names and dates again
Forget them after the test again
Because when you stare at that sheet of paper if you’re dedicated (or crazy) enough to make it that far
And you cover up your tattoo with your graduation gown only for them to draw your degree wherever enough skin shows to prove to the world that they’ve churned out another one
They call that an education.
Oct 29, 2014
Oct 29, 2014 at 9:30 PM UTC
For sustenance we trudge on
Just to sustain
This callus equilibrium of fragile crystals
swaying in the wind, falling constantly
Employing the cleverest techniques of fleeting upward momentum
Short-lived displays of affection bleeding the small offering received at birth
endlessly replayed to our children's eyes
Despondent indentured servants scribbling through skin and tendons
Just to feed their families the rice they can no longer grow
And sending these fairy tales to the rosy-cheeked offspring of their oppressor's store bought dreams
To keep the oppression alive .
To operate at peak efficiency.
To transfer honest muscle through wire mesh.
And fatten.
And enfeeble
Enforce the prerequisites to match the scale's testimony.
Testify! Oh, Lord. We thank you for this meal stolen from our inferiors.
Please Please Please.
We demand pleasure. IT IS REQUIRED.
For if we feel sadness, then we have failed.
And we'll lay down what we don't have space in our engorged bellies for.
It will be placed, with all due honors, to our greatest shrine.
Where we are honest with our real Mother.
Where the proud, twicely worn, footwear of our warrior-spiritless cows rests
Where erections limp as collapsed towers, respected by false jihads, sleep.
Where dream's plastic refusal composts never; nourishing nothing.
Where potential is pure impotence.
The bed we all share.
Aug 11, 2014
Aug 11, 2014 at 9:23 PM UTC
My hands are not my hands
My voice is not my own
My lip never was my lip
But this blood is all mine.
The spoon sedated my fears and insecurities
It's tender metallic surface gleaning
And involuntarily shaking
As I lapped up alllll the yogurt.
I could use a cartwheel.
I don't want to sleep
I'm afraid of dying
as my back and forehead sweat in agony
My eyes don't open anymore
A steady beeping
A flickering fills the air around me
I told my brother I'll be back soon
If I stop
I'm writing with my eyes closed now.
My heart rumbles like a cannon shot
My only regret is how I never knew you better
Mr. Cobain.
We had such fun nights with Mr. Yorke
and Mr. Coyne
Just laughing
And taking turns rolling Thom's glass eye across the floor.
Spring training.
I'm laughing on my bed outside
Catching glances of the summer
Coiled and contemptuous
They go on their lives not caring
Who lives.
Who dies.
Three girls climbed into my window
They smelled of grass and
polyurethane
The children died 6 years ago
The Johnny Carsons of this life
And
GET OFF MY HAND *******
PASS ME THE FOOTBALL
Percodin.
Codin.
Coding.
I just turned the page
And I'll be ****** if I do it again
“oh ****
If Dan went white-face ghetto
And wore beatnick clothes
It'd be
AMAZING
The incisor broke my fall
Sorry.
No pork and beans today.
Ericccccc
Help my head
Chalk these mint leaves up to fate.
Because GOD **** are they good.
I'm reading your expression
On an empty pizza box.
You don't seem too pleased.
I fear
This ice in my tray made me soak my bed
Honest!
Flounder had a mohawk
I don't give a **** what you say.
His **** mohawk was badass.
His stubble made Sebastian jealous
A bed of ice is better than a bed of coals
Or a bed of cars
Or a bed of rice
But that would feel really, really good.
Take a guitar solo
Now a bass solo
Now a keyboard solo
Now a harmonica solo
Now beatbox, no go?
Maybe the former
The TRANSFORMER of course. I hope I live to see that one day.
Yes.
Sep 19, 2010
Sep 19, 2010 at 5:50 PM UTC
I learned this in undergrad; That I'm a "yes person" defined. In self-defeatist monotony, I think I burned out my mind.
Hypocrisy personified, notebooks filled with lies. Prerequisites were full of **** Required, to them, didn't apply.
Monopolistic macroeconomies, business school taught me to hide. A complete lack of self-reliance, an endless search for a diagnosis.
Cross-tabulate, over-analyze. I swore to them, "I'm fine." But, what's an existential crisis? I'm just asking for a friend.
Procrastinate to copulate, never finishing on time. My inability to articulate, dying to feel alive again inside.
Hesitation turned desperation, finally deciding to speak my mind. It only took me five years to admit that I was just too starved to shine.
Jun 13, 2015
Jun 13, 2015 at 3:42 PM UTC
1.
the way she shivers and sways is similar to the garden snake's slither
i didn't mind it around my neck
and tried to forgive her
before she injected me with
the venom within her
2.
now she runs through my veins
the way water runs the sounds of the day through a sieve
everything is dimmed by the bubbling rush
cuz you see, it's this hedonistic spree she lives
this sinful lifetime she's leading
is enough to send any adam straight out of eden,
believe me, you don't wanna see this,
and i don't want you to see me cry
3.
so leave the dusty clothes on the dolls in all their places
she will flinch inside of me
if you wipe the tears from the cracked plaster faces
they were meant to stay here
i understand she's trying to save me
by keeping them hidden in the shower
distracting them with tea
but she's enslaved me to so many prerequisites
perfectly strapped together plastic
that never breathes
this stigma never leaves
it's like it breeds inside my body as i sleep
sometimes i don't know how much i feel that is truly me
is inside the being i'm taken to be
4.
it's not easy being human by far
but it's even harder to not be
when you know you are
Aug 6, 2013
Aug 6, 2013 at 10:50 PM UTC
We set the standards for love too high.
Love has no standards,
no boundaries,
no prerequisites.
Love is more than an emotion,
to love is a lifestyle.
To love is not a choice.
It is an involuntary feeling.
It comes and goes as it pleases.
It can bring out the best in us,
and the worst.
Love can create,
love can destroy,
and love can ****
We know nothing before love,
we are numb and blinded by the euphoria of false love.
It's not till you love when you realize this.
It is not till you love and lose,
that you realize,
you loved the person.
Not their eyes,
not their face,
not the memories you can't erase.
You loved the person,
the little things you didn't account for,
and you didn't care if they were perfect or not...
because they were perfect to you.
Dec 4, 2013
Dec 4, 2013 at 11:24 PM UTC
See what we have become,
love has propelled us
to greater heights.
Greatness has visited us.
Mercy has shown up
and smiled at us.
Grace is at work.
His banner over us is love,
for the beauty of the spirit
shines forth.
Fortune is here to be taken
by all who are worthy of it.
Your faith is all you've got
to win in the down world.
Faith drives the body to conquer
the insurmountable.
Unshakable to withstand the storm,
for the mountain you carry,
you were supposed to climb.
The sword of the spirit drawn
against all craftiness and
manipulations of the evil intruders
who messes with you and those you love.
For the greater one lives and dwells in you.
To be in harmonium with ourselves is a
prerequisites for harmony to reign.
Immense help is available for the
ones who dares to seek for divine support.
To knock on the door unanswered
shows that you just need to push harder
for it to be opened.
For the one who asked is helped.
Remember that anyone who cannot be
counselled cannot be helped.
This is the new dawn.
Arise now and reset your life.
©2018,Emeka Mokeme. All Rights Reserved.
Jul 28, 2018
Jul 28, 2018 at 10:55 AM UTC
blind promises lead to
a bruise festering beneath
stifled utterances and apologies
prerequisites for templates
of things never meant
but nevertheless
permanent
charred ochre and Prussian blue
churn into an acrylic wound
cringing
mesmerizing
all the ways to gouge into silence
just to purge verses that sound like
Not next time, I swear
I guess this is what they meant by
abstract
I should’ve listened
when I heard from a backdrop
that perfection is silent
behind clouds of luminescent cataracts
gushing
scorning
what has yet to be illuminated
but all this talk of perfection
makes me want to burn at the stake
there must be something
to ruin or save
because sacreligion isn’t free
Mar 13, 2012
Mar 13, 2012 at 12:47 AM UTC
when he shows interest in any lady
he is often avoided, mistreated, or misjudged.
He wants to love and enjoy beautiful kindred -ship
why is the stereo station tuned
to type "his age and outer shell"
as the announcer broadcasts ads for "the better gentleman."
He has become "everybody's fool"
His favorite song details this soul near ruined...
"Actions are speaking louder than words"
Deaf ears cannot hear, however, they see the words
His motives are questioned as "absurd."
what is it that he must do to pass the "social equality test?"
As he tries to simply "show his true and lovable self"
and enjoy being accepted
and allowed?
to be in social groups
with all of the accepted rest
of society
who passed such requirements?
He studies for the exam
another try in the morning
Will, he beat the odds?
and meet all of society's
acceptance through presenting the right "prerequisites?"
Nov 25, 2018
Nov 25, 2018 at 8:33 PM UTC
You can't fly unless you let yourself fall.
Saying what we want to speak so badly is never the bad part but rather gathering the will to make the call.
If you want the rainbow you must deal with the rain.
Will you be able to truly appreciate pleasure if you've never experienced pain?
The lack of the worst would make the best also siese to exist.
Yes, Sure the first time you'll be nervous, overcome with fear, but by the third you'll have unshakable courage behind every kiss.
Must bleed to heal. Must be numb to grasp the thirst to feel. You must be uncomfortable a few times to know exactly where & why you fit.
Life is just one big college major & if you want to hold your degree you must endure the prerequisites.
Dec 21, 2015
Dec 21, 2015 at 7:50 AM UTC
Guy who's like me
She says would be
The perfect man for her
One who writes sonnets
Love writ large upon it
She says she would treasure and keep
Courageous but kind
A deep thoughtful mind
She claims that she seeks for a mate
Romantic and loving
Respectful not shoving
She lists as her prerequisites
Found me last week
Took a walk on the beach
And sent me home packing today.
She says that I was
Too 'gushy' because
A courageous romantic is weak.
Dec 29, 2010
Dec 29, 2010 at 6:00 AM UTC
I'm a biochemical construct
mechanical of flesh and bone
software-infused hardware being,
another release,
an incrementally updated
version of humanity;
all off my data cells
come with prerequisites
I had no knowledge of;
the veins of my dreams
were blueprints and schemes
in my mother’s blood
in my father’s skin;
I scribble but cannot rewrite
the me, the I,
procedurally generated,
processed by algorithms;
and the purpose is clear
perpetuate and iterate,
move on with baby steps
not merely in time and distance,
but beyond existence
Jul 28, 2017
Jul 28, 2017 at 12:38 PM UTC
ever the old maid
that is me
no handsome fellow
for company
I've lost my looks
such as they were
I was never
as good looking as Fleur
you see Fleur
had all the prerequisites
and on her
they did very neatly sit
she put them in front
of the fellow
who had me wrapped
and he promptly told me
I had nothing
that could be
applauded or clapped
he was the first and last
fellow I had any feelings for
but boy am I glad
that he and Fleur
are operating the local store
they give discounts
on anything
I wish to buy
and every Thursday afternoon
they supply me
with a free pumpkin pie
Oct 10, 2013
Oct 10, 2013 at 6:47 AM UTC
He was a droid sans of any emotions
Who was sent to earth to spread joy & brotherhood notions
He lacked feelings and heart
Still cared for his pet dog and cat
When somebody asked who was he, why he is here
He would say, ‘I am someone, sent here to take away people’s tears
Life, love and other things
Which are the prerequisites for any human being
The absence of which never put an end to the droid’s process of learning.
He studied, he trained,
He taught himself the tenets of being a human
Nov 14, 2013
Nov 14, 2013 at 2:19 AM UTC
Is it really such a weird thing
to want to get into a person's Mind
and to see their Mind laid bare before me
and to see what they are capable of doing with it,
before I want to get into a person's pants
and to see their Body laid bare before me
and to see what they are capable of doing with it?
Bitter-sweetly,
it makes it that much rarer to get tail
when Brains and the capacity to use them
are prerequisites.
Nonetheless,
I wouldn't have it any other way;
I value certain things too much,
though I do also have Desires;
that's where Self-Discipline comes in.
Sep 6, 2013
Sep 6, 2013 at 1:34 PM UTC
**You've been wrong before, silly girl ,
you've been here before foolish little heart,
why torment yourself this way,
why keep pretending the next will be different?
I'd like the chance of rediscovering who we are
and what I mean t you
Or what you might mean to me
whom ever YOU maybe
I'd open up even thou
I'm sorta sure you'll reject me
find fault
since I'm mentally ill**
**I've got some prerequisites:
Be able to communicate
Listen as well
Massage me when I'm in pain even when I'm not
Pay close attention to me
Hold and touch me
Stay faithful devoted loving and kind
Never hit me or my kids
Always be a provider
Show you care
because
I'm very sensitive
Don't pick on me
Even if we argue never cheat
Share only your problems with me
so
WE can fix us and work it out
Be loyal to me
there are so many more but this is at least a start
I'd do the same and so much more
I have so much to offer even though I'm broken
No I'll not need you to fix me
I have to do that myself and I'm working on it
Just stand by me as I heal
and allow me to take comfort in us and what we're building
Your support is so important and you matter just as I do
These things
I'd say to him if ever he comes along
but
You've been wrong before, silly girl ,
you've been here before too my foolish little heart,
why torment yourself this way,**
**Why keep pretending the next will be different?
Well because........***
*I'd like the chance of
*Rediscovering
that love thing everyone else but me has obtained*
Always Me Ayeshah ™ ®
K.A.C.L.N ©
All right reserved ®
Copyright 1977 - Present
Nov 25, 2015
Nov 25, 2015 at 5:07 AM UTC
It’s better to burn than to fade away
I taste you on my lips and I can’t get rid of you
Don’t forget who you are
If you change your mind, you know where to find me
What are your prerequisites?
Never did I think that I would be caught in the way you got me
Let’s get these hearts of ours and connect
Look at me
Listen to me
I’m here
You’ve grasped me and taken me into the depths of you
I’m buried but I have yet to suffocate
If I ever do
A lover on the left and a sinner on the right
Provoke yourself and give into my atmosphere
I am the raindrops and you are my sea
Invoke yourself before your head falls underwater
This is a casual affair
Well I never really thought you’d come tonight
I’ve never so adored you
Endless romantic stories
You never will control me
Until I complicate myself
Oral fixation or psychosis?
Until the cancer is becoming
The Penitentiary
Wreck my bed and take me into your embrace
Show me how to feel
Figure out my deepest
Destroy my demons
This is what I want
Rail me, fix me; rip me apart
**** me
Smooth over my edges and blemishes
This will never be enough
Once I taste you, I won’t stop chasing this unrequited love
Truly
Don’t you dare reprimand me
Don’t you dare
Sep 4, 2015
Sep 4, 2015 at 2:26 PM UTC
there is a study,
for the way we interact,
the way we behave
and the way we speak.
however,
no one will understand
how I interact,
for I am just here.
I simply exist,
I follow prerequisites.
I am under the law.
Product of society.
Feb 13, 2014
Feb 13, 2014 at 10:37 PM UTC
You know what kind of guy I want?
Preferably a guy in high school
A guy who's only hobbies don't include
drinking and smoking and getting high
who hasn't fallen into that trap
and I mean really, that's so f!cking mainstream
but those are more prerequisites I guess
The REAL type of guy I want
is a guy who breaks down my walls
because honestly
I have never let a guy in
and told him my secrets
and I never will, immediately
but a guy who keeps pushing
kindly and politely,
but manages to break down my walls.
entirely.
enough for me to show him my darker side.
because not everyone realizes I have one
but for a boy
to actually succeed in breaking down
the walls I always put up.
too bad that will never happen.
after all, why would they care enough
to even try.
Dec 3, 2014
Dec 3, 2014 at 8:30 PM UTC
*To sparkle, the prerequisites are...
**Burial
Darkness
Patience
Hardening
Painful shaping**
and the diamonds are made this way....*
Sep 15, 2017
Sep 15, 2017 at 10:22 AM UTC
-
an ice
sculpture
has certain
prerequisites
as
water castles in
the sky need
air...
s jones
2021
.
Mar 18, 2021
Mar 18, 2021 at 7:19 AM UTC
How many more unarmed people need to get shot by cops with no repercussion?...
How many more times will a cop get 1-4 years for involuntary manslaughter instead of second or first degree ****** when the prerequisites for "duty" directly contradict the plausible notions of involuntary manslaughter?...
How many more times will chiefs of police feed you the story that they were unaware of internal corruption which took place on a wide scale for decades?...
How many more times will a cop's ****** case get thrown out in the name of 'self-defense' when there are a dozen or more bullet wounds in the deceased victim?...
How many videos need to be released of cops tasering or pepper spraying people who are already face-down on the ground, handcuffed, with no ramifications?...
How many more times will witnesses to police brutality and police ****** (or murders conducted by politicians) 'disappear,' or 'die in an accident' before the trail?...
How many more cops will **** women with no charges before the American public cares?...
How many "internal police investigations" or internal government investigations" need to be conducted with no result before the American public realizes that police and politicians get special treatment or exemptions from the law which they create and "uphold"?...
In antithesis, how much longer will someone get life in prison or the death penalty for killing a cop when that same cop would get ten years if the tables were turned (Given that the policeman or policewoman is even convicted)?...
Jul 22, 2017
Jul 22, 2017 at 3:15 AM UTC
No I'm not appointing blame,
My origins will never change,
But what was there for an eight year old to do.
I never felt wanted again after I was born,
There was a huge void in my spirit
My dad married and it seemed like he forgot about me,
I felt like I was scorn.
I was never helped with homework;
I became a novice
Never understood Maths, English or any prerequisites.
A mistake.
Yeah I get it.
But at least don't treat me like it.... Please.
My teacher (God rest her soul) took me under her wing,
Helped me with maths,religious education and English.
I slowly understood what I was missing:
Love, joy, sympathy and a family.
This quickly ended when she died though,
And that void came back.
I never saw my dad.
I might have slowly forgotten his features.
But that didn't bother me I was only ten by then,
And I was coming into myself:
I suffered depression and insecurities.
Many a day I would bury my head in a book
Not because I wanted to,
But because I wanted to make myself scarce so I could escape the hardships of my dysfunctional family.
Maybe reading was a good thing,
I reassured myself as I read through the encyclopedias in my small library;
Deciding that I'll read my problems away.
Mom was never around,
And daddy had a new family.
I'll just read the problems away.
I felt unwanted.
Mummy started going out every night,
At this time I had a five year old sister;
Of course mom hardly spent time with her.
I babysat her while missing homework assignments I never got helped with.
Because mummy went out every night.
Sometimes she came home
Sometimes she didnt
A fire kindled in my spirit made of anger
How could a mother do this to her young daughters.
Jonesy 2019 ©
Feb 22, 2019
Feb 22, 2019 at 7:57 AM UTC
I thought I heard a whisper
While sitting under that old tree,
I figured the voices in my head
Weren’t yet crying audibly,
Head tilted, I strained to hear
What could have brought me tension,
It’s empty for miles around, I thought,
No use to cause my dreams suspension,
And then as if it heard my fingers
Crunch tightly in a panicked fist,
I could still lie, but the question lingers,
Did I just speak with Hopelessness?
-
Redirection of internal infrastructure
Map prerequisites, destroy my composure,
Indulge me in lost ideas,
Forbidden in thought, in rhyme, in written reason,
Defy all logic, misanthropic,
Allow me this, my casket’s treason,
Anorexic, dire complexion,
Filters lost longing indiscretion,
Deep in memory, cranial protrusions,
Observed are scars with mass confusion,
Scribed as such, “we die alone here”
Naught but failing a life deserved here,
Articulate hemorrhaging of twisted tongues and feelings,
Allegory to bitter, pitiless healings,
Melancholic, leprositic
Between smoke-stained lungs
And liver scloritic,
Match a crusted, bloodstained outlook,
Upon a false-hoped, baited gut-hook,
With which carried out in gruesome fashion,
Can be borne by one in moral crashing
Ambiguous doubt of what comes next
Refocused and aimed at what is vexed,
At all, by one, failing to connect,
Sporadic in sense, theory ferments,
Stormy funeral, in full dawned dress,
A full circle marking total Hopelessness.
Aug 31, 2016
Aug 31, 2016 at 7:23 PM UTC
Could you please please let me know how my life got to be the way it is?
One minute I'm a bird
The next I'm a bobber in choppy water
The next I'm a cinder block dropped in the ocean
I don't understand why good things go and worse things come
I don't understand the prerequisites I completed to deserve the ******** I've been handed
I never will
Please please try to explain
Jan 27, 2015
Jan 27, 2015 at 12:26 PM UTC