"I Could Be a Poet," by TAYLOR MALI

Playing with words, a relationship story

It’s not you; it’s me
I’m the one
That needs the work
Forgive me
I shall be myself in a few days

Climbing
Shouting
Anxiety
Bills
Cream

It’s all about the cream
That Damn cream
Everything doesn’t have to be about the whipped cream
Or does it?
Why can’t I have a normal life?

Waiting in line
For an oil change
Came across a little café
We were hungry
So we thought we would grab some lunch

I’ll have a salami sandwich on rye
He’ll have a bowl of your soup du jour
Why are you ordering for him miss?
I don’t know
Habit I guess

He would also like
Your crème burlee
With extra whipped cream
I do?
You always want the whipped cream

I do not
You do too
Can I just order my own damn meal?
You don’t love me anymore
You used to always let me take care of you

There were no kids
Just the car
That was broken
And the salami sandwich and soup du jour
And that whipped cream

Creamy chowder with biscuits
And tomato enchiladas with cheese
You should watch your cholesterol intake
I want you to be around with me until I die
Who says I wouldn’t?

Your diet says you wouldn’t
Says who?
Cheese? Whipped Cream?
You’re the one who ordered the whipped cream!
I was just trying to please you!

Can I get you anything else?
A beer?
A glass of wine?
Oh we don’t drink here
Says who?

I would like a drink
I would like a whiskey
The hard stuff
It’s the only way I’m going to tolerate
The rest of the afternoon

And the bill
For the car
God I don’t want to know how much that
Bill
Will be

Love you

Always and forever,

Sandra

I am

I am 

a lover and a dreamer.

I wonder just how much I have in me
to give to the world

I hear laughter in the rain

I see a shining brilliance in every hand

offered to another

I want to find a peacefulness for which

I don’t yet know how to look

I am a lover 
(and a dreamer).

I pretend I am not made of glass when 

I feel like I may shatter

I feel the pulse of the earth under my feet

And I touch the heartbreaking blue limits of the sky

I worry that love can’t be enough 

to solve all the problems in this world

I cry knowing there are children going to sleep tonight 

without hope

I am (a lover and) a 
dreamer.

I understand we are all here for a reason, and

I say that those reasons are defined 

by the shining truths in 

us

I dream the dreams I dreamt as a child, and

I try to remember those dreams mean 

EVERYTHING

I hope this isn’t all in vain

I am a lover and a dreamer.

Wordle fun: Put the link of the blog into wordle and this is what I came up with

...i am a poem in progress...

...with no clear beginning
or ending
just a middle
untended
unintended
unfinished
hanging there
like the breath before a question

i am
fairly certain you find me strange
as i speak to you
of the future
when the present is unresolved
enough
but i need an ending
this convoluted limbo
with invisible bookends
... a poem without a name...
is stifling
like the clench of a gut
before an undesired answer

in the space
between two bookends
time passes
with the highest and lowest times
tucked untidily
untended
unfinished
into the frame of a few stanzas
a short story at most
who'd have thought i'd identify
with women writers i've admired
for their wisdom, but also
pitied
for their sorrows
all the same
the stubborn poet in me
who wouldn't trade this for anything--
that says something
i hope

i
hope

i am
a poem in progress
and i'm not sure where i'll end...

This has been around for awhile, but I just recently listened to the full speech. Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite writers ever, and this resonates. Especially lately. And not just with me.

Enjoy. 

Make fantastic mistakes. 

Make good art.

Full speech transcript and video also available on the UArts site:
Neil Gaiman's 2012 UArts Keynote Address 

~Jen

Four Easy Payments

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