I’m back with another batch of small poems, only this time, I spent the last couple of weeks slowly writing them in my head, and waiting until now to write them all down. I did this because I was learning recently about how a lot of epic poems from ancient times were passed on by being recited verbally for many years before being written down, so I wanted to challenge myself to see how much poetry I could retain in my head at any given time.
Through my research, I learned that a lot of those ancient poets and reciters (or whatever they were called) didn’t perfectly memorize every single line, but rather just the “essence” of each scene. I took a similar approach by just memorizing titles. I figured, as long as I could keep track of that, I could remember the essence of each haiku, even if my eventual written versions weren’t exact recreations of how I originally conceived them in my head. This ended up being a fun thing to do! And I can see myself doing this again in the future, if I find myself in a position of not being able to (or wanting) to do anything else for a long period of time…
I call this little collection The Fear of No Control:
THE ONLY OPTION
For whatever reason
An endless stream of poetry
Is the only option…
FREE DONUTS (QUAD)
Left the house, to escape the drama
Went to a cafe, to look for peace
And they had free donuts, it turns out
Pretty great silver lining, I’d say…
TUBI
A bad movie can be good enough
Just somethin’ little to pass the time, I guess
Who says it all needs to be high art?
GUILT (QUAD)
I cannot get over the pain
I brought upon those close to me
But dwelling forever won’t do
They’ll just have to find their own way…
ARTHRITIS
He sits there and strums some chords
A far cry from what he once could do
Alas, chords are still music…
LAUGH AT CHAOS
Is it wrong of me
To laugh at all the chaos
Just to get through it?
LET SILENCE SPEAK
Often, it’s hard to know
When the time is right to speak up
Or let the silence speak
PATHWAY
Are we all
On the same pathway
All along?
HURT
Is it wrong of me
To have forgiven myself
When others still hurt?
PRIDE
Others act like they don’t understand
But deep down they actually do, most likely
They just don’t want to admit they’re wrong
THE WAY THINGS ARE
As bad as it is
Part of me is still happy
With the way things are…
COUNTING SYLLABLES
Counting syllables
Just to pass the time away
At least it’s something…
THE ANSWER
Slowly working towards the answer
Even if it takes an eternity
Maybe that’s the answer itself…
CUTTING TIES
Gotta cut ties
With those who don’t get you
For your own good…
WORST TO BEST
Sometimes, what you might think
Is the worst possible outcome
Turns out to be the best…
DRIFT AWAY
Close your eyes and drift away
To the place where everything feels right
Just for a sec, now and then…
Peace!
Related: Poetry Repository