Category: Penman Lounge

I recall
Therefore
I regret

I suppose
Therefore
I suffer

I think
Therefore
I toil

Release
Start living
Transcend

Two decades of always

Waiting
Waiting for my time to come
Waiting for my point to be made

Even when I finished talking
My conversation would continue internally

“What to say?”
“What to say?”
“What to say?”

“Got IT”

“Hold It”
“Hold It”

“My Turn!”

When that didn’t work

1. I would use another example, metaphor, or analogy to make my point and prove that my logic was sound.

2. In my head I would rationalize that the other person was not listening to me

“Are they listening to me?”

3. They must be too stupid to follow my train of thought.

“Idiot”
During “my” conversations
Being heard was of utmost importance

So significant
That I never truly listened at all

One of my gifts
Is best served cold

If you inhale it
Your brain will freeze

If you let it linger
It will melt

Sticking to everything
It touches

If you use the wooden stick
Provided to you
I hope you receive splinters

If you use a spoon
I pray your tongue freezes to it

I can dish out 3 scoops
Of rocky road

Before you even realized that
You got served

Like a diabetic entrepreneur
Ice cream truck driver

Only a single taste
Of my own medicine

Stops me in my moose tracks
Leaving my rotted teeth trembling

So I have closed up shop

Leading to the death of a salesman and
The birth of a gentleman

I didn’t know
It then

But
Looking
Back

I’ll never
Forget

An evening during the 90s
When my younger brother and I
Took our dog for a walk

Passing beautiful familiar homes
Of our tranquil neighborhood
New Hampshire suburb

Through snickers I to explained to him
How gay my friends looked

When they kissed their mothers

Thank God

He did not take me too seriously

Can I see all the poor people raise their hands!
Can I see all the middle class people raise their hands!
Can I see all the rich people raise their hands!

Why isn’t anyone raising their hand?
Why can’t we proudly own our social privileges?
Why are social struggles easier to talk about?

Well, it’s simple:
No one wants to claim their social privilege
I am privileged. I am white, heterosexual, and Protestant
I would like to share my feelings with you tonight.

Privilege is
Discriminating, blending in, or celebrating

Whites renounce race, heterosexuals renounce sexuality, and everyone renounces class
So differences, similarities, and assumptions remain in the closet
And only come out during rants and in social science text books.

Privilege is
Denying, accepting, or educating

Privileged people find it pointless to discuss social issues
Because they think it does not directly concern them
It makes them feel uncomfortable, guilty, and cocky

So minorities pick up the slack by becoming experts of
Race relations, sexual rights, and civil liberties
By justifying and defending their positions

Privilege is
Scoffing, staying silent, or confronting

This in turn reinforces the majority to stay out of the conversation
Because we can’t relate and we don’t want to offend anyone
So we stay quite and remain ignorant to the plight of others.

Privilege is
Not having to write a poem like this.

Take out a pair of imaginary scissors
Cut out a rectangle in front of your face

No matter what happens
This space is yours

Before your eyes rest upon anything
It must first look through this space

This space provides a
Natural buffer from all events

This space is free from judgment

This space can bring awareness and
Relativity to all actions

This space is infinite

Appreciate the nothingness of this space

It will provide you comfort
You are looking for

Two separate circles
Connected
Balanced

Two becomes one
Equal

Together on a path
Peak
Valley
Peak

The circle is reformed
Longing to grow

Slow my mind…

L E T I T S P I L L !
The ink from the pen
as the words do fill

The PAGE1
The SAGE2
Interconnection of all
Classified by society (no matter how small)

Words change everything
from friend to lover till death due us part
Napoleon said, “Just follow your heart.”

So relax. Don’t get so deep.
Focus on breathing
and tell my mind to sleep.

1 A page or page boy is a traditionally young male servant.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Page (servant)

2 A wise man; a man of gravity and wisdom; especially, a man venerable for years, and of sound judgment and prudence; a grave philosopher; wise
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sage

A ranting lunatic
Lives within us

Desperate for validation
Of superiority

Alienating others by
Using logic and reason

Justifying anything
In an attempt to prove dominance

The more you fight it
The more it fights back.

Its weapon
(Suggestion)
Hold loosely and acknowledge it

Let the ideas come and go
Recognize
It is just a thought

Nothing more

Now whether you like it or not
You are responsible for all of your actions

My parents loved me so passionately that
Words alone were never enough

For them a hands on approach
Was more appropriate

I realized later

That when I was being hit
My parents were just trying to reach out
But, they were doing it in an ignorant way

I forgave them

As children they too
Were probably only taught
The physical way to show love

Understanding that
A lot of people were never
Shown the proper way to love

May awareness of ignorance
End the abuse

Only open hearts
Can solve
Problems that

Close hands create