I Am A Poet (You Know It!)

     Tonight I was offered a spot for a poetry reading at my local library. I was honored that my poem was considered stron enough to be read, but - oh, what I witnessed! The wife and I went with our friend Marcus; and what merriment was made! It's really as if the stories write themselves at this point....

      So we arrive at the library and are unsure of where the reading are taking place. We go to the room where there is a lot of commotion, and when we walk in we see what looks like a hipster old folks home. We are unsure if we are in the place until the wife asks and, yes, we are in the right place. The leader of the pack is handing out (in his words) "Propaganda" for an event this weekend. This particular gentleman has straw-like ghost white hair, A scarf (which seemed to be the appropriate attire), and way too large glasses. Also in the crowd we had a mid life hipster with a scarf (of course!), a blazer, and what appeared to be Salvation Army quality tennis shoes. We had what looked to be a 70 year old man with flowing white hair and a bright yellow shirt. Mix in some females and males of non descript origin and the three of us knew that hilarity awaited us. Little did we know the full scope of what we were to behold....

      I will give all the poets due credit - the poetry was all very descriptive and engaging on some level. It seemed very sterile and unemotional (to me), but not everyone is writing love/ like/ hurt poetry like my crazy self. However, the themes of the poems is what REALLY is the story. We had a lady writing about walking through poop in a small town, a young girl writing a story about coffee and sorrow, another young girl doing fan fiction about dancing the tango with a fairy (that seemed moments away from turning to porn) - then we had the heavy hitters. To say my wife and I were the only conservatives in the room would be a significant understatement. Yes, I live in California (the last communist post in the West), but holy mackarel what mine ears did witness!! We had the guy who started his poem about hoola hoops and ending with the horrors of Capitalism. There was the lady who woke up one morning and wanted nothing but world peace. NOTHING. Another guy describing a hobo (with a snap!) and referencing Diogenes. The amount of pretentiousness was enough to choke a horse with! The preached qualities of leftist philosophy was humorous, at best. Even Marcus, who is more left than right, felt like the things being said wee silly. I don't understand these people who want to tear down America for some communist ideal that died a terrific death 14 years ago. If only "love it or leave it" ws enforceable.

Anyway, a poem from today:

Out of sight,

But not out of mind.

Irritation clouding

My demeanor,

Darkness overwhelming

My soul

Manic or depressive;

Always left at the

Whims of a mind

Incomplete.