Submissions by mikeocull
POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
Poet Introduction
As a poet, songwriter, and musician, I deal in art, culture, and emotion. I have a need to make you feel something.It's all about the vibe.
Snapping
Time to leave or time to stay?
The ongoing question.
There are days of hope.
There are days of despair.
I'm tired of who I am, that's for sure.
The thing is, I have re-invented myself many times
And I don't know if I have the strength
To do it again.
Sliding back into darkness is much more tempting on days like this.
The piss and vinegar part of me fights against this other part.
I guess we are all in our little stew pots these days.
People snapping left and right.
I don't know how to fix this.
I feel my own internal pressure...
The ongoing question.
There are days of hope.
There are days of despair.
I'm tired of who I am, that's for sure.
The thing is, I have re-invented myself many times
And I don't know if I have the strength
To do it again.
Sliding back into darkness is much more tempting on days like this.
The piss and vinegar part of me fights against this other part.
I guess we are all in our little stew pots these days.
People snapping left and right.
I don't know how to fix this.
I feel my own internal pressure...
73 reads
0 Comments
From Here On In...
Bukowski said 'You get so alone sometimes that it just makes sense.'
He was right.
I have suffered the 'wisdom'
Of too many fools who,
In moments of weakness,
I found wiser than myself.
Being alone is what allows it all
To start making sense.
I feel my falsehoods fall away
And an authenticity emerge that is completely new.
I see now how full of the BS of others I have been.
Never again.
Right or wrong, I rule my own day from here.
What I think of me is what matters.
I have grown weary of trying to
Explain myself to others....
He was right.
I have suffered the 'wisdom'
Of too many fools who,
In moments of weakness,
I found wiser than myself.
Being alone is what allows it all
To start making sense.
I feel my falsehoods fall away
And an authenticity emerge that is completely new.
I see now how full of the BS of others I have been.
Never again.
Right or wrong, I rule my own day from here.
What I think of me is what matters.
I have grown weary of trying to
Explain myself to others....
52 reads
1 Comment
Remember
Remember to tell them about me.
Remember me to the end.
I was nothing much,
But I was real.
Remember me to the end.
I was nothing much,
But I was real.
52 reads
2 Comments
My 80's
I fell in love with the city at night.
The light, the shadows, the energy and vibe.
I longed to one of those
Who found this world indigenous.
I wanted to be one of those sleek and
Beautiful people walking along the windy night time streets
From tower to club to condo.
I was (am) round, graceless, and perpetually less than.
I thought that if I could become one of these City Folk
Then I might be able to hide my trueness,
My suburban past, and the rest of my embarrassing self.
I could live a life filled with long cashmere coats,
Gin martinis and...
The light, the shadows, the energy and vibe.
I longed to one of those
Who found this world indigenous.
I wanted to be one of those sleek and
Beautiful people walking along the windy night time streets
From tower to club to condo.
I was (am) round, graceless, and perpetually less than.
I thought that if I could become one of these City Folk
Then I might be able to hide my trueness,
My suburban past, and the rest of my embarrassing self.
I could live a life filled with long cashmere coats,
Gin martinis and...
48 reads
0 Comments
Role Play
I used to think I knew me.
Who I was, what I was about.
And I guess I did, to a point.
What I knew, really, was the
Character I created.
See, early on, I learned to dislike myself
And, as I grew, I reinvented myself into
Some I thought people would like better,
That I liked better.
I borrowed personality traits from those I admired,
Made them my own, and combined them.
I worked it so hard that I started to believe it.
Then I did believe it.
My isolation in recent years has allowed much
Of this construct, this façade, to fall...
Who I was, what I was about.
And I guess I did, to a point.
What I knew, really, was the
Character I created.
See, early on, I learned to dislike myself
And, as I grew, I reinvented myself into
Some I thought people would like better,
That I liked better.
I borrowed personality traits from those I admired,
Made them my own, and combined them.
I worked it so hard that I started to believe it.
Then I did believe it.
My isolation in recent years has allowed much
Of this construct, this façade, to fall...
101 reads
4 Comments
Space Between My Ears...
All I need is some space between my ears.
Sometimes, my head is a crowded place.
All my thoughts, obligations, wants, doubts, needs, and fears
Are in there and they start bumping into each other
And getting grumpy.
This is when I admire people who can cope with life sober.
I cannot, and I know that.
A quick hit of something strong
Gives me the mental distance needed to live.
I make no bones about it.
My personality is mostly made of minus signs,
So the world is a safer place if my edge is ground
Down somehow.
Un-medicated, I am...
Sometimes, my head is a crowded place.
All my thoughts, obligations, wants, doubts, needs, and fears
Are in there and they start bumping into each other
And getting grumpy.
This is when I admire people who can cope with life sober.
I cannot, and I know that.
A quick hit of something strong
Gives me the mental distance needed to live.
I make no bones about it.
My personality is mostly made of minus signs,
So the world is a safer place if my edge is ground
Down somehow.
Un-medicated, I am...
133 reads
3 Comments
The Past
I will leave you to dispose of my things.
I no longer need them.
All that shit is good for is
bringing up bad memories of the past.
The past could be mostly erased with no loss.
Can't do anything about it.
Whatever happened, happened.
Gotta move on.
New stuff awaits,
Until the end,
If you play your cards right.
Too many people stop at some point
And settle for their life.
I may not be rich, but I did not settle.
I have not. I will not.
I was born to raise Hell,
Not to go quietly.
You can have the past.
I have held...
I no longer need them.
All that shit is good for is
bringing up bad memories of the past.
The past could be mostly erased with no loss.
Can't do anything about it.
Whatever happened, happened.
Gotta move on.
New stuff awaits,
Until the end,
If you play your cards right.
Too many people stop at some point
And settle for their life.
I may not be rich, but I did not settle.
I have not. I will not.
I was born to raise Hell,
Not to go quietly.
You can have the past.
I have held...
48 reads
0 Comments
Seasons
Nothing to do when you're stuck in a vacancy.
Sometimes, you have to wait for a season to pass.
Some things develop in their own time and,
No matter how hard you might push,
Nothing happens until the wheel turns on its own.
Sometimes, you have to wait for a season to pass.
Some things develop in their own time and,
No matter how hard you might push,
Nothing happens until the wheel turns on its own.
36 reads
0 Comments
Urban Love Poem #1
If I could repaint the world in my very own way.
And redraw the lines that keep us at bay
I'd make it more real, I'd make it more open.
Spirits would heal from hurts that are spoken.
If I could make changes, If I could rewind
The seemingly endless changes of time.
I'd go back to when the living was gritty.
The summer we first fell in love in the city.
The moment was fleeting, the moment was fast.
I live in the present but long for the past
When no one was hurting and we were all good.
That summer we first fell in love in the 'hood.
...
And redraw the lines that keep us at bay
I'd make it more real, I'd make it more open.
Spirits would heal from hurts that are spoken.
If I could make changes, If I could rewind
The seemingly endless changes of time.
I'd go back to when the living was gritty.
The summer we first fell in love in the city.
The moment was fleeting, the moment was fast.
I live in the present but long for the past
When no one was hurting and we were all good.
That summer we first fell in love in the 'hood.
...
122 reads
0 Comments
The Trick
The only thing worse than hatred is indifference.
Being ignored is the final insult.
The un-returned call or email is the international sign for 'goodbye.'
I feel indifference coming from unexpected places lately.
Change is sweeping my corner of the world
And we are all going through something.
I've lived long enough to know people come and go
As do scenes, bands, women, drinks, drugs, and amplifiers.
The trick is to enjoy them all for what they are, then let go.
Surfing the flow is the only sane choice.
Attaching to one way or world view breeds...
Being ignored is the final insult.
The un-returned call or email is the international sign for 'goodbye.'
I feel indifference coming from unexpected places lately.
Change is sweeping my corner of the world
And we are all going through something.
I've lived long enough to know people come and go
As do scenes, bands, women, drinks, drugs, and amplifiers.
The trick is to enjoy them all for what they are, then let go.
Surfing the flow is the only sane choice.
Attaching to one way or world view breeds...
53 reads
1 Comment
Reach...
I reach into myself.
What does that mean?
It means I have to be honest.
I have to be real.
If not, then I am reaching into someone else.
I have to face what is here and subdue it, befriend it,
Buy it a drink.
It's taken a long time to realize that fact.
To be real means to accept, warts, scars, and all
The way I am and the state of the world around me.
To change the world requires self-change.
This will always be my battle.
What does that mean?
It means I have to be honest.
I have to be real.
If not, then I am reaching into someone else.
I have to face what is here and subdue it, befriend it,
Buy it a drink.
It's taken a long time to realize that fact.
To be real means to accept, warts, scars, and all
The way I am and the state of the world around me.
To change the world requires self-change.
This will always be my battle.
83 reads
0 Comments
Mid Life Crisis
Mid Life Crisis
10-13-2013
I miss the storms that used to live around my heart,
The angst of a young man…
I used to burn with and for each emotion,
Everything was epic, and
I could live on piss and vinegar for a week at a time.
I longed for love and for a life yet to come.
I felt noble and naive at the same time…
I was prone to rages, recoils, and flights of fancy.
Get drunk, freak out, take off, or some combination.
Unpredictable, unreliable, undeniable…
I found peace in dark alleys, EL stops, and other shadows.
I sought out...
10-13-2013
I miss the storms that used to live around my heart,
The angst of a young man…
I used to burn with and for each emotion,
Everything was epic, and
I could live on piss and vinegar for a week at a time.
I longed for love and for a life yet to come.
I felt noble and naive at the same time…
I was prone to rages, recoils, and flights of fancy.
Get drunk, freak out, take off, or some combination.
Unpredictable, unreliable, undeniable…
I found peace in dark alleys, EL stops, and other shadows.
I sought out...
41 reads
0 Comments
DU Poetry : Submissions by mikeocull