Far from a round table, but not from Arthur Street ...

Laying on a damp bed of cool grass
My heavy head held in a bowl of fingers
And heavy lids about to confess
That they haven’t yet seen all they had intended
But it had been enough.

A loud sky finds the back of bare skin
Overwhelmed by the stars and the wind
Which both make more sense
Than the young thoughts that carried my feet to this place
Or the old dreams that will carry them back.

Once the wind settles, the voices grab on
Flickering prayers and steady hopes swim with decent fears
In and out of time like the tides in a tiny glass bowl
Rocking itself to a restless sleep
Before another breeze blows them all away again.

A touch. Maybe it was a kiss. A forgotten chore.
A full night’s duty to the coming day
Sworn to protect and honor what it chases but hasn’t met
And may never know
With a life that was never meant to be it’s own.

Then a song, quick and interrupted but painfully proud
In its defiance of the night, the voices
And sleeping, suffocating giants without concern for the stars, the wind
Or nearby tidal waves of reality
But desperate in its duty to honor what it can no longer defend.

A stampede of love, a cold tear from heaven and a heartbroken cricket
Remind me that it’s not possible to be lonely
Without the burden of regret
Or to sleep soundly without giving yourself up
To the night.

learned a new trick today ...

does that mean i'm not an old dog?

“A guy and a girl can be just friends, but at one point or another, they will fall for each other...Maybe temporarily, maybe at the wrong time, maybe too late, or maybe forever” ~ dmb

.~. close your eyes .~.

written in the early morning hours after a caffeine-induced all-nighter staring at computer screens under penetrating fluorescent lights. still don't dream like i used to ...

haven't been this inspired in a long time ... think it's time i did something about that. listening for a voice ...


laying on the edge of sleep
between blankets of shit undone
exhaustion breaking down the walls
Ive kept up with caffeine and adrenaline
too tired to be anyone but me
or to feel anything but this
deep desire to hold you
as if at any moment you might be blown away
and I might wake up alone again
another night gone by
but here, between next and now,
I cant help but believe my arms were made to fit around your waist
tracing the line of your pants with a painters grace
pausing to lay my palm against your warm skin
listening to our heartbeats synchronize
smelling your special blend
of vanilla and apple scent
closing all space between the small of your back
and my chest
my lips are called to their prodigal purpose
dancing along that space on your neck
just below your ear
that I cannot kiss without making you squirm
you whisper my name unconsciously
your beautiful voice coming to me from memory
and just as im about to slip away into darkness
to meet you on a familiar beach at sunset
with white sand and long shadows
the stars so close im tempted to pick one out of the sky for you
and let it glow in our room like a constant candle
how about the north star? Or orions belt buckle?
nothing but the best I would say
and as I drift off wishing this were more than a dream
your fingers find mine and our hands embrace
and I know
that I'll never sleep so well again

Propers

Been meaning to throw these up for a while ... couple of postings from Big Poppa E's LiveJournal Blog.

The first was a post he wrote just after visiting Moss Point last May. Cheris Smith, a senior in my Creative Writing and Poetry Club, had been corresponding with him via email in the hopes of getting him to come host her Poetry Slam - which I had convinced her to put on for her Senior Project since she was such a natural with the pen. Within a few months, I was driving to New Orleans to pick him up and am still being inspired by him today.

The next one is an article published in the MS Press Register just after the show. Here are two video clips from the show he posted (which aren't working at the moment but he has assured me would be again soon) and the letter of recommendation that I wrote which he posted on his site as well. I threw it together on my off period one day months later, rushed between meetings and deadlines, and am a little embarassed by some of the errors but I guess I got my message across.

Picked up a note today in between classes off of the tile floor.

Usually balls of crumbled paper go straight to the trash bin but sometimes curiousity gets the best of me and I open it up before throwing it away. Here is the heart-warming exchange I read between second and third period ...

Are you going to give it up?

I said no.

But he said I love you.

I said so.

gO 'BAMA!

Watching college football on a slow Saturday night at the Yacht Club bar and one regular turns from the television in disgust to ask for another Coor's Light and shout ...

"Only thing I hate worse than niggers is Alabama."

The room was filled and nobody said a thing in response. Just kept watching the game ... and drinking their beers.

mo' drama

just had a moment and wanted to share.

wasting some time this afternoon and checked the ol' myspace page. had a friend invite from one of my students - definitely not the first. this one in particular is not in my class but is in my drama club. a club that was non-existent prior to this year, which i started and by the end of the year had anywhere between 20-40 kids at every twice-per-week after school meeting. we put together four "shows" this past year and i thought they were all pretty good. you can see some of our clips on youtube. we have a blast and in a school dominated by sports with no other after school organizations some kids have really seemed to find their niche here. its an amazing group and i'm excited about our plans for next year. i've had more than a few text or call so far this summer asking if we can get together over the break to start working on our upcoming performances.

so, reading this student's myspace page a bit, i noticed this section in their info ...

"Drama Club. Okay, call me a dork, but drama club has recently become.. my life. literally. I eat, sleep, and breathe drama club. It's my favorite thing about school, and i'm always 100% commited to it. Since i've joined drama club, i've become a completely different person. I've found my escape from the world, a place where i can be anything i want to be. Everday that i go to my drama club meetings, i can walk into the room without feeling like people or staring at me, or judging me. I've become more confident. The thing i love most about drama club though, is the people who are in it with me. I've gained so many friends, people that i never would have even imagined being friends with, and i've made friends with some of my enemies, just from being in drama club. We're a family, and i know that they all love me the way i am. I can be myself in drama club, and no one judges me. I'm so thankful for Mr. Doyle, because if it wasn't for him, there would have never been a Drama Club at Moss Point High School. And i would still be the shitty person, and have the shitty friends that i had in the past. I never want to go back to the person i used to be.I'm finally happy with my life."

i also had another invite, this one to join the Drama Club group that a bunch of them have created and use to post pictures, videos, etc of our shows and rehearsals. they crack me up and make me cry ... again, definitely not the first time. below are some pictures of the crew ...