Once, I thought I was a wizard.
I carved a mesquite wand to practice magic.
I made potions and tinctures from ingredients I found.
I wrote and created my own book of spells.
And given some time,
I could read your mind.
My friends and parents didn't seem to mind.
In fact, they thought it was pretty wizard.
This all lasted until a time
they realized, I really could do magic.
Then they grew fearful of my spells.
Especially when I told them, "a magic school I soon shall found!"
But the school that I had founded
was only attended by me. You see, people thought me out of my mind,
because the way I wrote my name was intentionally misspelled.
Instead of "Sam", I wrote my name as "wizard".
but hey, who doesn't want to know some magic?
Bit by bit, learning sorcery enveloped all my time.
Eventually, I beat my fastest two-mile time
because of the "running charm" that I found.
I know you think I'm crazy, for thinking I know magic.
But really, I don't mind.
After all, I am a wizard.
And you will soon be under my spell.
In fact, let me share with you a spell.
But understand, learning takes some time.
If you truly wish to be a wizard,
this is a priceless gem that you have found!
Focus hard, imagine in your mind
--that is the first step in truly knowing magic.
These words that follow will bring to life your magic:
"Eyan tuler ular von!" Now repeat the spell!
I'll be honest, I hope that you don't mind...
that was a spell to make you appear silly, for a short time.
What did you expect? There's one thing I have found:
Magic takes some patience. Take it from me. Remember, I am a wizard.
You may have noticed, through this discourse, my past to present tense of time.
Good for you, that's something intentional you found.
Because it was not once, but truly it is now: I know I am a wizard.
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
I Know You
More of a spoken word poem than anything else. This poem addresses a younger me around age 19.
We've never met before, but I know you.
You're the guy everyone likes.
And that smile is on your face
because you know that cute girl with the short blond hair and ocean blue eyes
with your arm around her waist is never
going to leave you.
There's a silver promise ring on your left hand that reminds you just how important she is to you,
and it's never going to tarnish.
You know that thick-banded, rectangular Fossil watch on your wrist will
never stop working.
And you've got all the time in the world.
Nothing will ever change.
You're not an alcoholic.
You'll never smoke pot, drop 'cid, roll balls, dope up, smack down, or lay back stoned
and watch the world go round.
You're not alone.
You have a thousand best friends who will always be there for you.
You're a stand up, hard working, in shape, honest guy with a hell of a smile
because God is so good to you.
You don't make mistakes.
You make choices and you live with them.
And you're never going to screw everything up because
you know exactly what to do.
No day will ever come when tears stream down your cheeks
and blood runs down your arms to the razor on the floor
while you sit in a corner next to that tarnished ring and broken watch,
curled in a ball
with so much hate overflowing in your anger at it all,
hating the world, hating yourself
hating that girl you loved
hating every friend you ever made
while you scream at the ceiling in that barren room that
you want it all to go away.
No, we've never met before. But I know you.
We've never met before, but I know you.
You're the guy everyone likes.
And that smile is on your face
because you know that cute girl with the short blond hair and ocean blue eyes
with your arm around her waist is never
going to leave you.
There's a silver promise ring on your left hand that reminds you just how important she is to you,
and it's never going to tarnish.
You know that thick-banded, rectangular Fossil watch on your wrist will
never stop working.
And you've got all the time in the world.
Nothing will ever change.
You're not an alcoholic.
You'll never smoke pot, drop 'cid, roll balls, dope up, smack down, or lay back stoned
and watch the world go round.
You're not alone.
You have a thousand best friends who will always be there for you.
You're a stand up, hard working, in shape, honest guy with a hell of a smile
because God is so good to you.
You don't make mistakes.
You make choices and you live with them.
And you're never going to screw everything up because
you know exactly what to do.
No day will ever come when tears stream down your cheeks
and blood runs down your arms to the razor on the floor
while you sit in a corner next to that tarnished ring and broken watch,
curled in a ball
with so much hate overflowing in your anger at it all,
hating the world, hating yourself
hating that girl you loved
hating every friend you ever made
while you scream at the ceiling in that barren room that
you want it all to go away.
No, we've never met before. But I know you.
The Bane of a Warrior
In Elwyn Woods I strolled with a friend through a warm and cloudy night.
Our bags were stretched with bulging gold we'd claimed from our last fight.
My chainmail clinked in time with hers, along our path to Stormwind.
But as we neared the nearby town, the fog grew less and thinned...
The burning smell of smoke!
A thrashed abandoned cloak!
A horn cried loud
as thunder cloud
slashed down upon the earthen ground!
A blazing fire, reaching higher
in the town of Goldshire!
"The Horde! The Horde!"
We heard no more
over my dragon's powerful roar!
We reared into the air
off to end this mad affair.
Our bowstrings tight,
the night alight,
prepared to smite
the first to enter in our sight!
But what is this?
Something surely is amiss...
I cannot move!
I cannot move!
Oh, God damn it, not again.
This only seems to happen when--
<You have been disconnected from the server>
Our bags were stretched with bulging gold we'd claimed from our last fight.
My chainmail clinked in time with hers, along our path to Stormwind.
But as we neared the nearby town, the fog grew less and thinned...
The burning smell of smoke!
A thrashed abandoned cloak!
A horn cried loud
as thunder cloud
slashed down upon the earthen ground!
A blazing fire, reaching higher
in the town of Goldshire!
"The Horde! The Horde!"
We heard no more
over my dragon's powerful roar!
We reared into the air
off to end this mad affair.
Our bowstrings tight,
the night alight,
prepared to smite
the first to enter in our sight!
But what is this?
Something surely is amiss...
I cannot move!
I cannot move!
Oh, God damn it, not again.
This only seems to happen when--
<You have been disconnected from the server>
Going Back Where I Belong
This poem addresses my thoughts on returning from UCSB to study at VVC.
I thought that I'd be missed, when I became dismissed.
And I, withdrawn, and I, once gone and nowhere to be seen...
Surely one would notice that barren seat or empty sheets.
But my silent phone taunted my of my lost home.
No friends paused and no friends called, perhaps because I made no
impact on their intact lives.
I thought I would, I could remain
something special in their minds, not empty lines on empty page.
The waves are washing in my soul, until I still my restless goal.
I must return to love, to home!
Is it ubsurd I crave to brave the challenge until success or grave?
Community college...second rate! Compared to college of more than knowledge.
Santa Barbara holds much more than lore and I abhor I had to leave.
But I believe I can achieve, I can't conceive I won't retrieve my place where I belong!
So goodbye desert. Hello UCSB.
I thought that I'd be missed, when I became dismissed.
And I, withdrawn, and I, once gone and nowhere to be seen...
Surely one would notice that barren seat or empty sheets.
But my silent phone taunted my of my lost home.
No friends paused and no friends called, perhaps because I made no
impact on their intact lives.
I thought I would, I could remain
something special in their minds, not empty lines on empty page.
The waves are washing in my soul, until I still my restless goal.
I must return to love, to home!
Is it ubsurd I crave to brave the challenge until success or grave?
Community college...second rate! Compared to college of more than knowledge.
Santa Barbara holds much more than lore and I abhor I had to leave.
But I believe I can achieve, I can't conceive I won't retrieve my place where I belong!
So goodbye desert. Hello UCSB.
Ma Shell is Michelle
This is a poem about a drug experience (The exact drug is hidden in the lines) in which the narrator falls in love with an everyday object
Ma shell is Michelle.
A gastropod of elegant beauty,
she sits a dust-trap on my shelf.
But where others see some somber spiral, I see a savior.
Drugged from a spiked drink and Lifted Straight Down to Hell,
I thought I'd lost my mind that manic Monday.
As the tide washed back, violently orange and violet...
As a full spectrum of color erupted from the sinking sun...
As voices pursued me in my maddened head....
Some mysterious, glowing gleam claimed the attention of my gaze.
Perhaps it was the voices screaming in my ears.
Perhaps it was some divine presence that told me to stand.
Perhaps it was nothing at all...
But slowly I rose from the rocks that formed my throne, and crawled into the washing waves.
Closer...closer to the shining light.
And there before me was the conical, gleaming shell.
I caressed her in my fingers, lifting her from the darkened, soggy sand.
Eagerly I pressed her to my ear,
awaiting the sound it's said you'll hear.
But there was no whisper of the salty breeze.
There was no roar of the persistent tide.
And at last...there were no voices in my head.
My skin stopped bubbling.
My face stopped melting.
The crazy colors infecting my sight faded.
Then a warm and gentle murmur echoed from the shell...
"Don't worry. I'm your best friend."
And so she is ma shell.
And ma shell is Michelle.
Ma shell is Michelle.
A gastropod of elegant beauty,
she sits a dust-trap on my shelf.
But where others see some somber spiral, I see a savior.
Drugged from a spiked drink and Lifted Straight Down to Hell,
I thought I'd lost my mind that manic Monday.
As the tide washed back, violently orange and violet...
As a full spectrum of color erupted from the sinking sun...
As voices pursued me in my maddened head....
Some mysterious, glowing gleam claimed the attention of my gaze.
Perhaps it was the voices screaming in my ears.
Perhaps it was some divine presence that told me to stand.
Perhaps it was nothing at all...
But slowly I rose from the rocks that formed my throne, and crawled into the washing waves.
Closer...closer to the shining light.
And there before me was the conical, gleaming shell.
I caressed her in my fingers, lifting her from the darkened, soggy sand.
Eagerly I pressed her to my ear,
awaiting the sound it's said you'll hear.
But there was no whisper of the salty breeze.
There was no roar of the persistent tide.
And at last...there were no voices in my head.
My skin stopped bubbling.
My face stopped melting.
The crazy colors infecting my sight faded.
Then a warm and gentle murmur echoed from the shell...
"Don't worry. I'm your best friend."
And so she is ma shell.
And ma shell is Michelle.
My Love is a Metaphor
Another one of my earlier works. I wanted to write a metaphor/list poem and this was the result
She is not an age-yellowed paper, long forgotten awaiting the pen.
She is a leather-bound book, embossed with a golden name.
She is not a golden crown, nor the queen upon the throne.
She is a goddess and the temple.
She is not a lover who's mind embraces her desire.
She is my healing heart, pushing the blood through my veins.
She is not a kitten, playing idly with a ball of string.
She is a lioness, relentlessly pursuing her prey.
She is not a koala or a sloth,
she is the try on which they fly.
She is not a moose or wolf or bear,
she is the wilds in which they dwell.
She is not a shark, a dolphin or a whale,
she is the sea in which they swim.
She is not the ground on which I walk,
she is the Earth on which I live.
She is not an age-yellowed paper, long forgotten awaiting the pen.
She is a leather-bound book, embossed with a golden name.
She is not a golden crown, nor the queen upon the throne.
She is a goddess and the temple.
She is not a lover who's mind embraces her desire.
She is my healing heart, pushing the blood through my veins.
She is not a kitten, playing idly with a ball of string.
She is a lioness, relentlessly pursuing her prey.
She is not a koala or a sloth,
she is the try on which they fly.
She is not a moose or wolf or bear,
she is the wilds in which they dwell.
She is not a shark, a dolphin or a whale,
she is the sea in which they swim.
She is not the ground on which I walk,
she is the Earth on which I live.
Hallelujah
Not one of my personal favorites, and one of my earlier works.
Lepers and liars,
whores and adulterers,
gluttoned pigs and lazy sloths,
killers, non-believers,
Beware!
Fire, brimstone, tortured souls,
eternal pain, eternal death in agony!
Give up yourselves, your very being!
Give up your Sunday morning sleeps.
Give up your thoughts, we'll think for you!
Who needs a mind when you have God?
Give up your money and precious time.
Put a Jesus on your car!
Self belief? Identity?
Children of God need none of these.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Say it with me! Hallelujah!
Open your heart, let God in!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Come to church, yes, come to church!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Yell it with me! Hallelujah!
Clasp your hands, pour out your soul!
All is done by God alone!
Hallelujah!Hallelujah!
Scream it with me! Hallelujah!
Give up your self, your mind and soul,
or face eternal death in Hell!
Lepers and liars,
whores and adulterers,
gluttoned pigs and lazy sloths,
killers, non-believers,
Beware!
Fire, brimstone, tortured souls,
eternal pain, eternal death in agony!
Give up yourselves, your very being!
Give up your Sunday morning sleeps.
Give up your thoughts, we'll think for you!
Who needs a mind when you have God?
Give up your money and precious time.
Put a Jesus on your car!
Self belief? Identity?
Children of God need none of these.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Say it with me! Hallelujah!
Open your heart, let God in!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Come to church, yes, come to church!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Yell it with me! Hallelujah!
Clasp your hands, pour out your soul!
All is done by God alone!
Hallelujah!Hallelujah!
Scream it with me! Hallelujah!
Give up your self, your mind and soul,
or face eternal death in Hell!
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