Sleep is a fickle friend
We never can agree
On exactly when and where to spend our time together.
Sleep is a fickle mistress
When I want to share my bed
She never seems to share my mood
She chooses instead
To bother me at work, or when I've just made other plans
She seems to know how quickly I'll give in to her demands.
We spent a lovely weekend
Just the two of us alone
And though I didn't see another soul all day
By nightfall she had vanished
Simply gone away too soon
And I'm stuck here writing poetry about her
One day I'll have her for my own
One day she'll never leave
But she'll be disappointed in the end
In truth that day will be my last
And so the story goes
About my ever fickle mistress-friend.

Open Mic

An open mic is a wonderful thing.
It gives nobodys like me a chance to feel like somebody
It gives patrons a free show
And most of all it gives aspiring talent a place to go where they know they'll be among friends
Even if they've never seen you before.
I've seen poets and comics
And felt like what I did was easy compared to that
And the musicians
Oh, the musicians!
I've listened to horrible renditions of amazing songs
And amazing renditions of horrible ones
I've tried intently to listen to the painfully awful singer pour out his heart
And as the crowd tries to drown him out with their conversation I just want to stand up and yell
"Shut up!"
Because I want to hear what he has to say
And because he took a chance and got on the stage
And to me that counts for something.
I've seen a man with a gnarly goatee get up and play the most beautiful violin I've ever heard
I've seen a man in a business suit break down a mean "Simple Man"
And I've seen a girl who's only sixteen years old blow my mind with her voice.
I've seen ukelele players play industrial music
And then bust out into pop songs.
I've laughed, and I've sang along
Sometimes both at the same time.
I've gotten on the stage myself and played a few tunes I wrote.
I've gotten long, boisterous applause
And silence
I've been encouraged with words
And used my words to encourage others
I've forgotten the words
Three times in a row
But later I remembered them and played the song as well as I ever have.
I've done all of this, and it never cost me anything
Except to listen
And to share.
And I hope wherever I go next
Wherever this journey takes me
That there will be a bar
With a mic
And an open mind
Because that's where I live
And that's where I love
And that's what makes all the rest of my week worthwhile.

Ten Things I Know To Be True

I've been told that when you're writing
And you reach a loss for words
To write a list of things you know are true.

My list begins with simply this:
I know that love is real
Despite the evidence I have
From relationships that never last,
And a marriage that just fell apart
Before it had a chance to really get going,
I know that one day I'll either die happily in love
Or happy knowing I never gave up on it.

The second thing I know is that everyone has a talent.
Some people don't know what their talent is
And some have been cultivating and growing theirs for years.
Some people have put in the sweat
The blood
The tears
And some just pick it up without any effort at all
But no one is completely without any creative outlet.
Everyone can do something
Whether you draw
Or paint
Or write
Or dance
Or sing
Or play
Or listen to a friend
Or teach.
Maybe you're a dungeon master
Or maybe you can tell a joke.
Maybe you don't know what you can do
But whatever it is
Be proud that you're the one who can do it.

I also know that the internet is wonderful.
Sometimes it's scary
And sometimes it's gross
But if you took it away from me, I think I would be lost
Honestly, I don't know what people did without it.
They probably got a lot more sun.

I know that nachos were made for cheese,
And so was macaroni.
I know that counts for two
And this one makes six total.

I know that the best feeling in the world
Is the one I get when I hear someone else singing along to words I wrote
As if the words are actually meaningful to them.

I know wearing a shiny belt won't stop a car from running over me
And that there is no substitute for common sense
I know things the government hasn't figured out yet.

I know that I'm not always the best of friends
That there have been people in my life I've let down.
Maybe I didn't listen when you needed me
Or maybe I simply wasn't wround
Or worst of all, maybe you called me "friend"
And I didn't return the favor.

I know that the density of gold is 19.3 kilograms per square meter
I learned that in school
And for some reason it stuck.
And I thank every teacher I ever had, for all the bits of knowledge that stuck
Some were in school
Some were at home
Some were myfriends
Or my enemies
Or someone I watched a video of
Or heard on the radio
But all of them, whether they meant to or not
Have taught me more than I could ever have hoped to know
So the next time I think of ten things I know to be true
It will be just as easy
Because I know by then I will have had a hundred more teachers
Teaching me a thousand more things about this world.

So Tell Everyone

"Turn your ear to me," he said,
"and  hear the words I say.
I haven't got much time before
I have to go away.
I've been a lot of places
And I've seen a lot of things
And in my travels I have dined
With emperors and kings
I've lived alone in solitude.
I've lived with two or three
I've lived among the multitudes
Who never noticed me.
I've seen the shores around the world
When I did sailing go.
I've climbed the highest peaks you've seen
And lived off melted snow.
I've fought the very worst of beasts
And all of them I'd kill.
I've bent a spoon in half again
By only pow'r of will.
I've ridden on the back of beasts
As big as any house.
And even once was almost thrown
When one did see a mouse.
I've studied with the scholars
And I bested nearly all
Philosophy, Mathematics,
Every one of them did fall.
In wits I have no match
So you should really never try
I speak the language of all men
From 'Hello' to 'Goodbye.'
Technology comes naturally
I have no greater gift
So trust me with your problems
And you'll never go adrift.
So answering your inquiry,
As only I can do,
The time is quarter after twelve,
Now I must part. Adieu."

Sometimes it's good to stretch your mental mass
And sometimes you can still do it with class
Though sometimes crass
Or filled with sass
And sometimes I can be quite an ass
But alas
The time will pass
And like the grass
We'll wither and fall away. 

I hate to use some kind of lame excuse
Like awaiting inspiration or a muse
And so I must admit for all to see
My failures lie with no one else but me
I tried to write, but that's a partial lie
Since no attempt was made, like I imply
I simply sat there, staring into white
The cursor blinking in and out of sight
Until I finally gave up on the task
And went to bed.

The weekend is here, and I'm afraid
I've nothing yet to do
So I'll just sit alone up in my room.

I'm feeling like I did back then
Before I moved away
I try so hard to put away the gloom

Perhaps I'm better on my own
I certainly should know
It seems like that's the only side of me

But still it would be nice to know
Just what it's like to fit
I try too hard to find my place to be

The loneliness has threatened to consume
But I'm the only one who gets to see