Poetry is, objectively, gratuitous and dramatic, but I love it and you should too

when I was 15, I found my poetic voice

I stole one of my brother’s Bukowski books

and would read it during detention

I felt like that’s what Chuck would’ve wanted

I got addicted to writing poetry

I wasn’t even close to being an adult

but somehow I still related to Bukowski

his bitterness, his anger,

his hope.

when I was 17,

I found Born In The Year Of The Butterfly Knife.

It felt electric. It felt coarse.

I realized poetry could be aggressive

written with a streak of violence

and I could still be considered

“a poet”

I doubled down and started writing more..

then my heart was broken

for the first time

and I wrote an entire manuscript

called From Lincoln to Los Angeles

and I felt you leaving me finally.

then I started writing poetry for girls

and it was damn good poetry

one even asked me to email it

I couldn’t believe that anyone liked them,

and took 2 weeks to send it

I still worry when love interests say

“I really like your writing”

because my guy friends just said

“it’s awesome bro, thanks”

In fact, a perpetual question is, who:

1.      likes my poetry

2.      hates my poetry

3.      doesn’t read it at all

unfortunately,

people celebrate the art of poetry

because we’re taught boring old poetry,

that doesn’t say what we need it to,

like Bukowski does.

old poetry, while good

doesn’t punch

doesn’t wound

doesn’t scar.

with poetry, you should feel 

the words can act as weapons

or protect you like a foxhole

in the war against yourself

…which is why I continue to write

because poetry lets you feel

seen. heard. understood.

human. mortal. vulnerable.

and like you’ve been set ablaze

all at the same time.