2 & 1/2 Weeks of New (Series Remainder)

2/7/17

(Tuesday)

New II

Still true; New day under

new sky, new sun, new clouds—

But today is cloudy.

Sun only able to peer through & around.

Storm front comin’;

time to stock up on

can goods of

       I got this

       super-confidence with a cape &

       fake it till you make it

      

New day still—

       not like yesterday

       like toward the end

       when we had to pull

       $ out the atm

       like pullin’ a rabbit

       out our ass &

       pardon my French

but my chi must of

made a sharp left turn

bout noon, and

       Ain’t caught up with

       my ass yet.

where is the balance

_____________________________________________________________

2/8/17

(Wednesday)

New III

New Day

       New doubt

       like icewater

on marble floors

       at 5 degrees

Familiar frosty;

       not like a

       chocolate wendy’s

       the kind that deals

       with shoulders &

       back

BACK UP

BACK OFF

       Turn your

       Back on me

       & go Back

       where you came

       (Tuesday Night)

new day

_____________________________________________________________

2/9/17

(Thursday)

New Iv

New Day,

       Breathe

New Day,

       Breathe

New Day,

       Exhale

Ideal situations

never exist & imagination

fails you in the future

New Day

       Breath

Arguments like

       zig-zags for puffers—

       Always around.

And round 2 came Wednesday

evening when she wanted

to talk for 5

       By the end of 5

       it was like a

       count of 5

              &

       this lightweight

       was laid out on the canvass

new day

       breathe—

New day

       breathe.

New job brought

       new exhaustion

       to an old body

       as the old part-time

peeked his head out

at old part time,

       white lady with crazy hair

       hired new manager

       with power issues

       while all black staff

       are called boy & travel

       with white shadows.

       Stress level loc-high

       & if this s.o.b. say one mo’ thang…

handed in shirt, keys, & badge

       shit felt good

_____________________________________________________________

2/10/17

(Friday)

New V

New Day

       Good Day

where

fears met convictions

& convicts

got hold of the keys

When

stitches met patches

& holes

they thought were

too deep

were covered

under a salty shine.

New Day

       New Feeling

where ½ beds

were made whole

and 1+1  =3

and balanced equations

equal communication

and good days (are)

       (A) New Day

where success

is found under

rubble piles of

failure

because we refuse

to allow our

shadows to lead

Be clear &

       concise

in your new days

new experiences

new relations

make room for

mistakes

       &

learn to

       embrace them

For one is never

       eternal

however words & actions

       are

new days

_____________________________________________________________

2/13/17

(Monday)

New VI

Be Well,

       be mindful, be awesome, be true

Be Present in all

you do

       be beautiful

       be confident

       be strong

       be you,

Be present

in all you do

Question &

Challenge,

Bravery is a skill—

Respect it

Develop it

Use it at will

       Be willful

       Be respectful

       Be determined

       & move

Be present

in all you do

_________________________________________________________________________________

2/14/17

(Tuesday)

New VII

creatures of habit

grinding to a halt

in traffic

same spot, same space

every morning

making grooves w/

two step motion

while

radiophiles drone on

over rainbows &

Mariah Carey

Why can’t they

create a

affordable flying car

that works

creatures of habit—

       This is not a

       dress rehearsal, or

       private practice for just the

       offensive line—

       This shit’s live!

       Training to work with

       the mentally ill is mandatory;

       we need your

       mind, your body, &

       your soul

       so please leave 

       habits of traffic, 

       baby, baby mama,

       doctor appointments &

       how ever many 

       lost hours of sleep you’re searching for

       due to binge watching Netflix—

creatures of habit

attempting to house it’s soul

on corners of

intense insanity, we

sugar-coat down to

life

But keep living, keep

striving, keep complicating

knots till the oceans

dry,

your eyes uncross,

& stomach unlocks

The repeat that ish—

_________________________________________________________________________________

(Tuesday 2/14/17)

3:17(pm)

The number

II;

two ones

added together

makes 3,

or two,

depending

on how you see things

on 2.14.17

It’s a numbers game.

Got me

       thinkin

what am I doin’

why this, why this

plan?

the number

11=2=3=11.

Math subtracting

down like life ain’t

1 & 1

mirror image

images of a

four passenger family car

pulling up on

4 wheels

with four family members

in the rearview.

_____________________________________________________________

2.15.17

(Wednesday)

New VII

You can always scream to God

& see if it’ll help.

Or sleep & dream of

rabid puppies

tearing at the flesh of your problems

We network w/our neurosis

in hopes for a better life;

Limping along a beaten path

to the left

our happiness

to the right

our strife.

Sometimes we

make babies with people

we’re not madly in love with,

but love them regardless,

and complicate it

by trying to

figure it all out.

       you can always scream to god

       & network w/neurosis

in hopes for the right answers

& a perfect life.

It is usually  hard

starting a new job;

it is even harder

when life hast it’s

left foot up your

anus…

       you can always scream to God

& network with your neurosis.

Back to the Love

Happy Belated New Year, and all that jazz!  It's 2017, and I'm back on my grind.  Looking back, I haven't posted anything, in several months.  For that I'm truly sorry, and this year, this month, will be trying to do much better.

So to catch you up, I wrote a second book, Crossroads: Decisions & Consequences which was published by Esquire Publishing, and available now!  July of 2016, my longtime job at a girls treatment facility was closed down, and I was out of a job.  August of 2016 I got a position at a wonderful middle school, and worked 6 months as a tech teacher.  However, due to some personal life additions, I had to upgrade the job front, and now working for a hospital here in Denver.

Due to all these changes, it's been a bit hard to write.  However, I have challenged myself to write something every month, and either submit it, blog it, or publish it through Medium.  (You can catch me on Medium under Poet402--of course lol)  So in honor of that I wrote a short story entitled "Benefits" and submitted it to three lit mags.  I got one rejection letter (which I posted on Instagram) but still waiting to hear from the other two.

So I've posted one poem from a series on Medium for February and here's the link.  I hope you enjoy them, they're pretty personal.  The remainder of the series will be here on this blog in subsequent post.

In conclusion, thank you for your continued support, I look forward to reading your stuff, and hearing your comments about mine.  Ashe

Signed,

Poet402

Make sure to check out the new post on Medium
https://medium.com/@former402poet/2-and-1-2-weeks-of-new-poem-1-993a9ad830c#.ho7goqrsi

Citizen

Ain’t united,
Ain’t the same.
Shouldn’t have to say
Black Lives Matter
but we do
because for some,
it don’t.

Protestin’

ain’t producin’
a solution.
Hashtags & videos
ain’t savin’ lives
(but then again, neither are police)

Can I call it

a sad day
when an army veteran
becomes a sniper,
kills police,
and is referred to
as evil?

or do i call him

a Hero
who took action
against injustice?

Congress

ain’t the solution
Laws
ain’t the solution
Body Cams
ain’t the solution
Conversations
ain’t the answer
 

Change the Culture

amerikkka

Until you can

see me, us, we,
as humans
this climate
will continue
 

And I will

continue
to be
unsafe

©2016 Clarence Barbee

In Response to Burning Houses

I don’t want to

post no more

protest poetry

in response to

slain captives of this land.

No amount of

angry rhetoric

will ever bring back

those big smiles

of our brothers and sisters,

we were forced to

lay to rest.

Don’t want no more

IG memes or hash-tags

as we become

arm-chair revolutionaries

with our

push button politics

protesting crooked policies

of police who hold the power.

Malcolm told us

about burning houses

yet we refused to listen;

so now we

suffer the consequences

in flames.

As my condolences

go out to families,

I ask,

Where is the justice

in this experiment

called integration?

Where is the justice

in this experiment

called america?

There is no justice

under

body cams

or

cell phone cams

or

dashboard cams

because

lady liberty is blind,

when it comes to

Black folk.

Ri$k TaKer$

So I was messin' around in the studio with my horn, and this piece kinda came out.  If you're offended by it, great, comments are always welcome!

I’m your risk taker.

Beat breaker when the light’s shut off,

and generators turn on;

no pawn in water’s piranha;

kickin’ Rihanna’s heels

high in the atmosphere.

You don’t feel this here,

because it ain’t near

happy hour.

Showers of beer off the pier,

as your peer holds

your baby daughter dear;

never in headlights

in midnights, we take flight

to avoid fights in

Neverland.

Captain Hook took a stand,

now he’s collecting shells

at Sandy Hook.

Shook in shadows

fellows never settle for second best,

as the rest cry

gun control.

Out of Saddam’s hole

Trump emerges,

toupee splurges hair into the air,

now we got

a whole new meme it seems,

off right wing Republican dreams.

Nightmare for Mexican docs

while the

gun totin’, cousin fuckin’ Americans

plot the next stop of money’s stockpile.

Big banks pocketed

Hiliary’s shit-stained, panty-pile

while refusing to

get it clean.

America in 2016,

as white folks spin

24 hour news about

White House guest

use,

of the N word

on national tv.

Repeated on YouTube

we need a boob, to pop out

at the NBA playoffs

so old men can jack off

to yet, another

Black Beauty.

As everyone cries

duty and detriment,

but Bernie’s got the

plan of prosperity;

too bad this ain’t no

utopian society—

Or we’d give him

the key to every city…

And shut the water off in Flint,

as poison is sent

to the bones of the future.

No failure in political systems,

because ain’t no old white men

being strung up

from their power ties.

Ain’t no one tired

of the ole lies,

old wise white women

taught us in school.

I’ll be that fool

who takes the risk

of spittin’ this.

If you would like to hear me spit this, hit the soundcloud:  https://soundcloud.com/poet402/rik-taker