Beatnik Poets Night @ Starving Artist Cafe, NJ

It’s good to be here. Thank you to our host & the cafe for running the show & the pleasant ambiance. 

I have with me this evening 3 original poems I’d like to share. 

This first one is a sequel to a poem I wrote a couple years ago. Years ago, I wrote a masterpiece of a poem about how True Love Never Dies. About my partner and I. And we, in fact in turn, decided to end our partnership. So this piece here tonight, is about how True Love can, healthily, fade away. And that’s a positive transformation. 

The title of this poem comes from a song by one of my favorite bands. A lot of my poetry is inspired by music. So the lyric that I love goes, quote:

“we met where time and life shook hands and said goodbye.”

And this poem is titled Ocean.

Ocean

meet me in the middle

of nowhere;

the point between

a glacier and the shore

our perceived persona and

the self deep beneath.

somewhere inside someone

else, and our shelf 

showing off the artifacts found from

a cataclysm who was 

just a catalyst,

you name an alter

out of pieces picked and placed

from alternative states 

of mind

you find 

time 

for everything

but I’m

not a wristwatch I’m the pulse.

underneath 

the sheets

of ice

nothing /void… not- 

instead- a freakazoid

inside- the lady 

on land

in demand of a plan

to accept all mysteries

on one hand

&

to not die wondering

on the other.

elsewhere

a lover 

left, behind 

the rights 

both sides of

my brain n my bed

and all i said 

wasn’t the rights to my life

wasn’t the words of the wise

was enough to evoke roses 

from brothers of mine

warmed by the ways i shine

even in times

when i know he is not mine

in a word where worlds

do not conceptualize

the owner’s ship, 

i know sunken places in sunken faces

can’t feel the light of me

can’t see teal tides at sea 

can hear the night in a day dream

listening to my blend between

red and blue

an oracle alongside  

the violets in you

although mismatching hues

has us at odds with what to do.

behold, beloved life

let us be like waves

in the ocean

high and low and fast and slow &

as though our hearts are one

giant conscious flow

with island bodies

perfectly carved like wooden spoons

silver in my man’s mouth i talk about

golden pony boys born to run together

twins in sunrise horizons singing without

fear, here the captains carry no doubt 

what is meant for you won’t miss you

so i 

don’t hold a drop of of nostalgia for what is old

yet i

forever revier across many lives this soul.

the soul within, can swim.

that’s where i am

in the devotion

of many loves sailing 

towards many more

balanced as a boat’s float

in the middle of here now. 

Thank you.

~~~

This next poem. Is called Paradise. And this one does not come from the Coldplay song by the same name. But a book titled Paradise Lost. And this poem is about a song I love where the lyrics are something like:

“Hope we find that we were never lost; always found our way.” 

Paradise

i’ve been

hearing people

say like it’s nobody’s business

god gives me their toughest battles

and it’s literally the battle i prayed to be in.

but what damn sense is there in

fighting for world peace

when i go for walk

beyond dead ends

with these 3 best

friends- me, myself, & I. 

if there is one thing

about me

it’s twofold

A, circus with monkies 

ain’t a carnival with monks

So,

let it be.

Another thing:

if it’s not a struggle 

then it’s not real

i deal daily against

idealism or

it’s not easy being this perfect when they persist imperfection is it,

chief. 

I am rivers currents

like salmon upstream

i mean koi fish

got their glory

by reverence for their strength

just like me

in my mind i mean.

I was born so bittersweet

on a double sided coin

with offices in new york city and los angeles

without any people to do anything in them

besides fly between

point S-E-A and point Z

lost

the plot

of land

to a lot

of damn

places without many reasons

seasons outside their performative role

like the weather doesn’t care who is watching

she will rain.

they will snow.

it’s gonna storm.

you oughta know.

pot is fun.

hon, wouldja quit calling me 

that my name is black

don’t say gay

and when you do

make damn sure

you declare it loud and proud

you wear it around

that heart on your sleeve

inside that shirt pocket 

across your chest

that little patch

to sew your heart from 

floating away

when you get too

damn down with the music

your big break

dancing around this summer’s olympics

like you qualified to be 

Mrs. Multiverse;

Wow, our breath

is paused in the atmosphere

Magical really

the ways she just grew into

him, bloomed in two 

atoms and ions

and apples and banaynays

hey ho hey 

your illuminating aura 

when i hear you in that hair

Well you’re easy on the eyes.

Well i don’t want to take up too much of your precious

mind.

I’m fine.

I wanted to justify making up 

after rising and shining far apart

when the distance isn’t that far

when you’re states away

but it’s too far

when you’re lying beside me

in our commune bed

it’s that time you said 

you wanted to wake up

never not touching one another

too close, is close enough.

didn’t wanna move but lo

and behold- we were let go

and we’re still here

but that’s a miracle

yet i prefer the word lyrical.

I have been

living in

another ride

alongside you

our baby blue 

hatchback.

look me in the mouth

i’ve got nothing

in my smile.

i’ve been driving for you

that’s just my style.

check me in the shoulder

I’m not the bouncer I’m the greeter.

welcome home to me

your psychic honey feeder.

At last, in rules of threes, look me square 

in my heart

of all these cities, clones across galaxies, made from ashes,

and tell me

animals and their glasses

could envision a jungle

made from concrete

but they’d rather 

eat fruit topless sitting around doin’ 

their leisure 

they’re twenty four seven free time

set me loose

let me roam

around downtown on

the imaginationship

a situationship

candles burning on both ends.

hey pal, why don’t you

take a hike 

hop in the canoe and

build a castle

wherever you land

there you are

then tell me

again

dude where’s our car

oh it’s running

in the bike lane

on interstate nine point eight

great, let’s make a breakaway

and shoot past the bullshit

then go east on kings highway

right at the yellow light

see all the signs from inside… 

that’s where we’ll find

utopian heights. 

you’ve never heard of paradise

until you’re walking all over it. 

Thank you.

~~~

I’ll do one more and then that’s my time. This poem is called Howl. And it is inspired by the Alan Ginsberg poem of the same name. 

Howl

Within me there are two wolves

a werewolf,

the moonlit monster

And

an aware wolf,

awakened to the highest crown,

found where great yogis float

cotton candy clouds loud

but beware-

double trouble-

filter-free monologues

a wild child

dancing like no one’s around

in the spotlight

i’ve seen the hardest people soften

behind the scenes

the intimacy beneath our iceberg

where the wolf lives

prowling for someone

moved by beauty both ways:

the enlightened one

and the beast too.

Within you

there is

a glow in the dark

heart

beaming beats for the art

casted past curtain call

audience fades

our names play

where we stay

true to tattooed

lyrics across veins

the same soul shared

where there’s

green grass

in the air

we find the cutest truth

your love is safe here

uncensored

your colors blend near

my side as a ride or die

kind of vibe

with you

a muse dude

who knew

how to

play me to a pretty tune

deep sigh big swoon

cut the act and welcome back

we’ll never come down from that

and i’ll always be

singing that track

the one that goes

with me.

Thank you.

I appreciate the space tonight everyone. And your willingness to allow me to pick your brain a bit. 

My name is Kristine, enjoy the rest of the show.