The answers are far less certain
than even last week, to all those
perennial questions or solutions
you might seek.
What do you believe, or
what do you believe in?
Come Monday, you have fewer
questions than you had last week.
For a while there are less doubts
in what you believe.
Whom do you believe in,
and who believes in you?
11/18/2024 j.g.l.
We want to know what
we don’t know, or hadn’t thought of,
or forgot.
What mattered then,
or what mattered when, shifts over time.
We notice.
Perception is what you don’t see.
Deception is what know.
You see it differently through your aloneness.
The truth behind a lie,
you question how and why.
It made sense.
Anticipation keeps us waiting
for only so long. Will it matter
if you felt it never did?
© 2021 j.g. lewis
Slow down: even with the ideas that come to quicky. Take the time to acknowledge the feelings that arrive, as they arrive.
Write it down. How else will you remember what you were thinking?
Print neatly. You hardly understand the thoughts at the time, why make it more difficult to comprehend weeks or years from now?
Follow your own logic; only you need to truly make sense of what is happening, or all that has happened.
Pay attention to the lessons of the past. Be mindful that not all are worth repeating.
Clarity. Make corrections as you go. Flaws become more difficult to correct the longer you live with them.
11/14/2024 j.g.l.
I'm like a pencil;
sometimes sharp,
most days
well-rounded,
other times
dull or
occasionally
broken.
Still I write.
j.g. lewis
is a writer/photographer in Toronto.
YOU do not write
POETRY
POETRY writes itself
You are there only to guide words
direct thoughts onto the page
YOU
are nothing more than a conduit
The words are the words
I’ve been trying
to write poetry
for years
now
a realization my fault
was in trying
Struggling with and strangling
what should have come out
Trying too hard
to change
what comes naturally
or to alter what is there
If you try too hard, with a poem,
or with poetry,
it loses immediacy
it lacks authenticity
Poetry must be effortless, and
that takes an effort. To let the words flow
you must allow space
on the page
in your life
for poetry
Of course, there are other things
we must concern ourselves with
racism and riots
and wars
a global economy
squeezing the shit
out of people unable
to defend themselves
against capitalism and crime;
greed;
politic(ian)s;
hypocrisy;
varied faces of evil
arriving daily on our doorstep
We must guard
against such trials
we must pay bills and
support those trying to support us
Might we be better able
to do so
with poetry
Maybe, just maybe, a few words
of beauty and significance
each day
would better prepare us for
battles we chose, or chose not
Poetry is an effective elixir
for all that ails
giving voice to our vulnerabilities, and fears
strength to our struggles and
ballast to our bliss.
It may provide a few moments in the day
where we can believe there is beauty
and hope and honesty
in the reality that tells us
it cannot exist
With poetry
it can
YOU do not write
POETRY
POETRY rights YOU
©2015 j.g. lewis
I’m like a pencil;
sometimes sharp,
most days
well-rounded,
other times
dull or
occasionally
broken.
Still I write.
j.g. lewis
is a writer/photographer in Toronto.