“seat must be occupied
during takeoff and landing”
it feels like there should be
a metaphor
in there
somewhere
but i can’t seem
to find any
allegories
currently
Author: HJ
July 1, 2025
having not written
my full 300 words
in damn near five days,
i expected to struggle to even get past
the first hundred mark
but here i am
skating over into the two-hundred zone
and i should have known
i should have known
it’s not that i’d forget
poetry-writing
or block it up
for future poetics
it’s that i haven’t been able to get things
out
in days
and i am a fountain
about to unleash
a river’s worth of flow;
a dam
that is bursting at the seams
with words and stanzas
and ideas and dreams
[and, of course, metaphors and similes]
there is a flood of poetry
erupting from me
i really should have known
June 30, 2025
how long
until
a change
is made
a change
that will
benefit
us all
not long
not long
not long
we chant
not long
not long
at all
June 29, 2025
perhaps my desire is to educate
perhaps my destiny is to entertain
perhaps i just need to make folks aware
that the issues seen here and there
are systemic
systematic
and sometimes
on purpose
because the problem with conspiracy theories
is that there is a fine, fine line
between a theory about something crazy
and a retelling of something
that has actually happened
to a non-white person
in the past
[and, honestly, today]
June 28, 2025
so tired
so sleepy
so nervous
so alive
June 27, 2025
i’m standing at a precipice
a precipice of my own making
and i think i’m
excited
June 26, 2025
getting choked up
at rallies where we all chant
“we are New Yorkers”
to signify we won’t be beaten down
or give in
to fascism
literally tearing up
while reading the world’s responses
to our mayoral primary
“that’s my mayor”
in Cleveland
in Virginia
in New Zealand
in Europe
those damn tote bags were right —
don’t you dare call me an american
i’ve never had any
pride in my country
but don’t you dare forget
that i’m a New Yorker
and my chosen city
stands up for all our
beliefs
and when we get together on something
don’t you dare forget
what we can all accomplish
as New Yorkers
together
June 25, 2025
talking
all morning
about silly business ideas
singing
all evening
about higher stakes lives
than our
own
June 24, 2025
eradicate one war
and we’ll throw a tantrum on the oval office floor
because we’re all just children
trying to impress daddy
trying to get back the love we never found
and we think that adoration is one step above
and fear another
but inside, those who start wars
are empty inside
and just trying to fill their own souls’ holes
with explosions of others’
i can’t teach the lessons
that they’ll never learn even from their own experiences
but i can make sure i never forget
my own humanity
and empathy
in any part of my life inside me
[and that’s why i vote with my conscience
for those with a
conscience]
June 23, 2025
fascinating
to be so devoted
to encouraging folks
to join the circus
because, for me, circus means
a place where our human bodies
are the art — they become the
strength and ability we never thought we’d have
the magic of human feats
and humanity
is how i see
the circus
but i know
that’s aerial circus
modern cirque, if you will
traditional circus
[though i do love the music and the costumes and the vibe]
has a horrible history
of exploiting animals
[and people, honestly]
in troubling conditions
[to say the least]
and the word “circus”
to an elephant
may be
complete
and utter
trauma
kipventures 