On Writing & When Words Fail

Two poems up today. Let me know what you think of them. :-)

On Writing

We poets have our favorites

when it comes to writing:

types of notebooks, pens,

places, sounds, beverages.

I’m sitting on a black-striped bench

in the far bright corner

of the new cupcakery in town,

just two blocks away

from my favorite coffee shop.

Sometimes we must

break the mold, escape

our ordinary

to let new thoughts,

ideas, and words

flow from our pens

to our notebooks

to our readers’ eyes,

brains, and minds.

I take out my beat-up notebook,

open it on the green glassed table top,

arrange my espresso and cupcake

to be within reach,

I put pen to paper

and compose my thoughts.

When Words Fail

I’m usually pretty quiet

until I really have something to say.

Sometimes I stutter and stammer

and search for the words

that are right on the tip of my tongue.

I am self-confident

when I know what needs to be said.

I’ll barrel through a speech

leaving you with no way

to say anything back to me

until I am done.

Words can still fail me,

fail us; language gets

in our way from time-to-time.

All we can ever do

is talk situations out,

make sure that we don’t leave

the most important

words unsaid.

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