Directionally Challenged Poem by Tia Lopez

i’ve got the gift of cheap tricks and hard shots
and a paper and pen
and of course
your breath when you blow on a page to dry the ink your
awkward artist’s hands scrawled signatures on.

But oh oh oh
to be told I
s p e a k... i n... p o e t r y?
as though the average person cannot use
“honest”
as an adjective
as though only the tortured
decipher unsigned telegrams of Morse code
dot and dashes
reading
SOS
I NEED YOU
As though only the rare shining gifted (un) magical
seek the truth
in the nigh dead language of minor chords
and in darkened classroom where pretentious film students
gasp
at the names on the screen
as though they knew…
This is the upside of anger
This is the downside of wit

I just wanted to grab the TV and shake the rabbit ears that weren’t there
This is the geography of deceit

Is it too late to call this off?
the overpriced nights of
lackluster musings
and half-asleep claims of
achieving dreams
of chasing stars
of falling in love

Is it too late to call this off? ...

But
these days are numbered
and snow-struck lashes are rare
and….

And if I
died
now
could I say I
lived with
Passion?