POET WRITER AUTHOR GENTLEMAN OUTSIDER
ICONIC
God died
The other day
Or at least the
Media said so
He had a great
Career, a few number
1 hits and a fan club
Back in the day
I turned to
My wife after
Reading of his
Demise on
Facebook and
Asked;
“Wasn’t he dead already?”
~ © R.M. Engelhardt/2019
So
You want to be a poet?
Then stand in line
Because just like every other damn poet
That ever came before you
You’ll have to write
And Twitter, Tumblr, Fumblr
Whatever, will never save
Your sorry ass
And the Pushcart Prize?
They won’t reward you
For writing a Facebook
Status that’s poetic
And just like
Emily, no one no
Publisher will ever
Come knocking
At your door
Looking for your poems
So listen;
Because there is no new
Jack Kerouac, no new Bukowski
And no new Poe
And Shakespeare?
He threw down his pencil
A longtime ago after Marlowe
Bought the farm
So just like all of the most
Famous poets of old expect
No compliments, no fortune
And no dough and learn how
To live on noodles
And believe me
When I say that
When you tell Mom & Dad
That you want to be
A poet someday?
Don’t expect them to
Embrace you or let you
Ever move back home again
Because remember
That this is the life that you chose
And if you ever finally find
Finally write that one piece
That one amazing epiphany
That says it all and that says
Everything and that has the
Power to knock the world
On its ass?
Then maybe one day
You’ll be able to look
In the mirror and say
It was all worth it.
_____________
R.M. ENGELHARDT
Then join the new “Resurrection Waltz” Book Page On Facebook !
Thanx!
~ R.M.
https://www.facebook.com/TheResurrectionWaltz
They say in Deadwood
Hickok’s final hand included the aces &
eights of both black suits,
A Deadman’s Hand, a 5 card draw
And that death came with it,
But in life it all depends
Upon the cards
That you are dealt.
For I’ve seen the world thru
A narrow glass,
An empty glass
And a terrible glance
That revealed all the best &
The worst…
The worst oh love
The worst kind of chance
In life.
For you can dance with the devil
In the pale moonlight,
You can save & save and work
all your life. And hope… And pray or
Spend. But either way the man
Will come a knocking soon
No matter what… in the end.
For your life can be a million things but
It all depends on you.
For luck is only half the game,
And the rest is up to you.
Because the truth?
Is that you are not
Completely, supremely, or eternally fucked or
Somehow destined to self destruct
But everyone you love will fall in the end
No matter what you do.
So the best kind of dance?
Your best card to chance?
Is always the ace of hearts.
For this, these words are both
A warning and a blessing,
A little bit of wisdom from a man
Whose words will stay true.
That your mind & heart
Must find a chart to
Plot your course upon.
So
Find a love thats
True, find a soul thats real
And that will never let you down.
And that heart my friend
Is your ace.
So no matter what?
Treat her right.
Rich or poor
Old or young
Thru good times or bad.
Because all life really
Is based upon on how you play the cards
And the winner always
Takes all…
___________
R.M. Engelhardt 2011
www.rmengelhardtpoet.com Albany, NY based poet, writer R.M. Engelhardt has published several books over the last decade including Nod~Logos~Alchemy~The Last Cigarette: The Collected Poems of R.M. Engelhardt & others. His current experimental book of poetry & prose is called “Versus~Lexikon 2010” A poet & writer, Engelhardt through his ideas & visions has helped to create a large amount of the Upstate, Albany, NY spoken word~poetry scene and is the host of Albany’s most interesting poetry-Performance forum “GHOST IN THE MACHINE” @ The Fuze Box on every last Friday evening of each month. Thru his efforts along with such writers as Thom Francis he has created such groups the Albany Poetry Syndicate as well as Albany Poets (Now www.AlbanyPoets.com), which have left a lasting mark on the upstate NY literary scene. His work has also been published by many journals both in print including Retort, Danse Macabre, Outsider Ink, Sure! The Charles Bukowski Newsletter, Copious Amounts, Thunder Sandwich, The Angry Poet, Zygote In My Coffee, Full of Crow & many others. R.M. currently lives in Albany, NY. His books are available on Scribd www.scribd.com
R.M. Engelhardt Poet~Writer ~ Albany, NY-Networked Blog
