To Speak Of It, By Brian37 (AKA Brian James Rational Poet on FB/META and @brianrrs37 on Twitter/X)

To never speak
Of the dark and strife
To never discuss why
They’d take their own life

Is to suppress
The the illness they had
To ignore the warning signs
Many others have

Plath, Sexton, Cobain
Williams, and Carradine
Gloss them over
You obscure the unseen

Often I hear,
“There’s more to their life
Than that of their death
But what of the motives

Of why they took their last breath?
There are millions more, not of note
Who become remote, retreat into hiding
On an isolated, desperate, lonely sinking boat

I know I have been there
More than I care to count
It was because I heard their stories
That I am still around

It is not to glamorize
Or or to grimly sensationalize
But to speak of it openly
Is something to normalize

It is to have those open eyes
To see the pain in other’s lives
To intervene, while there’s still time
Give them the compassion of your dime
(end)

I think it is wrong to never write poetry about suicide, and I have been down that dark road myself a few times in my life. I don’t think suicide should be glamorized, but I do write about it in the context that the people I write about I didn’t want them to die.

I think you should write about suicide. Poetry is about life, and not just the pretty side of life. Life isn’t always about flowers and puppies. To ignore the bad parts of life is to not be prepared for them. To not discuss the bad side of life is to lack the skills to prevent those bad things.

I am 5 years sober, and this is one of my favorite anonymous quotes about suicide, ” Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.”

I have written nearly 300 poems in the past 5 years, and over 1000 in 30 years. If at any one of those dark thoughts, I had been successful, the majority of my work would not exist.

I write about Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath and suicide in general to bring awareness to the issue so people don’t ignore it. Yes, there is more to their lives than their deaths. But the subject isn’t just about famous people, it is an issue that effects families of all classes, all races all over the world. You don’t save lives by never talking about it.

The Death Of Darth, By Brian37 (AKA Brian James Rational Poet on FB/META and @Brianrrs37 on Twitter/X)

I remember his ominous voice
Deep authoritarian, unforgiving
On that ledge , in the interior
Of the Death Star, and those 5 words

I didn’t believe him
I didn’t want it to be true
There was no way he could be
Luke’s father

A once in a universe character
But more importantly
A once in a universe actor
A once in a universe man

The type of icon
Known in every land
Transcending all languages
Playing parts no one else can

I can only speak of James from afar
Only as a fan of his work
My ode, this eulogy
Falls short, words fail

I don’t think I am out of line
To say, on this day, to many in dismay
I think I can safely say for all
Mr. Jones, may the force be with you.

You brought brightness and joy
To countless masses
With all your characters
And your infectious laugh.

Somewhere in a field in Iowa
The sluggers swing their bats
Turn their heads to the big screen
And humanity tips our hats
(end)

Thank you so much Mr. James Earl Jones for all the joy and entertainment you have given humanity. You may be gone, but your works will live on. We love you and you will be missed.

They Killed My Baby Today, by Brian37 (AKA Brian James Rational Poet on FB/META and @brianrrs37)

I was so proud of this hunk of steel
All it wanted to do was go to the firing range
I dressed it up, made it a lunch of clips
Put it in his Dirty Harry lunch box

I cried when it took it’s first steps
It was so cute when it spit up the first time
I was beaming and proud and posted pictures
Of him on my social media account

Everybody loved him, the GOP the NRA
And the CEO’s of the makers, life takers
How could they do this to my weapon
Hate it for no other reason than my fetish?

How dare those liberals value public safety
My firearm is living, breathing, killing
My heroin, my obsession, my child
My holster now empty, my life meaningless

Unless I can pretend my hobby hurts nobody
It is my kid, it is my child, it speaks to me
I won’t admit that it is my dangerous insecurity
And if you dare deny me

I will threaten you if you vote
For flesh is worthless, and my steel
No matter how many lives it steals
Is my legacy, my intimacy, my fantasy

My delusion, so in conclusion
There is no discussion, my firearm
Is my arm, is my child, is part of me
Can’t you see, my gun is worth more than your child?
(end)

This poem is metaphor only. It is to show the dangerous obsession far too many people have over an object as if they are giving guns human rights an putting that above public safety. Treating the object as if it were their child and not an object.

Don’t Let Them, By Brian37 (AKA Brian James Rational Poet on FB/META and @brianrrs37 on Twitter/X)

Don’t let them tell you
What you have to be
Life isn’t a script you see

If you want to wear a dress
Wear it proud and don’t address
Don’t let the haters cause you stress

If you want to wear those skirts
If you don’t like greasy shirts
If you like to wear pantihose

Tell the haters to keep their nose
Out of your business, off your cloths
Out of your life, for they don’t know

Who you are and how good you are
They show their ignorance from afar
Put a ribbon in your hair

Wear it like you just don’t care
Paint your nails let them stare
Don’t let them tell you

What you have to be
They are low fruit
From a rotten tree

You can be gender fluid
Binary or gay
Or transgender and that’s ok

Don’t let them scare you
Or drive you away
They will never have the final say.

Shout it out loud, you are here to stay!

Trigger Warning, By Brian37 (AKA Brian James Rational Poet on FB/META and @Brianrrs37 on Twitter/X)

I bet you can figure out, on title alone
What once again, needlessly happened
The names of the places are endless

As endless as the water flow at Niagara falls
They drop in classrooms and school halls
And the GOP has no balls, neutered

Not bothered, by the count,
Not bothered by all the bodies
Always pandering to the makers

Taking blood money from the lobbies
The tools of death are their fetish hobbies
Sandy Hook just another grain of sand

On a bloody beach
Public safety seems out of reach
God and Guns are all they preach

Coffins and caskets are their ends
Thoughts and prayers don’t make amends
“Good guys with guns” are all they cry

We won’t buy that bullshit lie
We won’t stand by while innocence dies
We are dead tired of the endless supplies

The GOP script is is getting old
The truth is something they’ve never told
The scaremongering is filthy disgusting mold

I want to leave my house to shop
Not have to worry if my body will drop
A theater is no place to hear a pop pop pop

I hate writing these poems on this topic.
(end)

Another mass shooting in Georgia, 9/4/2024. I am so fucking sick of the gun industry and gun lobby, and especially a gutless GOP that cares about nothing but keeping power.

Liberals do not want a dictatorship for saying guns should not be handed out like candy. Liberals don’t want a dictatorship for merely saying we already have 400million firearms in civilian hands and we are not safer as a result. We do not want a dictatorship for merely saying you don’t need a weapon of war to defend your home. We are not a dictatorship for saying you are more likely to die having a gun in your home from suicide, domestic violence or accidental, than to successfully defend yourself from a complete stranger.

Liberals do not want a dictatorship for having the very normal desire to want to go out in public without fear of having our heads blown off.

We are so fucking sick of the lies, and the fearmongering. Sane people, including gun owners, who accept we have a problem, we will vote. And only insecure bullies care more about an object than public safety.

WE HAVE HAD ENOUGH! We want to work with all political parties for solutions, but what we will not do is coddle the status quo. “Sell more and do nothing” IS NOT A SOLUTION.

Empty Shelf, By Brian37 (AKA Brian James Rational Poet on Facebook and @Brianrrs37 on Twitter/X)

My pantry, void of sustenance
Alexandria absent of scrolls
Tales untold, to never unfold
I am at that precarious point
Once more, where defiant words
Yet to be formed, are on strike
Unionized against my inspiration
Illusive, they hide from me
Cackling silently, loudly, dauntingly
And at this moment, all I have
Is my internal plea
That this stagnation
Is to be temporary
(end)

I have not written many poems lately. This is yet another poem about getting stuck in a doldrum.

If I Could, By Brian37 ( AKA Brian James Rational Poet on FB/META and @Brianrrs37 on Twitter/X)

If I could float on thermals and gently circle
In the sky, would there be a question why
Would I spot you from way up high?

If I could hold my breath, dive to the deepest depth
If I could breach and spin, and splash my fins
Sing the song of whales to kin

If I could be as red as rose, in a dozen pose
Petals strewn across the floor, would you
Would you , oh could you, love me more?

If I could be born once more, and start
From the beginning again, I’d pay a part
A different art, and change myself within.

Lady In The Mirror, By Brian37 (AKA Brian James Rational Poet on FB/META and @Brianrrs37 on Twitter/X)

You analytical reporter,
Unphased by my frustration
You care not of my agitation,

Silver glass, reflective
You are my nemesis
Facing me with

My imperfections, inspections
Detached, impersonal, goals
Wrinkles and rolls, grey hair

And an asymmetrical pair
Peaking through my nightgown
Only to make me cry and frown

I came to you in trust
Always it seems you must
Take away my hope

Repeatedly, at the rise
Of each dawn, and rest
At the call of dusk

I request consultation
And you answer me not
With comfort, but criticism

Maybe I should smash you
Shatter you into slivers
Discard you, dump you

In the landfill, yet still
I take that sour pill
Consult you, knowing it will

Make me insecure, make me ill.
(end)

Another ode poem to Sylvia Plath and her poem “Mirror”.

Everyone knows what happened today 7/13/24

I think I have made it clear that I despise the former guy. He is a rapist, insurrectionist and traitor who is only running to stay out of jail. Having said that the FUCKFACE who shot at him did not help anyone, especially not Democrats. All this shit did was turn the guy into a martyr. I have always advocated non violence and still do. But I do fear that this will help him win and if he does our nation is in deep trouble. The shooter is dead, but if they had kept him alive I wish I could have told him not to do it.

And Jesus Said, by Brian37 (AKA Brian James Rational Poet on FB/META and @brianrrs37 on Twitter/X)

And Jesus said, I want you dead
My loyalists know this is true
Jesus hates the very same people you do

He said nothing about turning the other cheek
Nothing about the earth being inherited by the meek
You must be strong, not weak, vengeance you must seek

I didn’t tell you to feed the poor, I want violence and gore
I didn’t tell you to cloth the needy, I only love the rich and greedy
Kill all those who don’t follow me, and do it quick and speedy

Love thy neighbor I did not say, murder them all, I’ll get my way
Guns and bibles are the American way, with their blood they will pay
Don’t believe all those lies, that I bring not peace, but a sword surprise

I’ll ignore the wall between church and state, nationalism is their fate
The orange fascist will make Germany great, dictatorship on their plate
It is as close as November’s gate, oh how the MAGAs masturbate
(end)

I am an atheist of course. I don’t believe in a good or bad god of any label. But for the right wing MAGA Christians, they are completely inconsistent to the NT Jesus who said to feed and cloth the poor, don’t value greed(tipping over the change carts). Love thy neighbor, turn the other cheek. The pacifist Jesus is something the MAGAs will never value.

Jesus to them is a gang leader, who only has love for sociopaths and psychopaths who only value the same things they do, and hate the same people they do. There is no room for pluralism, universal rights or compassion in MAGA. Only revenge and blood lust.

But as an atheist, I will always value liberal pluralism, and democracy and non violence and compassion for the less fortunate.