Everything’s Ambiguous

[rowens]

Everything’s ambiguous,
the rabbit I been seeing in my backyard the last three months
turns out to been a woman’s face all along.

Looking off in the distance,
I see those little squiggly things floating round my eyes.
People want to be smart, and say it’s some damage I got
on my eyeball;
but then they want to be mystical,
say it’s proof there’s another world between what we see out there,
and that what makes up our senses.

Both/and…

When I was a kid,
I used to think men drank because they was pussies,
and couldn’t handle pain.
Then I think of my dad, how he was drinking all the time
and everybody seemed afraid of him;
both fear and respect.

I figure people fear a desperate man
that’s paranoid as hell, and hates pain so much
he’ll do anything to avoid it,
no matter who he has to hurt.

No matter how it hurts him to hurt them.

I hear people talk about me,
things always getting back to you.
My big gut roaring with hunger,
with all the trash strewn out through my yard:
pizza, chinese food, red wine and malt liquor.

“He sure drink and eat,
and we all know he don’t got no money.”

“The Lawd done work in mistress way…”

[serge gurkski]

rowen done poem in mistress way.

"and hates pain so much
he’ll do anything to avoid it,
no matter who he has to hurt.

No matter how it hurts him to hurt them."

[rowens]

I'm in the part of the country where the language has been well digested, and just trickles out the ass.

You like it, huh?

[serge gurkski]

I love/hate it. The quoted part.
(the black tongue is fine with me.)

[rowens]

I hate it, but I wrote it. I guess it's like the son I may or may not have.

---

The white folks in America learn everything from the blacks. They spent so long not allowing blacks to learn anything, that blacks made stuff up better than anything they brought over from Europe. Besides, everybody talks the same around here.

---

If that's what you meant by black tongue.

[serge gurkski]

,-) It is true (the quote). If you're hung over it might kill you to become aware of it. If you're sober it can help you, well, maybe not you yourself but the people who have or want to deal with you.

----
black tongue: yes, that is what I meant.

[Keith]

Hi Rowen
For me S1 and S2 carries the weight in this piece, I would like to see that idea of ambiguity developed/explored more in this way as I found it very interesting. TOMH

[rowens]

More about that goes on in my older essays and stories that are also poems, and that talk about literal metaphors and other things that many people won't like, but that I find useful.

[justcloudy]

This one punched me in the gut.
But I agree with TOMH that it's almost 2 differennt poems.
And I love them both.

[Heartafire]

Powerful and moving writing, rowens. You make it seem so easy.

[rowens]

If I killed two poems with one poem, maybe that's good. I hope so.

And, writing's easy; sitting down to do it is the hard part. I was born without the ability to concentrate except on special occasions.

But kind words are special occasions, so you all help me out.

[serge gurkski]

I hate it, but I wrote it. I guess it's like the son I may or may not have.

---

The white folks in America learn everything from the blacks. They spent so long not allowing blacks to learn anything, that blacks made stuff up better than anything they brought over from Europe. Besides, everybody talks the same around here.

---

If that's what you meant by black tongue.

http://www.pigpenpoetry.com/showthread.php?tid=8568&pid=126071#pid126071

[rowens]

When I'm staying in cities.

Now I'm in a rundown redneck county.

[Catcherin]

"I figure people fear a desperate man
that’s paranoid as hell, and hates pain so much
he’ll do anything to avoid it,
no matter who he has to hurt.

No matter how it hurts him to hurt them."

That is so, so good.

[rowens]

Catcherin. As in Catcher in...the Rye?

Or catch Erin?

If so, I know of a girl named Erin that I'd like to catch.

So thank you for saying good things.

That might help my chances.