The Loser Poet

Once again, sometimes it just seems that way

 

 

 

 

The Loser Poet

 

Losing is a habit

engrained upon my hands,

claiming to be something I am not

Peering in with one wicked eye

fashioned of big words

from worn out dictionary pages

 

my thoughts are fire in lower case flames

complete with soiled ash

and filaments swinging in the breeze

searching for the unburned match

the last one… in a long line of empty phrases

 

blank pages filled with everything conceived

along street water girths and cigarette butts

arranged in the shape of a question mark

on my Walmart coffee table…

never once questioning why

 

Oh I have written, I have penned

and my quill is soft and filled with ink

of another’s pain, dripping on tree leaf mosaics

and carpenter footprints,

leading down that path that I lure

unsuspecting verses now lost with me

 

For I am the loser in this game

only because I chose to play by my rules

Penalties don’t count in my court

for I am blind to the truth

that I am nothing more than me…only what I seem

Author's Note

Thank you for reading

Reviews

[MsJewel]

I don't think anyone could win or lose at poetry....which is the beauty of this art. Poetry is what the reader makes of it - how it makes them feel. Your poetry always leaves me wanting to be a better poet Jack. Loser and Jack - I wouldn't use the two words in the same sentence.

:) Julie

[Jack...]

Julie, with friends like you, even a loser can be considered a winner. Thank you so very much.

[Sarah Kay Hair]

Actually love this poem :)

[Jack...]

Thank you so much Sarah for stopping by today and leaving such kindness for me.

[Rita L. Sev]

Who wins at the poetry game is the one who writes truth from the gut. Lots to think about, Jack - I love the images you brought out here.

[Jack...]

Thank you so very much Rita.

[J. Kell]

Great poem Jack, I hope you didn't write this about yourself because your poems are great! great imagery in this piece.

[Jack...]

Thanks so much my friend. You never know...

[TL Boehm]

my thoughts are fire in lower case flames
complete with soiled ash
and filaments swinging in the breeze
searching for the unburned match
the last one… in a long line of empty phrases

blank pages filled with everything conceived
along street water girths and cigarette butts
arranged in the shape of a question mark
on my Walmart coffee table…
never once questioning why

If I could write like this - I would consider myself mighty. You are no loser. You're just humble and put more into others than into yourself. the exhalation of words from your soul fills the lungs of others and leaves you empty - what you deserve is the breath returned to you....and I am rambling. peace.

[Jack...]

Thank you Tammy. You are always a breath of fresh air to me.

[emmajoy]

' Losing is a habit ~ engrained upon my hands, ~ claiming to be something I am not .. '

To lose due to personal ethics and morality is the most winning of flaws for me. Many writers spend time writing about the depressed, maimed and much maligned has.beens but there's little or no emotional truth involved. To show sympathy, empathy and all that jazz is the finest attribute a human being can have. Your write is super-open to individual interpretation but shows something very precious. Difficult to find a special line but for me this is the heart of your post.. 'For I am the loser in this game ~ only because I chose to play by my rules'

Picture appropriately gruesome but pithy .. there's nowt bad a Brit can say about the Beatles!

[Jack...]

Thanks so very much my sweet friend. You always make my garden bloom when you visit.

[emmajoy]

Jack, have had to alter some of my review, think i must have sleep-typing, so many slips and mis.worded phrases, love.

[Jack...]

Even sleep typing, your reviews are always beautiful to me.

[emmajoy]

Smiling a big thank you but.. my cheque will be in the post tomorrow, Jack! :)

[Emerald Seas]

Well, you can't win a game if you stop playing... If you stop at a loss well, then that's a whole other topic!
So many great lines in here, Jack. Well written, my friend :)
The picture is tres cool too!

[Jack...]

Thank you so very much my sweet friend. Your friendship alone makes me a winner.

[DIVYA]

A very interesting poem. A true poet is breft of ego and self. His is a comment that comes from his core finding the right words as the feeling comes to fore. He is unbiased and effortless in his expressions, no dictionaries requied.
Everything else is contrived.

[Jack...]

Thanks so very much Divya.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

"fire in lower case flames"

self depricating poet...

too many good lines to name favorites...the poet with the ego...but his poems sit on a wal-mart coffee table among the cigarette butts..ashes of himself penned on cheap paper.

one of my favorite Beatle songs to go with it...

ah yes.

"i lure unsuspecting verses" to their death...there is no depth to the poet talked about in this poem...but very much depth to the poet who wrote about him.

[Jack...]

Thanks so much Jacob for seeing deeply into this

[Joyce S. Greene]

You are certainly not a loser, Jack. And playing by the rules makes you a winner regardless of who scores the most points. Write on, Jack, poetry is not a game to be won or lost, it's a medium to express your deepest and most heart-felt emotions and you do that very well.

[Jack...]

Thank you so very much Joyce for those encoraging words. I appreciate you.