Poetry
My Poem “The Microphone”
Everyone’s voice is distinctive…
everyone’s voice can be poetic…
everyone’s voice is informative…
everyone’s voice is a gift that can
open doors and change minds –
whether that voice is audible, visual,
reflective, or creative;
but when anybody, no matter who they are
and no matter how much experience
they have, approaches a microphone
to share what they have to say
to an audience of listeners,
so many emotions can come
bubbling up to the surface –
even veterans of singing
and voice-acting find it easier
to adopt a performance persona
so that they can fully embrace
and embody the words that are in
their thoughts, from their heart,
or the words that they are
reading from a page.
Holding a microphone in your hand
can be invigorating,
putting the lips of your mouth
close to the head of a microphone
can be exciting;
but sometimes when you are talking about
something without a script to read from,
your mouth can become dry,
you can find yourself lost for words,
and you can find yourself
talking and talking and talking
because your train of thought
feels like it is stuck in reverse.
When you perform for a long time
something like a microphone can
almost feel like an extension of yourself
and a vital tool with which you use
to extend the reach of your voice…
some people live so many days
with a microphone in their hand
or in front of them that they can find
it hard to imagine a place and a time
without one present –
which is how a musician thinks
when they consider a future without
their musical instrument.
Not everybody is a born performer
and not everybody feels comfortable
expressing themselves face to face,
via video, or by communicating over the phone –
but then there are people who have
always been confident and who
always have something teetering
on the tip of their tongue
and for those people there is no better
gift to give them than that which
can allow them to transmit their voice
and their message to the masses:
an opportunity and a microphone.
My Poem “Vox”
Who knew that there were
so many people with a story
to tell and with a voice
able to express itself
so easily and so effectively?
Who knew that there were
so many people who had this drive
to want to let people into their life
when they do not need to?
Who knew that there were
so many people with a dream
to be able to reach as many
people as possible?
Who knew that there were
so many people who would want to
listen to other people talk about
what interests them and what inspires them?
I have always known that I liked
expressing the joy and the energy
that I felt within me
ever since I was a child,
and I have always known that
I enjoy past times like sitting and listening
to the music that is being played
and being broadcast on the normal
F.M. radio stations that people listen to,
that have “Disc Jockeys” on them
who people think they know
because they are used to listening to
their particular voice on a regular basis;
however, these days fewer people
listen to the radio than they used to –
unless they are driving down
a long stretch of highway
with nothing else to do.
So many people these days frequently listen
to music and to podcasts via streaming
services and apps that deliver content
to people all around the world,
simultaneously, over the internet…
these days there are even podcasts
and interviews recorded and shared
visually as well as vocally
which add a greater depth of expression
than can be enjoyed if something
is merely a disembodied voice;
however, there is still something amazing,
evoking, wonderful, and personal
about the experience of just listening
to someone’s voice and being told
a story in one of the fastest ways
to capture and process an idea:
by closing your eyes, by pressing play,
and by seemingly being taken away
to another place – like being entranced
into a dream state – by one of the most
powerful gifts that each of us
have at our disposal:
a one of a kind voice with which
we can articulate.
My Poem “The Nervous System”
Not only is the human body
an impressive end product
of evolutionary biology,
it is also an intricate and
highly complex network of electricity
that is integral for the communication
of the systematic pulses and signals
of coordination that define a person’s actions
and what they sense about
their surrounding environment –
in fact every animal on Earth
has both a Central Nervous System
as well as a Peripheral Nervous System
that is directly responsible for
many of the things that individuals
can do and often times take for granted.
There are over 7 trillion nerves
in the human body…
there are over 86 billion neurons
in the human brain…
the average human being can produce
between 100 and 2000 watts of energy…
the average person’s heart will beat
60 to 70 beats per minute –
meaning that a person might end up
producing 2 billion beats over a lifetime,
which to me in absolutely astounding!
There is so much that we do know
about how the average human body functions…
there is so much that we do know
about how long the average human
man or woman will live based
upon their lifestyle choices…
there is so much that we know
about how the different and individual
systems of our bodies work in unison
with one another;
however, when it comes to the brain,
doctors and experts are still trying
to figure out exactly why and how
the Central Processing Unit that
is the place where we think, we dream,
and we interpret what we feel
into emotion actually works.
There is more to our own selves
than we could possibly imagine…
there is more to how we do
what we do than we could understand…
we know more about the surface of the sun
than we do about our own minds…
there is more to learn about how
we intuitively perceive some things
about life that still does not make sense…
there is more to learn about everything –
and there is no more fundamental,
and yet still mystifying, internal
highway
that we still need to uncover
all the secrets of, which makes all
complex life on our planet possible,
than that which is our incredible and
interconnected nervous system.
Happy National Read A Book Day 2020!
Happy National Read A Book Day! 📚📖 I know that not that many people seem to read books these days, like they used to; however, in times like now – when reality seems like a fantasy that we wish would come to an end and revert back to how things used to be – everybody needs some kind of escapism in order to remove themselves for a small amount of time each day so that they may feel hope, joy, and wonder once again. Books and stories are one of the greatest forms of entertainment and escapism, because to fully immerse yourself within a story, you, the reader, have to become a part of the story as the imagineer, the architect, and the artist who paints the picture of what somethimg or someone looks like with the power of your imagination by using the words on a page as a blueprint. As someone who is the author of ten books of both poetry and fiction I am most likely biased when I say that books hold a power within, especially when we hold a book in our hands, that is unparalleled to anything else. Being a writer is an incredibly empowering experience; and as a writer, knowing that people actually read what you write and like what you have written is phenomenonal and humbling and that feeling of creating a connection with someone is absolutely inspiring. 🙂
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