365 Day Poetry Goal: Week 18 | The Odyssey Online
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365 Day Poetry Goal: Week 18

Poems 119 - 125

15
365 Day Poetry Goal: Week 18
Julian Wynn Smith

Here is my 18th week. My dog Oliver is really old, and he’s not doing very well at the moment. To whoever is reading this article, please pray for him. He’s a great dog, he’s always taken great care of my mom.

As usual, for those of you who do not know why I am doing this, I will quote my first article here:

“I have realized that a great way to keep sane when you’re busy (especially with very tedious work) is to keep your creativity flowing. So recently, I have decided to start a sort of creative goal for myself. I’m going to write 365 poems. That is one every day without stopping. This is all free form and off the cuff. So if it’s short, long, good, and/or crap, that is up for you to decide.”

Please enjoy.

---

This piece is kind of a small rant on America's executive decisions over the years to put a very small budget into NASA and science in general, when the opposite was the case in the past. It is as if science has become less, and less important to American. I personally believe science to be very important to sustaining life, and it's one of the amazing things that us as humans can do that no other species can. We should use it to our advantage, rather than cast it aside because we need to place such a high budget on war. It's sad that this is currently our reality, that war, among other things, is more prevalent than the betterment of our society. I'll get off my soapbox now.

February, 6th 2017

119 of 365

Anomalies in Outer Space

Anomalies in outer space
Never seen or heard about
Could hold unbelievable value
Could be inane drivel
So much is unknown to us
Visions presented in pitch black
Our eyes would like to deceive
Our brains can't follow suit
We don't notice a planet in retrograde
Or that the moon doesn't spin
Trapped in our own tiny worlds
Trapped in the drama we enlighten
Just look up to the stars and see
The comet brazen in the night
Don't keep staring at the screen
Don't keep adding to your envy
Those treasures missed out on
Because of the ineptitude of our choices
It's okay to live in utter mundanity
It's okay to purposefully live that conformity
Just completely neglect them
Those anomalies in outer space
That could hold unbelievable value
That could be inane drivel
Of course,
Because it's obviously the latter...

---

We all have our low moments. Most people drink, indulge in illegalities, etc. Some like to destroy themselves and everything they care about. Some people feel they don't deserve good, even when they really do. This type of thinking should be reversed. However, that's easier said than done.

February, 7th 2017

120 of 365

I Want to Disappear

I never wanted to be so austere
My actions were performed out of fear
Now that my head is finally clear
All I want to do is disappear

Trust me when I say I don't know why
I destroy myself with deprecating lies
Reprimanding any kind of positive guise
Decisions that make me want to hide

You pretend like it's all okay
Never saying what you should say
The heavy consequences I've made
Could never be taken away

Through actions performed out of fear
My complete, and utter fear
Now that my head is finally clear
All I want to do is disappear

---

People can be hurt so bad that they can't trust anyone. I've met many people like this, and in some ways we're all like this. The last stanza in this poem is much easier said than done, especially when it's not all up to them (could be in a bad marriage, bad family, bad situation, etc.). To those of you that know what I'm talking about, all I can say is trust if you see the opportunity.

February, 8th 2017

121 of 365

When You're Alone

No one can hear you cause a fit
Or see you destroy shit
When you're alone

No one will see you exclaim
All the pasts that you claim
When you're alone

No one can make fun of your eyes
Because the emotions fill up inside
When you're alone

No one will hurt you again
If you build walls on your skin
When you're alone

No one will misunderstand you
Or reinterpret the truth
When you're alone

No one can abuse your essence
And destroy your kind reminiscence
When you're alone

No one can stab your naked back
Or turn your vision into black
When you're alone

But what stops the loneliness
If there's no one you can trust
When you're alone?

---

This piece is inspired by the great folk artists Tom Waits. I love his musical, and lyrical style. He can create some unbelievably beautiful imagery. The flow of this piece is inspired by Tom Waits' commonly used flow in songs like "Georgia Lee."

February, 9th 2017

122 of 365

I've Still Got Something From You

I've still got something
I've still got something
I've still got something from you

I'm lost on that road
I don't know where I should go
I don't have anyone to turn to who knows
So I'll take my direction
From complete recollection
Visions of sirens blazing in the cold

Even though we couldn't see it
And I didn't want to believe it
Life doesn't work out like you're told

But I've still got something
I've still got something
I've still got something from you

I remember that place
That we used to race
All the footsteps and traces aglow
You were my fortune
My beautiful little orphan
As the sky lit up in red and gold

Even though we couldn't see it
And I didn't want to believe it
Life doesn't work out like you're told

But I've still got something
I've still got something
I've still got something from you

---

This one is greatly inspired by the rhythm structure of most music by Ride’s first two shoegaze albums, Nowhere, and Going Blank Again. The subject matter is very self-explanatory. Nothing special with the structure of the writing scheme here. Just focusing on a similar rhythm throughout with this one.

February, 10th 2017

123 of 365

Permeate Through Time

Just taking too much time
With words inside my mind
The very things you dread
Afloat the river bed
With pages all in quotes
Of fallacious notes
I can’t handle the ways
The stories always change

Much too hard to find
You’d never change your mind
I had to walk away
With so much left to say
Rusting in your space
With a mechanical face
Retracting all the lies
That permeate through time

That permeate through time

---

Things can be lost that you've spent so much time on. And you know it's your fault, even if you don't want to admit it. We all make dumb decisions. Unfortunately, some of us make more bad than good decisions.

February, 11th 2017

124 of 365

To Never Hold It

To never hold it again
We had something tangible
But the past is long gone
I can't change my present
Relentless in motion
Kinetics are non-stop
What was the point in it?
Is there a reason for that past?
We had something tangible
But I've gone and ruined it
Again, and again, and again
Our lives will never cross
You always wanted it that way
I'm not much of a loss
I was never that person
For you to go out of your way
The stress I've caused us
Has finally reached the breaking point
I know that it never mattered
These two years I've wasted on you
You never asked for it anyway
I gave it on my own time
That's just the way I am
I only care about myself
For better and for worse
To never hold it again
We had something tangible
But the past is long gone
I can't change my present

---

So many people take action in this world and they're not conscious of most of their actions (usually negative). They only see how it immediately affects them and doesn't see the long term or outer affects of others.
This piece is experimenting with short length with a lot of meaning.

February, 12th 2017

125 of 365

Regret From the Unconscious

Hands are always empty
And cold to the touch
Leaving you unloved
I don't know what I'm doing
I'm sorry

---

Thank you so much for reading. Please let me know if you have any feedback, thoughts, or topics for me to write about.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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