Diatribes by Joah

Golden Rule Disregard

It's April, which means so many things to me: Earth Day, my birthday, my favorite time of year, NBA playoffs start (although the Lakers didn't seem to realize it), and National Poetry Month. Here's something for my poetry fans. It's inspired by the current lack of kindness and genuine desire to relate to one another that I see taking place in public discourse and I call it Golden Rule Disregard.

 

When the Golden Rule applies

That means I cannot lie

For my actions are not equal

These reactions need no sequel

Time shall tell us what is right

Memories will give plenty insight

As to what was proper or wrong

'Twas very short but felt too long

Reality met with expectation

Pleasantries hiding confrontation

Many nights and weekend minutes

Peak hours ruined within it

Who does this over and over

Looking ahead and over shoulders

Dates and special occasions

Plenty talk, little rumination

The world is big, but here is small

Can this mountain not be so tall

Perhaps a test of intuition

Something desired without fruition

Nasty taste left behind

Nice words though not that kind

Really of a different sort

Still waiting for the last retort

Listening to Nutshell

Heart trapped in a jail

Cracked the code, broke the bank

Only fumes remain in this tank

This happens from time to time

I won't do yours, you won't do mine

I'm on a poetry kick, and I love it.

It takes a world of focus, discipline and poise

To pave your own way instead of just kickin’ it with the boys

There’s an independent struggle that requires a team of talent

But within yourself are all the necessary skills and balance

Sometimes it’s difficult to keep it in check and hard to maintain

Your determination to succeed, above all else, must be sustained

Through all the criticism, skepticism, trials and tribulations

Because the second you win the game, they’re right there congratulatin’

As if they knew you’d do it all along, but seldom actually believed

That those lofty goals of yours would ever be achieved

For many a person has a bright idea, even more have a dream

Still very few follow through to fruition, most run out of steam

Be the exception not the rule, yes you can inspire yourself

Suspend your disbelief, tie on your aspirations and make your ambition your belt

Don’t value the doubt of naysayers, just listen, nod and smile

Knowing they wish they were in your position all the while

Long ago they gave up and settled like many of the rest

Only a few can do the hard part, only a few strive to be the best

Cocky confidence, a fine line you should walk with pride

Bypass all the bullshit around you, stand tall and keep your stride

With each new venture and every new endeavor

More hurricanes, tornadoes and storms are forecasted in the weather

And weak men fold, run from the rain, this game they cannot play

While you press on against the wind, bluffing the entire way

Then comes the prize, the payoff for the victor are all the spoils

Yes, the best laid plans, done properly, are never foiled

Pessimist think negatively, optimist think only about how to win

Haters often wear costumes to disguise themselves as friends

They love your great idea, they hook onto your every move

Infect you with their poison, try to effect your mood

Real friends are the true supporters, they help when help is needed

They share your tears of failure and tell you it’s a lesson to help you succeed

Later in life it’s easy to tell, friends and foes are easy to assess

But in the meantime, there’s no one formula although I do have this advice

Set a goal, have a plan, choose friends carefully and never settle in this life.

Poety about no one

There was a moment in between

And I can’t quite figure it out

Perhaps my mind playing tricks on me

Still unsure what this is about

 

I’m being dictated by who knows

Though possibly from within

Which is one way to explain

How we became more than friends

 

I suppose it was female intuition

For her to have read me straight

To leave me standing all that while

Women do like to make men wait

 

Eventually the moment comes far too late

And too soon forgotten

The apple seed not long ago planted

Still the first bite tastes rotten

 

No one can say for certain why this is

Or why there’s no other way

I wonder why some choose not to win

Isn’t that why we all play?

 

Man, a creature of task and force

We’d rather act on first inclination

Woman, a creature of time and feelings

Often side with procrastination

 

Both are creatures of habit

Building emotional patterns and trends

So yes, just about every man and woman

At some point falls in love with a friend

 

And uncertain as the path may be

This course, we now must finish

A friendship we are potentially ruining

With this one unforgettable blemish

 

This is the thought of the pessimist

The pragmatist not far behind

While the optimist feels little burden or regret

Not yet convicted of this crime

 

Two people tangled in webs

Scandal, romance and mystery

Challenging all that time spent together

Building a now-dated history

 

Of hellos and goodbyes, laughs and cries

Platonic status disregarded

Those moments were special indeed

But this new feeling is rather cathartic

 

When running 100 miles per hour

Even if in the wrong direction

There’s little to no time to waste

On something like second guessin’.

A Poem/Song: Girls from Columbia

[This is a poem I've been working on for a while in my head and I've been rapping it to the beat from Jay Electronica's The Announcement.] Enjoy.

 

I was only thirteen years old, away for the summer, blazin' hot never cold

In Carolina, South not North, take a break from rakin' leaves, cuttin' grass and doin' chores

So not a penny in my wallet, but my camp counselor was money as I recall it

Nia Long, caramel soft brown skin, I introduced myself that's when we first became friends

I remember she would take me to fast food, and often unknowingly put me in the mood

Then I started being greedy, needed to see what she's about, had to know if she could see me

Avatar, though she was a college student, dating a pubescent kid, nah I knew she wouldn't do it

Her name? I don't remember. But I thought about that girl from Columbia all the way to winter.

 

Somethin' 'bout those girls from Columbia, keep me crushin' hard from one season to another

Never found the words and I never found the time, but that girl from Columbia always stayed on my mind

 

Six years later, college soph, standin' in line at the Co-op and that's when we hit it off

Smiled real big, eyes got a twinkle, her accent was thick, but that's when we began to mingle

Exchange student, got her name and got her digits, this is before iPhones, Facebook and all the widgets

Called her up two days later, we met at the coffee shop, talked music, fashion, Fader

Magazine, nah she made me an open book, Shakira, J.Lo. ass was her God-given hook

Line and sinker, long dark hair like Penelope Cruz, I was infatuated, intoxicated without the booze

Later on that night we were sittin' in the corner, lips locked together and arms over shoulders

The rest of that night is for the heavens, but Biblically speakin' this dime was an eleven

 

Somethin' 'bout those girls from Columbia, keep me crushin' hard from one season to another

That day I found the words, that day I found the time, met this girl from Columbia and had to make her mine

 

It was D.C. on the metro, headed to Whole Foods, grocery shoppin' with hot girls and homosexuals

That was par for the course, just a bunch of young professionals 10 years before divorce

Three years before marriage, two years after college, she went to Columbia so I had to check her knowledge

She was heady, Jefferson dome style, when I was marathon trainin', she was that last tough mile

Work my way up the hill, all the way to climax, I hate to share too much, but these are all facts

Our dates were always in-house better yet in apartment, our little secret, we kept this thing in its compartment

Yeah, ours was just a fling, keep it casual she said, 'cause I'm not ready for a ring

Fizzled out, like they always seem to do, I heard she moved back to New York, I think for grad school

 

Somethin' 'bout those girls from Columbia, keep me crushin' hard from one season to another

We weren't much for words, didn't need much time, girls from Columbia for me they're like a crime

Sort of like a weakness, maybe my kryptonite South Carolina South America New York any kind.

I call this one: 'For Austin...of course'

We ride fixed gear or racing bikes and step on the pedals

Sometimes the kind that go perfectly with a Gibson guitar

Hearing the strums and the strokes of a kayaker on Town Lake

As we run by, humming along to our favorite song on the iPod

Spoon, SPEAK, one of those fresh bands out of Austin…

 

We wear cowboy boots or fresh sneakers, never both

There’s not enough room for us all so we bust out the seems

Spreading from Congress and Red River to Lamar and further still

Eventually we’re at Sanctuary or Fast Folks or Apothecary

One of those cool establishments only in Austin…

 

We’re academics and accountants and lawyers and lobbyists

Pushing the next big policy, less taxes and more conventions

Either way we’re converted from what we used to be

Not that we’d like it any other way…we chose this

Working in this city, not just any city either, but Austin…

 

We live strong and play hard and listen intently

Never wanting to miss that perfect lyric, riff or hook

The ‘Horns win aplenty although you wouldn’t know it

So spoiled and drunk off Deep Eddy, we take more than we need

Highway space and liquor at 1:45 a.m., the irony of Austin…

 

You’re not above me; I don’t care where you went to school

And I damn sure won’t put up with that shit from the Governor

I’ll support our President, but mostly want him in Washington

They’re coming in from LA, New York and, soon enough, DC

Should stand for “Don’t Come”…I say keep Austin weird…

 

You can’t ever be sure though, are we dying or growing

Is it a certain way of life or a certain way of looking at life

Maybe it’s about how you sing that there song or write a tune

Could just be something for the birds, in a bat-filled city

Too bad…don’t they know I’m talking about Austin…

 

Your family will want to see you, it’s hard to make them leave

So they call Austin home too, you’re traveling for fun, not to get away

Unless you do want to leave, go somewhere bigger…or smaller

I’m not one to tell you one way or the other, just do it

Which is hard enough in this awakening city called Austin…

 

You may hear it was a sleepy town, but those days are yesterdays

Todays are reserved for openings and constructions and new

Fine by me, I’m young, like the town I live in…old is a process

New is a state of mind and I’m in the process of mental overload

This city is all over the place, it’s us who are sitting still…for Austin…

…of course.

A poem I wrote after seeing Avatar

Just found this while backing up my external harddrive for the first time since seeing Avatar. Figured I'd share...I call this

The Na'vi, Like Me

I see it when tears fall from the eyes of strangers

People known to them with scripted comfort

Their sobs embraced with shoulders

Leaning upon love as if to share, lessen the load

 

When people understand one another I get confused

Do they know, I mean really know?

Or is it just a test, passed only by thespians

Those capable of feigning intentions, sentiment

 

Rooted in an ability to relate

Yet what is akin to what you’re feeling?

Something sort of kind of like that one time

I know exactly what you’re going through

 

There are people able to play that role

To tell the truth, I am seldom of that crowd

Choosing to watch with my 3-D glasses

Unwilling to become an Avatar to empathize

 

In a world with two dimensions of humans

Actors and directors, respectively speaking

My feelings are those of the blue people

Unwilling to adapt to your desires without force