Open Mic

Hello.  I'm not going to post my open mic piece because, somehow in my mind, posting something takes away the freshness of it.  It takes away the swag and the heart and the emotion, like its had its soul ripped out.  It's kinda like a new pair of socks or some new underwear, the first time you put it on is always the best.  Everything after that is just sad old memories.  Well anyways, I'll probably end up posting my piece after I read it in class tomorrow, so if for some strange reason you like in Taiwan or something and you are reading this, sorry... gonna have to wait.

Call to Arms and Hero's Journey... Jedi Style

Ordinary World

 Call of Darkness
Meet Mark William Calaway.  A single, middle-aged, math teacher born and raised in the town of Salem, Massachusetts, he has always been fascinated with the towns mysterious past.  He began studying the Dark Arts when he found an old manuscript in the library.  Now a group of Satan worshipers want him to join their crew.  But even though Mark is interested in studying them, he wants no part in what they do.  When they kidnap his secret love he is forced to make a decision: Join them and hope they release her or try to rescue her.  He decides on the latter path and must travel to Death Valley, California where his courage will be tested in trying to take down an evil cult.

Questions:
How will Mark save his secret love?
Will Mark ever be the same after this experience?
Did Mark stumble onto something bigger than a satanic cult?

Shake The Dust

This is for the fat boys.  This is for the nerds and the geeks and the chumps.  This is for the hobo sittin on the curb with a tin cup.  Shake the dust.  This is for the children with no food to eat in the morning cuz their daddy don't come home at night.  This is for the people who get uptight over grammar mistakes in my last sentence.  This is for the circus acrobats.  This is for the girls that dress this way cuz they need to look that way cuz without lookin a certain way there ain't no way they're gonna think they amount to somethin.  This is for the friends that get used and abused and refused.  Shake the dust.  Shake because ever since you've been born, you've been standin in your own grave.  Shake because every time you get insulted, hurt, torn up, and ripped into pieces there are people tryin to bury you.  They're throwin dust, and it's hittin you.  But shake it off and pat it down.  Keep on shakin until you are out of the grave, no more insults, no more dust.  You're dirty, but you're alive.

Gandhi

When Gandhi first decided to take a stand against tyranny I don't think he knew one day he would be called Mahatma.  Great Soul.

When Gandhi first preached ahimsa and satyagraha I don't think he knew one day he would be called Bapu.  Father.

I keep forgetting to tell myself that great men are made, not born.  I keep forgetting to tell myself that even my heroes had doubts.

Look into my eyes and tell me what I want to hear, because that is what you're supposed to say.  But when I look back into your eyes they betray what you think.  You don't take me seriously.  You never believed in me, and you never will. 

Great men are great men because they have been hurt.  Been beaten and tortured and left for dead by the ones they love.  Great men are great men because they have nowhere else to go, but up.

Look into my eyes and answer my question.  When will we own ourselves completely?  When will what we want and what is best for us be one and the same?  Or are we bound to love that which is most toxic for us? 

A great man owns himself completely.  He owns himself because nobody wanted him when he was at the bottom.  He owns himself because he freely gives of himself when he is at the top.

Look into my eyes because I love you.  Look into my eyes because I want to be a great man.  Look into my eyes because there is the light I draw upon when I am at the bottom and because there is the light I bask in when I am at the top. 

I want to be like Gandhi.  A Great Soul.  A Father.  And tonight when I looked into your eyes I knew that tonight is not the last time I'll see the light. 

Blurb... Blurb... Blurb... Blurb... Blurrrrrrb...

Runaway    Bon Jovi
All her life, all Sarah Hopkins wanted was to be able to talk to her father, Jack, a lawyer for a busy firm in Los Angeles.  She seemed to have it all, cars, clothes and cash.  As Sarah grows older, she discovers her fathers affair with another woman which led to the split in her family twelve years ago.  Disillusioned with her father's lies, she sets out to make it on her own, only to end up as a prostitute on the streets of Vegas.

Jukebox Hero     Foreigner
Ever since that day in the rain, standing outside the concert to his favorite band, Max Pepper was determined to escape the slums of Detroit and become a rock star.  His fame quickly grew as he was touted as the next Jimi Hendrix, but his fame causes him to forget about his promise to help his cancer stricken sister.  Will a return to play at the venue where he was first inspired help him remember his roots?

Die Another Day     Madonna
While the world has fallen under the suppression of the tyrannical World Wide Petroleum Countries, which rose out of the ashes of OPEC following World War III, a band of Canadian rebels search for a very secretive study by Sigmund Freud that relates how to access the full potential of ones physical and mental abilities, which might be the key to overthrowing their ruthless overlords and restoring freedom to the world.

Starlight     Muse 
Leo Dawson finally gets a chance to visit the many star systems in the galaxy when his uncle offers him work as a waiter on his starcruiser, the Titan.  Rose Winslet, the daughter of a very profitable carbonite miner is also aboard the ship.  Leo's first attempts to impress her fail, but her curiosity grows as he keeps trying.  Eventually curiosity leads to friendship then love, but their romance becomes endangered when a black hole threatens to swallow the ship.

Ain't No Rest for the Wicked     Cage the Elephant
Living a relatively uneventful childhood in a small town in the Midwest, Radley Lewis's world gets turned on its head when his family moves to Miami.  His love for techno music leads him to an underground scene filled with sex, drugs, and dirty money.  His conservative upbringing clashes with the lifestyle he now leads, and while trying to hone his skills as a DJ, he learns one important lesson from a trio of new friends; there ain't no rest for the wicked.

6er

I'm soooo totally jealous

"O frabjous day!  Callooh!  Callay!"

The poem that makes me sooooo totally jealous is JABBERWOCKY.  This poem makes me jealous because it is madness at its best.  I mean, who doesn't want to go rest by the Tumtum tree?  Mister Carroll leads on a frabjoulous adventure mostly with words he made up when he was high.  It's awesome.

From the very beginning of the poem you are thinking, "WTF?!?!"  It's because throughout the whole poem you are trying to figure out what exactly a slithy tove is.  You cannot expect to read this poem one time and know what it means or even understand it.  I guess that is the beauty of a great poetry, and something that we should all try to emulate.  Enough coherency to make it readable, and enough nonsense to make it thoughtful.

Are we there yet?

I'm tired.  I'm tired of being tired.  I'm tired of people telling me they are tired.  I'm tired.
I'm tired of waking up in the morning and still feeling tired.  I'm tired of saying the same thing over and over again when people ask me how I'm doing.  I'm tired.
I'm tired of going to the store with no money and just looking at the stuff that I wish I could buy.  I'm tired of her not feeling the same way about me.  I'm tired.
I'm tired of not eating food because I'm worried about if my brothers and sisters have enough to eat.  I'm tired of not being able to have enough time.  I'm tired.
I'm tired of those boys walking around with their flat-brimmed hats and designer jeans.  I'm tired of those girls in the corner talking about those new boots or shoes or whatever.  I'm tired.
I'm tired of being so gentle.  I'm tired of not being calm.  I'm tired.
I'm tired of not getting there.  I'm tired of going on road trips with little brothers and sisters, and how they fight and yell and make weird sounds and sometimes its actually kinda funny.  I'm tired. 
I'm tired of are we there yet?  I'm tired because obviously we're not, and it's slightly annoying that you keep asking that, and disturbingly annoying that we aren't there yet.  I'm tired.

Love Is

Love is saying hello, then I do, and finally I'll see you again.  Love is walking across a bridge in the spring.  Love is carrying a nine mil cuz you gotta protect the ones you love.  Love is watching the fireworks night after night after night.  Love is a seeing that movie for the first time all the time.  Love is crying in your car, all alone, cause she didn't get it.  Love is running through the sprinklers while it's raining.  Love is | si evoL  .Love is Jimmering it every game.  Love is softly scratching a back.  Love is saying hello again.

The Trouble With Thinking

The trouble with thinking is that we do it too much.  We constantly think about how to handle situations or what we are doing that night or what we are doing that very instant.  We think about good things to say when we want to talk to people and we think about how we look, how we smell, or how we sound.  The trouble with thinking is that is too powerful for us.  And by us I mean humans in general.  Thinking is a powerful tool of creation.  Think of it if you will, as a search engine, like Google.  We type in what we want to find and millions of hits are returned to us, all promising some sort of connection to what we want.  The problem is that it is millions of hits!  How in the world are we supposed to process that much information?!  It's the same thing with thinking.  We start thinking of something and our brain gets going and we are doing good than all of the sudden we crash because we can't think anymore.  Either the ideas that came to us we have no interest in or we simply are overwhelmed or too scared to do anything about it.  Now I'm talking about a conscious thinking.  Sub-conscious thinking is another matter entirely.  It is called dreaming.  It is the ability to think with instinct.  To automatically create and destroy based on our feelings and our deepest, most base desires.  This kind of thinking comes to only a few consciously.  The trouble with thinking is that we overthink.  The reason it only comes to a few in consciousness is that we as humans are too subject to our petty and frail state that the sublime power of creation and destruction would be too much for us to handle.  Think Cold War meets Godzilla times the power of the sun.  It and we would consume ourselves because we haven't had the practice or the know how to deal with true thinking.  We should all try this true thinking sometimes.  Let go and let your mind and heart connect to make the decisions that you want.  The trouble with thinking is that we do it too much.  If this is confusing maybe it's because I am overthinking.  But then again, maybe you are.                                                                                                                     

The Few

I walk alone.  I walk alone.  An urban canopy.  Treetops peeking, shading the broken asphalt below.  Vines that have climbed from the beginning of time.  This used to be a city.  A city where you could hardly see the pavement under the mass of moving feet.  Now only the few walk here.  And the creatures.  Some good, some evil, all fighting.  Fighting for the soul of this city.  This one road that will take you wherever you are going.  And it makes me scared to walk alone.  Walk alone.  I lit this city on fire with my hate and my passion.  I had to get rid of those that didn't want to be there.  And that's when I found these creatures.  It seems that after all the people left, the true nature of this city came alive.  It seems that the evil creatures are dangerous, but the good creatures are more dangerous.  It's a good thing I have the few.  Oh, I haven't told you about them?  They are my few, my loyal companions,  those that I trust.  Sometimes I try to kill them.  But they don't seem to go away.  It's funny because I used to walk alone, even though I was surrounded by millions.  And now, with only the few, I walk alone no more.

Thinking About You

Sometimes I wonder if people think about me.  Like if they ever stop what they're doing and just wonder where I am or what I'm doing.  There is a person I think about.  When I'm in school, or at home, or whatever.  And that person is you.  I'm thinking about you now as a matter of fact.  I'm thinking about you like, like I can't stop thinking about you.  I'm thinking about you like your love is my drug,  like I can't wait til the next time we hug.  Like it's a dark cold winter night and you are the mug of hot chocolate that's keeping me safe and warm.  I'm thinking about you like dogs think about chasing cats.  I'm thinking about you like sluggers think about their favorite bat.  Like black thinks about white and positive thinks about negative and night thinks about day.  I'm thinking about you like it's the only thing that gets me through the day.  I'm thinking about you like printers think about paper.  I'm thinking about you like stones think about rolling, like young couples think about strolling.  Like Peter Pan thinks about crowing.  I'm think, think, thinking about you like Winnie thinks about honey.  I'm thinking about you like honey, I think we shrunk ourselves but it's ok cause we're still together.  I'm thinking about you like I wonder if you wonder if people think about you.  And I wonder if you think that I'm the one that thinks about you.  Because I do.

Direct Orders

You are given direct orders, straight from High Command, to rock out.  Rock out like its nine o'clock on a Saturday, and you started rolling against the regular crowd.  Rock out like you just fell of a 900 foot cliff and somehow you survived, and your friends have the video to prove it.  Rock out like the rules don't apply anymore.  Rock out like you can divide by zero.  Rock out like you reached the end of the road, but you found out that somebody laid more pavement.  Rock out like its 1969 and somebody took one small step and one giant leap... at the same time!  Rock out like you took on two extra jobs just to feed your family.  Rock out like you are on the road and you can smell the wild flowers.  Rock out like you just got the **** out, and now you free to just rock the **** out.  Rock out because you just prayed to God to take you instead of her.  Rock out like you just went scuba diving for the first time, and you rediscovered the flavor lime, and you found the word with which orange rhymes.  Rock out like every time you speak, you speak with alliteration and imagination.  Rock out like I have a dream, and she dreamed a dream, and they were California dreamin'.  Rock out like those California Gurls allllways showed up to your parties.  Rock out like it snowed for the very first time this winter.  Rock out when you can, not if you can, because you can.  Rock out like somebody just smiled at you, and you said if somebody smiled at you, you weren't gonna jump off.  Rock out like you just got a knock out, likes its Friday and you get to clock out, like the NBA isn't gonna lock out.  Rock out like you just met Him.  And He led you to her, which in turn led back to Him.  Rock out like you get to drive a new car everyday for the rest of your life.  Rock out like you get to blow things up!  Rock out like today was your birthday.  And so was yesterday, and the day before that.  Rock out like you just met a guy with a funny name.  Rock out like its hip to be square.  Rock out like Death is your friend.  Rock out like you just got orders, straight from High Command, to rock.... out.

As the Bell Tolls

Can you hear it?  The endless ringing as time continually slips from our hands?  What will happen when our hands are cold and lifeless?  Will we look back on our lives with an air of satisfaction or a sigh of disappointment?  Did we strive to live life to the fullest?  Taking chances no one else would take, making memories that no one else would make?  I want to say that I pushed the boundaries, living life the way I wanted.  I want to come so close to death that I can touch his ashen face, and pull back before he can grab onto me.  In this there is excitement, in this there is thrill.  I don't wanna be just a dead man walking.