i am waiting for the other shoe to drop
for a deep breath, for the smoke to clear
i am waiting for an entire generation
to stop hitting snooze
and wake up
i am still awaiting further instruction
from dr. phil and oprah,
for the planets to shift
and i知 endlessly waiting for the world
to stand up and choose a side
i知 waiting for less reality television
and more reality
for peace to be more popular than war
i am not so patiently waiting to be judged
by my achievements instead of my dress size
i am waiting to see
what痴 behind door number three
because one and two were a bust
and i知 waiting for the rumor to spread
that love is not a four letter word
i am naively waiting for a random act of kindness
and for the inevitable realization
that we discovered
the weapons of mass destruction
long, long ago
i知 constantly waiting for poverty
to stop being someone else痴 problem,
for hard work to pay off
i am waiting for common sense and self respect
to be the fashionable accessories of the season
i am perpetually awaiting
a real topic of conversation
the rediscovery of ethics and morality
and a second chance
i知 waiting for the slate to, finally, be wiped clean
Author notes
inspired by an amazing beat poem by lawrence ferlinghetti called I Am Waiting
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/i-am-waiting/
Please tell me what you think
Comments
1 - 13 of 13
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this is a brilliant poem with a very powerful message...just excellent...i really liked it...all the very best..
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Excellent
I know the Ferlinghetti poem
Some of my favorite lines from your poem are:
"to stop hitting snooze
and wake up
i am still awaiting further instruction
from dr. phil and oprah" - lol -
wow
this is so.. strong
n deep
and its so true.. =]
great write
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I love this piece!
It has a powerful theme
with wonderful current events mentioned here ^^
Although, I'm not used to reading pieces
with small i's but it didn't matter
since this write captures the reader's attention, anyway!
all in all, amazing write you've got here ^^
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wow talk about powerful. THis is great.
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A lot has been said and I agree
so I just tell you that your poem made me think of the double sense of 'waiting' (because in my opinion, every art [and humor] are founded on double sense). On the one hand, the passive and inactive meaning of the word, just doing nothing as opposite of activity - and on the other hand the guilt that is connected to this passivity. Your poem excellently surfaces both meanings, not overly short, but short enough. Thankyou so much. It's lame to write that I would have liked to write sth like this, but sometimes I just can't get rid of this feeling that in a few years our society, our way of thinking and our decadence (big words here) have come to an end.
Greets Götz
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i love this. i love the ferlinghetti and i love what it inspired you to do. i've been thinking a lot lately about how we wait for things to change - or how reality changes and we change without even noticing it. for the first time since my upper-middle class childhood and my bohemian/starving artists 20's, i am below the poverty line. waaay below. foodstamps and such below. and people hate me for it! i had a woman tell me i should be getting an abortion because "people like you shouldn't breed". i didn't know if i wanted to laugh or hit her. so much for national merit scholarships and published books. they mean nothing if you have no money! stop breeding! LOL. that's what this poem made me think of. damp lines of people waiting for something to change.
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you know, you're a much better person than i am because i would have hit her, then laughed. but that encounter, that mindset, is exactly the problem. there are so many people in this country that share her opinion it's frightening. that's what i was trying to get at here. the whole world has gotten angry and judgmental and bitter and cynical and it's been that way for so long now we barely even notice anymore. and, at the risk of sounding like a crunchy granola loving tree hugger, i believe the solution is simple. it's love and kindness and acceptance and decency. we make it complicated when it isn't. one day at a time, one person at a time, one act at a time, the world can change. i really believe that. and i also believe you'll be a fantastic mother. money does not make a person a good parent. the things that do (see above characteristics) you have in spades.
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when someone asked me what was the most important thing i wanted to teach my kid, i said, kindness. you should have seen the rolled eyes and looks i got. *shrugs* i guess it's even worse that i mean it like if miss america really did want world peace most of all. oh the irony.
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This piece is amazing. I love the way it came together at the end. This piece is very inspiring.
My favorite lines:
i am waiting to see
what’s behind door number three
because one and two were a bust
and i’m waiting for the rumor to spread
that love is not a four letter word
I agree about the doors. Maybe the third time will be a charm? And love, well it shouldn't be a four letter word, but sadly it is for a lot of people.
Wonderful write!
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Good work! I too hope that some of the problems you mentioned can be defeated off the face of the earth some day. Thanks for wrting this. I was touched by it!
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Ferlinghetti sure is up there with the beat poets isn't he?
I reckon you've done a pretty good job of bringing the lost generation to 2008.
If I wrote this, I'd make a very slight adjustment:
i’m constantly waiting for poverty
to stop being someone else’s problem,
I would make it:
I’m constantly waiting for poverty
To start being someone else’s problem,
I work hard, it don't pay off
Common sense resides in common people
The rest are but fashion accessories......
So on and so forth.... Coz, I got no freakin money and hate upper class society
Excerpt from Australian Crawl song, Hoochie Gucci Fiorucci Mama...
"Every day I see you wearing things that have never been worn before,
While children from the Government schools send money for the poor"
(c)
(apologies if slight lyrical error..was off top of me head)
Your poem brought back memories of that song
Summary?
I am so glad I read it, it brings back a life I knew and unfortunatly still know
Great, simply Great poem!
Dave.
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Interesting writing I likes though
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