I Would Write You a Poem

If I could do anything
right now,
anything
I would write you a poem.

I would write you a poem about computers
but that would just consist of me standing here going
click…
click…
click…
and that’s kind of boring, now isn’t it?

I would write you a poem about
fake plastic goldfish,
but that would be strange.
or a poem about
orange, crackery Goldfish,
but I might get mauled.
and about
real live goldfish
but I haven’t written a poem about the other two,
so why should I write a poem about this one?

I would write you a poem about school,
but really,
between the
“Ohmigod did you hear? yeah I totally did he really? No Way! I can’t believe Ohmigod she said what? like that’s totally strange ya know? yeah.”
and the
“The acceleration of an object is directly proportionate to its mass. If an object has twice the mass it has half the acceleration and yadda yadda yadda whatever.”
Nothing really happens.

I would write you a poem about sleep
but I don’t get enough as it is,
and I don’t feel like writing about something
I don’t have time for.

I would write you a poem about parents
and how they really do love you
(even though they annoy you)
and care about the things you do
(Even though they give you rules)
and I know this because
this morning, I was told
“You can’t go to the poetry slam
until your room is clean,
and your homework is done.”
and something changed between then and now
because my room’s not clean,
and my homework’s not done.
But that’s not really the point here, is it?

I would write you a poem about love,
but I’m bad with clichés
and I use them way too much
when I talk about love because when I say that
You mean everything to me
I mean that
you mean everything to me.
and as clichéd as that is,
it’s true.
It’s just hard for me to find a better set of words.

I would write you a poem about sex,
but my mother’s in the audience tonight,
and I don’t know how she’d take it
so I don’t think I will

I would write you a poem about art
but I’d probably get lost
in colors and shapes
and lines and brushwork
and this one piece of light in this corner
that makes the piece so beautiful
but no one wants to listen to me babble like that
Oh you do, do you?
‘cause I could go on like that for hours, you know.
I’m serious, I really could
ok, ok, fine. I wont.

I would write you a poem about peace
but it frustrates me
that no one can get along
and I can’t stand it
I’m trying to
Speak peace
in a world that
speaks war.
and I should speak peace
and I’ve tried,
but the issue with poems about peace
is that no one really listens when it counts.

I would write you a poem about speaking out
about finding something you feel is wrong
and saying
“Um…excuse me? This isn’t cool. This isn’t right. And maybe I’m the only one who thinks so, but I can’t take this injustice any more. We need to change. Now.”
But that would make me a hypocrite
because half the time,
I don’t have the courage to say anything either.

I would write you a poem about poetry
but, quite frankly,
I don’t know jack shit about poetry.
I just listen to my heart and my head
and let the words flow from there
and if it comes out as poetry,
That’s fantastic!
but I wasn’t trying to write poetry.
I was just trying to write the truth
whatever that’s supposed to mean.

I would write you a poem about me
but I’ve already done that.
So why don’t you come here
and write me a poem about you.