Tuesday, January 4, 2011

To: all those poets who type what they used to write

I wrote this just for facebook.
spend more time on it than in my notebook.
present truths weren't always past
I used to cherish pen and paper- ink on my hands.
but it's easier to type it
let spell check fix it
always said tho that I'd never be that kind of poet
that electronic one 
robotic one
the free of hand cramp one
the mechanical one
forgot how to dream
no mistakes or smudges
the perfectly lined and justified one
the poet that double spaced so you wouldn't have to squint one
still.................

its easier to type it
let spell check fix it

but spell check don't get me when I write brutha and spell check don't know that sometimes that red underline is offensive
spell check don't know that my language is language too

there is danger on paper 
the risk that you'll write something and permanence won't let you forget it
written 
right into existence


Sometimes I push hard on my pen 
 write until my finger is dented 
my hand is painfully frozen...
just to be sure I remember what it felt like to put organic thoughts on processed trees

to write with a poisonous ink

-Jacqueline Naami

1 comment:

  1. Beautiful. I feel you. Have you heard of Def Poetry? It's a pretty cool show, and your poem reminded me of it. :)

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