Poem #12-Come Gather Round (Really it’s a song, see video)

posted November 14, 2018

Woke up this morning with my mind already gone
Nothing but bad news on the table
It seems so important to have hope in these times
But I’m unable, I’m unable (where does it come from?)

I turn on the iphone
And I scroll through my feed
Everyone’s looking for connection
I’m looking for something to get me out of my mind
But my mind’s gone, remember that? (This won’t cure your disaffection.)

I’m so human, I’m so doomed
We don’t see the obvious
And so we need a steady sound:
Come gather ‘round.

Here’s to the writers who know there’s work to be done
This is a struggle for the story
I say, all you poets, this is your time, your time, your time to speak
Say it clear, say it crooked, make it allegory

Here’s to the women who put some skin in the game
Telling the truth, running for office
And so we will stand with our sisters and take down, take down take down the bosses
We can recreate the world (Now’s not the time to be cautious.)

We need all of us to thrive
We believe the opposite
And so we need a steady sound
Come gather ‘round.

Here’s to our elders who have been here before
What can we learn from the struggle they shouldered?
The arc of justice is long, but it’s bending our way
Don’t get tired. Don’t be alone, don’t be alone, don’t be afraid.

We can’t do this on our own
We need hands to hold us up
And so we’ll be that steady sound
Come gather round.

If you enjoyed this song, please consider donating to my page for 30 Poems in November here.

https://vimeo.com/user35425170/review/300813080/26c5c48f14

https://vimeo.com/user35425170/review/300813080/26c5c48f14

https://vimeo.com/user35425170/review/300813080/26c5c48f14

https://vimeo.com/user35425170/review/300813080/26c5c48f14

The Comments

Join the Conversation. Post with kindness.

Leave a Reply to Kathryn S. Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Read More Like This

America the Beautiful Nov.2020 addition

In November 2016, I started writing new lyrics to Katharine Lee Bates’s beautiful hymn. Throughout the last four years, I have added verses. Today, I wrote this. O beautiful DemocracyWhere…

The Surprising Cure for My A.D.D.

My poem came from Sarah Sullivan’s prompt to “copy” the poem “Small Talk” by Kirsten Shu-yin Chen. As listeners to my band The Nields know, I am a big fan of borrowing/stealing the forms and tropes of others to make something new of my own.

By the way, I have been using that Pilates bar regularly, and to give credit where it’s due, I’ll say that I got it from a company called “Stretched Fusion.” They did not pay me to say this. And if they offered me big bucks for endorsing them, I would take the money and run.

Poem #3 Alfred Hitchcock #metoo

What’s it all about, Alfred Hitchcock?Why did you ruin my love for you?But was it actually you that I loved? Or what you disseminatedOn the virgin celluloid? (Woody Allen, #youtoo.)…