"The Mad Muse" and "The Black and Whites"

The Mad Muse

I welcome darkness and light
and the mad muse of poetry.
If I start to lose it, tie me up,
but bring me a book or two
to read to feed my soul. If I
tear the book to pieces do not
be too upset with me. The mad
muse of poetry has entered
my soul, darkness and light,
in a fight to the end. Unbind
me from time to time to stretch
my legs and to chase the birds
in the yard. I will not hurt a soul.
I promise. I will write you two
poems, one filled with darkness
and one filled with light. The mad
muse of poetry swings along
with my moods and sleeps and
dreams when it grows weary.

 


 

The Black and Whites

The black and whites
and their pretty lights that
keep shining in my eyes
like if wanted to meet them,
soon they are in my room.
They spill onto the floor.
They come through my door.
They come into my life
like if I was their friend.
I really do not think we are
such a good match.
They can’t take my pain away.
If they turn off the lights,
I would be full of gratitude.
The sirens are another thing.
They become a life of their own.
I am not too fond of them.
They are not something I could
dance to. If I ever get things
right, the black and whites
would be a thing of the past.
I am waiting for that day to come.
I am taking the fifth, the fifth
cold beer to get me through
the day just like a human being
that deserves to be happy
a little bit more than before.
Things always come up
to make a wreck of this life.
I am not so fond of failing.
It is not what I set my hopes on.
It is getting to be a little bit
too much. Things are getting
a bit out of hand. I do not
want to make excuses. Life
is getting the best of me.

 

 

Luis Cuauhtémoc Berriozábal

Luis Cuauhtémoc Berriozábal lives in West Covina, CA, works in Los Angeles County, and is the author of Raw Materials (Pygmy Forest Press). His poetry, prose, and art has appeared in Blue Collar Review, Escape Into Life, Nerve Cowboy, Triggerfish, and Yellow Mama Magazine. His broadsides, chapbooks and poetry books have appeared in Alternating Current Press, Deadbeat Press, Four Feathers Press, Kendra Steiner Editions, New American Imagist, New Polish Beat, Poet's Democracy, Rogue Wolf Press, and Ten Pages Press. Luis recommends St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

 

Edited for Unlikely by Jonathan Penton, Editor-in-Chief
Last revised on Monday, June 14, 2021 - 22:02