What would it be
to be another?
Another lover?
Another brother?

Would it be
amazing
to wake up beside
another?

To live the lives
of another? To make
something different
and then another?

Yeah,
I wish I was
another and
in control.

I might not be,
but one thing no one
has tried to take from me
is my poetry.

I have
handled bullies
and rescued princesses
in my poetry.

Battled bullies
handedly, swept ladies
off their feet
in poetry.

Not even in dreams
was I able to.
But in poetry,
I can control you.

I can whip you
up and down, mold you,
rewire you, arrange you
and fold you.

I can bend you up
into a pretzel
than scold you
for bad posture.

In my poetry,
I have
control
of me.

I am with
three ladies
having tea
in my poetry.

Not in my dreams,
which control me.
But in my poetry, feats
of strength happen.

I rap over
the best beat
gift wrap it,
and throw it back at you.

It’s little old
mild-mannered me
until I take out the pen out
and the giant in me

writes down 1, 2, 3,
and just like that,
I just won
the fucking lottery.

That’s what I can
do with poetry.
Sadly, I wish
I could do it with me.

 

Jason Wright is the editor and founder of Oddball Magazine. His column appears weekly. His third book, Train of Thought 2: Almost Home is available now at the Oddball Book Store.