Stone Soup Servings is a regular series for Oddball Magazine that features upcoming performers at Stone Soup Poetry, the long-running spoken word venue in the Boston area that has partnered with Oddball Magazine. Stone Soup Poetry now meets from 7-9 p.m. every Monday at the Out of The Blue Art Gallery at 541 Massachusetts Avenue in Central Square Cambridge, Massachusetts. The open mike sign-up at 6:30 p.m.

On July 11, Stone Soup is back from vacation to celebrate the return of Dexter Garcia and the release of her first poetry collection For Blackmail: A Compilation of LOVE Poems. The poem below is an excerpt from the book, which will be available for purchase on Monday.

 

Sick

I am not sick with love.
Am not tear ducts dried out
and palms stretched towards heaven
in hopes of a little mercy.

I feel too much.
I have always been aware
of this inevitable fact.
To others it be a curse.
This is my blessing.
Allows me to give my love
without limits.
Allows me to truly try
and still keep myself intact.

In truth I have loved few.
They were the ones
who made a point
to not stab me in the back,
instead sliced my chest open
and tore out little pieces of my heart.

Except one.
He has accepted nothing from me.
I have too much love to give and he
just sits and watches me drown
in my feeling for him.
I can no longer breathe.
But I am still living
in a pool of my own emotions.
This does not hurt.

I am still loving.
Just looking for a place to put it.
Just hoping he will come back to me.
I may forget him someday.
May find a place
to put all of the things
I was never able to give him.
Until then I need it to be understood.
I am not love sick.
Love is not a sickness
but for the weak of heart.
Hearts can be patched.
I should know.