February 28, 2012

Blue No More

Blue

He threw his set up to the sky,
Threw Crip and sported blue.
He thought that he would never die-
And this at twenty-two!

And now he sleeps among the shells,
Along with vile germs.
Within his belly dwells the snails,
Within his head, the worms.

-jwm

5 comments:

Lorraine said...

I like it a lot.

BerlinerinPoet said...

Wow...powerful. What a waste...the death, not your poem.

I AM said...

I have to agree with Lorraine. This piece captures gang life artistically succinctly. May I ask, what was the inspiration behind this poem?

Colorblind said...

beautifully written!

John W. May said...

Thanks guys! Your words mean a lot to me ...

I was saved out of gang life a long, long time ago. Too many people I knew died because of that lifestyle, and it wrecks me inside to see kids around me, young kids, submersed in it as I was. It's a senseless existence and ruins lives, and it grieves me to no end when I see it being 'lived' ...

The senselessness and waste that gang life represents inspired the poem, the ballad structure and 'pull-back' imagery were influenced by Emily Dickinson.

The Poets

As of April 9th, 2010