Free verse № 123108
Mixtapes (or We Always End Where We Began)
Side A
Spring has sprung
(or so Iâm told)
and I have recently discovered:
April showers yield more than May flowers.
Maybe itâs the sunlight â genial and inviting
â Like an accidental smile formed by accidental stars,
That seem to make each accidental day worth waking up to.
Or perhaps, it is the blue skies that (on occasion)
Emerge from the bleak and lifeless clouds, like a pair
Of azure eyes that (by chance) meet my own,
Drowning all of the trials and aching.
As if to say, âThese few moments,
Make this whole stupid day worthwhile.â
Who says hearts canât skip a beat?
And oddly enough, through it all
I find that I cannot:
1. Stop making mixtapes
2. Stop listening to love songs
3. Stop making mixtapes of love songs
Side B
Call it cliché, but
Each time I seek
To put to words how she talks, looks, moves;
Each time I hope
To engage with her in casual conversation;
Each time I try
To describe the majesty of the sun,
Words seem trite.
As if words themselves lack the ability to communicate
This awkward, tender, warmth.
This hope, this wish, this prayer.
And yet, all things are possible,
even a camelâs journey through the eye of a needle.
But I hate to imagine how the camel feels
Squeezed out in one long, painful, bloody trail.
A mixtape has to be deliberate.
The songs must vary stylistically:
Hackneyed ballads,
The lighthearted, the emotive
A song or two (as not to make it too obvious)
That say the things you wish you could communicate.
Each one transitioning well
From one to the other,
Like days in a week and weeks in a season.
My transitions are somewhat awkward.
Iâm working on that though.
I think Iâm making progress.
The theme must be apparent, yet subtle.
And artistic unity.
Just like in life
after all is said and done:
We must always end where we began.
Spring has sprung.
7 comments
I wrote this because I was (and still am somewhat) frustrated about a relationship that doesn't really go anywhere. I thought the parallel was interesting because I kept making mixtapes (cheesy, I know) and the songs would transition just like the relationship would progress, but in the end the mixtape and the relationship didn't really go anywhere. It always ended where it began. It's the same way in life, but I also used that because I think it's somewhat ironic how dead it feels to be in love in the spring right now. Birds and chirping, the sun is shining. It just makes me sick. Heh.
You think juxtaposing a "beautiful acoustic guitar song" with a "hard rock" song is deeply meaningful.
Out of curiousity, is your rating for the poem or for mixtapes in general?
Log in to add a comment.