The Thing about Mornings
I’ll never forget
We slept
Splayed on memorial benches
Morning dew falling on locks like overgrown caterpillars
Crawling to crystallized captivity
Your smile
Sunrise evaporating what moisture remains
I won’t always remember the night
But tucked in the grey folds
Your hips play crescent hillsides
The sun peeking from behind your lips
There is something unforgettably mystic about you
This
A marvel as baffling as frost flying through a cloudless Sunday brunch
As timeless as each second spent in your presence
As infinite as the space between
For every coat of dew fallen on a night forgotten
There is a cherished morning
Cleaning cobwebs and evaporating what moisture remains.
When You Are Lonely
go to a restaurant
become a regular
don’t sit at the bar
minglers roam that pasture
grazing on fresh meat and ripe fruit
table for 1
in a normally busy section
make friends with your servers
tip them well
in the midday gold rush
you are a flash in the pan
shimmering in a river of entitled fish
say please even though they are paid to take your order
thank you is the cherry on top of a meager salary
tip them well
when you are lonely
don’t sit facing the door
avert your gaze
more hope is lost when seeking an exit
every glance a stolen breath
a wasted beat that could have been used thinking about
paying bills
a potential vacation
that book you’ve been meaning to write
…ahem…
Read
when you are all nerve endings and thumb tacks
visit a restaurant that knows your flavor
although it is your servers job to be cordial
you will be single far too long
to turn down forced kindness from strangers
So We Chase
Our great-great-grandparents wanted to escape
So they chased freedom.
Our great-grandparents wanted their rights
So they chased equality.
Our parents wanted heaven
So they chased the high.
We want it all…
So why does it feel like we are standing still?
Dwayne B! aka the “Crochet Kingpin” is a DC native poet, activist, breakdancer, and fashion designer. He is one of the hosts of DC’s longest running open mic series, Spit Dat DC, as well as poetry host captain for Busboys and Poets (450K location).
In addition to featured readings at every Busboys and Poets location, SAGAfest Iceland 2015, Spirits and Lyrics NYC and Manassas, Woolly Mammoth Theater, and the C2EA “We Can End AIDS”, Dwayne’s short form poetry prowess led him to win the Best Haiku Award at the 2011 National Underground Spoken-Word Poetry Awards (NUSPA). His work to increase HIV awareness through spoken-word garnered recognition from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, BBCAmerica, the Discovery Channel, and The Washington Post.
Ultimately, his goal is to force his audience to feel. He tends to meet goals. When not documenting his life through poetic meter, he can be found on the metro making scarves and hats, or singing karaoke.
Image by Sudha.ghanta – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60142670