What If, Instead

A poem I wrote after reading some Rudy Francisco

Words are spells,
And it’s best to be careful what you cast

I know it feels like that dead-end job
Is a prison

But prisons have walls and guards
To keep you in

What if, instead, it was a garden?

Plant something
Water it every damn day

And someday it will be tall enough
For you to climb over those walls

And into whatever dream you cast next

Thanks for reading! I’ve been trying to analyze “pop” poetry. I think Bukowski and Rudy Francisco and Rupi Kaur qualify.

They use simple, full sentences, rather than some special meter and rhyme scheme. They seem to focus on story or truth, with lots of concrete imagery, but never only imagery.

And the essence of what keeps it poetry is metaphor and association.

They’re like pop/rock music artists, who put their art into an easy-to-digest format, rather than obscure sonatas and long symphonies. (Back then, sonatas and symphonies were some of the expected structures.)