Vox Populi
A curated webspace for Poetry, Politics, and Nature with over 6,000,000 visitors since 2014 and over 9,000 archived posts.
Jose Padua: The Night We Tried to Get a Poet Arrested
I remember the night my friend and I tried to get a poet arrested
for his crimes against literature, his hiding
of horribly sentimental lines by speaking like a seller
of cheap real estate, those broken down houses
where everything and everyone leaks, in neighborhoods
divided by the tornado roar of long, slow trains, night and day.
It was just poetry, I know, words arranged like a landscape
of dark trees against the, whatever, azure sky,
but why should he escape punishment like the stealers
of poor people’s minority fortunes, the rule makers
who make us break our backs at hard labor
while they sit up high in penthouse suites
eating their feasts, drinking the best wine,
as they sneer at the riff-raff drawing heavy strings
and pushing square wheels along concrete floors
in the moldy basement, thump thump?
We called the police. “There he is,” I said,
“at the corner of State and East Washington,
ready to recite his deceptive verse. Take him.”
But they didn’t understand our soundness,
didn’t consider this criminal activity worthy of arrest,
as flagrant action against the laws they were paid
to uphold, defend, and protect. We argued,
we pleaded; they explained, they turned silent,
they hung up, believing they’d arranged the letters
of the law to the best of their abilities.
Because we couldn’t get the poet arrested
my friend walked around for years wearing
loose blue muscle shirts, his head bobbing
down and up through all the thick slabs of winters,
the thin white lines of summer, looking right, looking left,
grimacing what the fuck? to anyone passing close
enough to hear and refusing to listen.
These days I sit on park benches in the bright daylight,
enduring all manner of slurs and imprecations
and the endless spinning of the earth,
humming an old tune from my youth,
and thinking of all the different words for stone.
—
Photograph by Jose Padua
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Reblogged this on bastardsdotin.
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Reblogged this on Learning Web Designing.
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wow. this is fucking awesome! i love the concept. one of the more memorable ‘freshly pressed’ pieces i’ve read, of late. nice one. the imagery is great… even the title… that tickled my sense of intrigue… i just had to read on… gonna have to follow you now that you’ve captured my imagination.
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wow, thanks kat m (JP at Shenandoah Breakdown)
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you are welcome, JP x
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Damn, this is good. Thank you for writing this.
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thanks! (JP at Shenandoah Breakdown)
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Great poem- I love it 🙂
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Thanks, Clare!
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Amazing! Thanks.
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thanks, Martin! (JP at Shenandoah Breakdown)
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Outstanding piece and so true! Millions of laborers have bones that ache and tears of pain that cannot and will not be dried or healed especially by those who employ and exploit.
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Yes! thank you, Foghorn (JP at Shenandoah Breakdown)
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This poem is beyond stellar. Excellent work. Thank you for sharing this with us!
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wow, thank you Jana! JP (at Shenandoah Breakdown)
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this is so amazing.such a word joinner
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thanks (JP)
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Gud work JP. This piece is mind blowing and heart piercing
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Fucking weird. I love it.
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Niceeee ☺
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Reblogged this on zenitheus's Blog and commented:
ND to think that I’ve been mingling with the vernon in which u speak!
Perhaps a chameleon amongst them
Or just one of them
Pretending to be another chameleon …
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I just found this all five minutes ago!
Blogging!
Feeling like I’m not as lost as I perceived …
FarrrK..
I thank u all my brothers ND sister
I am awakeneD!!!
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bhavik
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Reblogged this on The Secret Diary In My Attic.
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Reblogged this on Perhaps Life and commented:
Great poem about social justice, and our responsibility in making the right albeit difficult choices.
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Thanks!
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Great, am totally inspired…
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hi, thanks!
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Nice
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great read i loved it
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I made sure to read it aloud.
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Im loving ur blog ❤
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coolness!
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Amazing great !
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Love this
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Nice 🙂
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this is really great writing !
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☺
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Reblogged this on hypnoclinician.
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Reblogged this on Newnaija's World.
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hmm
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Wow that’s amazing. !!!
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😊😊👍👍👍
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Reblogged this on A Roaming Tsinay and commented:
Interesting. Convicting. Incisive.
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Reblogged this on Clare Bear.
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Reblogged this on Stacy Alexander Arte California and commented:
Fantastic!
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Amazing ❤
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Wow well thought
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The ending really brings it all together
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Reblogged this on wwwkikirikigrga.
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Hehe once a group of rednecks tried to get a poet/ameteur lawyer/politician/musician/SEO/anthropologist arrested…..welll……i went on to become @drhashtagbaby #TruStory
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Reblogged this on adhi234.
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Reblogged this on Bianca.
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Really great, well worded poem!
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Reblogged this on 1newtia.
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Reblogged this on lynnr2.
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Poets are deceptive, that is what makes them a “poet”. They run away from the harsh fortunes of their lives and write metaphorically about someone, something or oneself. Their work makes them creative because of the unique way they percieve the daily chores.
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Reblogged this on Confessions of a Film/Video Editor.
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I love Jose’s work. And he’s a really cool cat. Thanks for featuring his work here!
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Isn’t all verse deceptive?
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I love this poem!
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Wow. Good thought
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