Tag Archives: Matthew Roth poetry

Caterpillars…Friday August 29, 2014 Omaha, NE #SchwervonPoetry

SchwervonwithFig

photo by Sara Bertuldo

I’ve been tricked by flying caterpillars
 It’s a special kind of ugly.
 There is no make up for it.
 I’ve embraced it for most if my life.
 They lay their eggs in your garden.
Their children feed on you leafy greens.
It’s better when…
Of course I understand.
You’re just doing what comes natural.
But just because there is water does that mean something has to drink it?
 Life in a car is not totally unlike living in a mobile green house.
A green house that farts toxic gas into the atmosphere.
 Look the people that I love are all over the map.
Some of them are healing. Some of them are dying.
Some of them are healing others and some of them are dying eggs.
And some if them are dying t-shirts.
 And some are selling T-shirts
And some are selling eggs.
 Sometimes I over act
And sometimes I over react
But I never wanted to react over and over.
 I wanted to act. But then I realized that I couldn’t.
At least the way I wanted to.

Show Poem: The Time Is Now / 7-20-14 / KC, MO @ Holy Cow

Photo by Roshelle Hudson

Photo by Roshelle Hudson

Holy cow! The time is now.
Throw in the towel.
Act like an owl.
Who , who, who is to blame
For, for, for all your pain

Obama?
Your Mama?
Your Father?
The weather?
Your liver?
Your lover?
That cold winter night  when he stole all the covers?

Buy something to make it better.
Buy a record.  Buy a sweater.
Buy a book or buy some shoes.
Buy your way out of these blues.

Buy a cookie. Buy a hat.
Buy a picture of a cat.
Buy it used. Buy it cheap.
Buy a necklace buy a sheep.
Buy something to give.
Buy something to keep.

You know what they say.
You can’t take it with you.
They’re not going to bury you with your dough.
So why not make use of it before you go?

So spread it around.
Grease a couple palms.
See what grows.
Drop a little something in an artist’s collection plate.

Buy a cookie. Buy a hat.
Buy a picture of a bat.
Buy it used. Buy it cheap.
Buy a necklace. Buy a jeep.
Buy something to give.
Buy something to keep.

And if you don’t have the cash
Don’t sweat it.
Just listen to the music.
And don’t regret it.

Show Poem: No One Needs To Know / 7-10-14 / Lawrence, KS @ Replay Lounge w/ Arc Flash + Ex Spector

Untitled-36
No one needs to know what goes on before the show
No one needs to see the edits and
the spelling errors and the punctuation mistakes
No one needs to hear the screams.
No one needs to see the blood and the tears and the sad and broken dreams.
No one needs to see
The barn burnings and the faith healings.
The saddling of the horses.
The fevered pens & pencils scribbling away in their notebooks.
The frightened little fingers tap tap tapping at their sticky keyboards.
No one needs to know about the time and the money and the hours in front of the mirror. .
The countless count ends and false starts.
The criticisms and the restraint.
No one needs to know about the overdubbing and pitch shifting.
And the volume adjusting.
The stroking and the stretching.
The smoking and and the drinking.
The chewing and the farting.
No one needs to see all the fear and the hate .
No one needs to know what goes on before the show.