Read + Write Poetry: 27 April 2022

04272022

Read a Poem

Beyond Walmart
By John-Paul Wetzel Richard

I've got no buttons on my pants
And my shirt is on backwards

I still think
I can climb into the sky
To find God hiding up there
In all Her mystery
And tug on Her sleeve
And whisper my fear and my hopes and what I'm thinking
And She'll listen and they won’t be bad and
Then She'd remind me of the times I've shamed myself
Help me laugh at my own serious reflection
At trying to not make mistakes
At saying I did something
So bad
So monumental
It was and is worth my shame

Before pinching the back of my shirt
Scruff of my neck
Lowering me back down down down down down down
Until I’m plopped back onto the hilltop
I dared to call my own

Beyond Walmart by John-Paul Wetzel Richard. Used by permission of the author.

About the Author

John-Paul Wetzel Richard is a writer from Cleveland, Ohio, and a graduate of The College of Wooster with a degree in English and a degree in Russian Studies. A member of the Ohio Poetry Association, John-Paul has been previously published in Laurel Moon's 2018 spring issue, [i]nstert magazine’s inaugural issue in December of 2020, and the Ohio Poetry Association’s own Common Threads 2021 issue. He is interested in Leninism and grassroots political movements, and the Tank Girl comic book series. JP can be found on HelloPoetryhttps://hellopoetry.com/john-paul-richard/

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Write a poem in which a motorcycle and a ballerina appear.

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