everyday
the poet
Hello my lovely poetry reading pals.
Today I have something different to bring you guys and I'm really excited about it.
The Sir in the picture above goes by the name of Caleb Alexander.
He writes. And he writes well. And since he writes well I wanted to share a few of his poems with you.
About once a month I'm going to post for you all a few of his poems so you have a chance to read the marvelous work this guy produces. For this first post there are going to be three of his pieces so you all can get a feel for how he writes, but I think from now on I might just do one a post. Who knows; we'll see where these posts go!
I find inspiration in his work a lot and he is ultimately the one that inspired and encouraged me to write more than I do. I'm hoping the same goes for you all when you read what he has to say.
Stay tuned until the end of the post to find out his social media information and all that jazz.
Let's get right to it!
"Because there is irony in being a writer and environmentalist"
I want to grow a tree out of my chest
Gnarled roots as veins, ventricles
I want to brew my coffee with soil
French press
Not those cheap drip machines
I want to bear fruit
That children suck between teeth
When they take a 5 minute break
From playing hide and seek
(or at least the seeker does)
I want you to build a home in me
With leafs and twigs and broken things
I want you to feel secure
On starry nights
Or when the storms threaten to topple me over
'Cause baby I won't break
Won't be destroyed by happenstance
And when this is done,
You can chop me down
Count the rings and stories I made for myself
And for you
Pour the sap in syrup bottles
So you have something sweet with your breakfast
Build foundations with me
And let every knot that splinters your front porch
Every imperfection
Be understood in the way only you can
You can knock on me to ward off bad luck
And I'll always be your cool shade in summer
-Caleb Alexander
"Watering a garden beside a red wheelbarrow"
Porcelain teeth
Wonderland cats
What you focus on is different than what is important
Quirky hats with eyes and ears
Jackets with zipper faces
All ask for affection from their tattooed mothers
And the best of them willfully obliges
I like the way you twist clear strings around finger
Bones in an attempt to control
Poignant characters in bland non-fiction
Even perfect pastels are cheapened versions of the standard
I've seen you speak fantastic color wheel
Conversations at a dinner party
On a Friday night in the middle of June
I smoked a pipe for the first time once
The more I stare the more sepia you become
Then you're Ansel Adams
And so am I
And the most beautiful black and white photograph I ever saw
Was you running toward the phosphorescent prisms
Created by a front-yard sprinkler
On a Sunday morning at the end of August
-Caleb Alexander
"Gemini nebulae and blood moons"
Tracing backs of knuckles
Like rubbing thumbs in a church pew
Silly stories about stomach cave dwellers
This pillow talk is existential.
Cloud mountain ranges from plane windows
Dream images of your face while a kid kicks my chair
(And even the weather knows we are apart now).
Horoscopic
Like something aligned stars today
(We are just beings of light thrust in frail frames).
I wonder if we came from the same star explosion
Mingled together before humans had even evolved
A false sense of consciousness.
And now
Because light travels fast and hard
Like my heart rate as I come back for one more kiss
Just one more kiss
Just need one more kiss
-Caleb Alexander
social media information
Caleb: Instagram- calexander17
Tumblr- eventherain17
***You can also find him reading his work most Sunday nights at Coffee Underground in Downtown Greenville, South Carolina at 7:30 pm***
Hello my lovely poetry reading pals.
Today I have something different to bring you guys and I'm really excited about it.
The Sir in the picture above goes by the name of Caleb Alexander.
He writes. And he writes well. And since he writes well I wanted to share a few of his poems with you.
About once a month I'm going to post for you all a few of his poems so you have a chance to read the marvelous work this guy produces. For this first post there are going to be three of his pieces so you all can get a feel for how he writes, but I think from now on I might just do one a post. Who knows; we'll see where these posts go!
I find inspiration in his work a lot and he is ultimately the one that inspired and encouraged me to write more than I do. I'm hoping the same goes for you all when you read what he has to say.
Stay tuned until the end of the post to find out his social media information and all that jazz.
Let's get right to it!
"Because there is irony in being a writer and environmentalist"
I want to grow a tree out of my chest
Gnarled roots as veins, ventricles
I want to brew my coffee with soil
French press
Not those cheap drip machines
I want to bear fruit
That children suck between teeth
When they take a 5 minute break
From playing hide and seek
(or at least the seeker does)
I want you to build a home in me
With leafs and twigs and broken things
I want you to feel secure
On starry nights
Or when the storms threaten to topple me over
'Cause baby I won't break
Won't be destroyed by happenstance
And when this is done,
You can chop me down
Count the rings and stories I made for myself
And for you
Pour the sap in syrup bottles
So you have something sweet with your breakfast
Build foundations with me
And let every knot that splinters your front porch
Every imperfection
Be understood in the way only you can
You can knock on me to ward off bad luck
And I'll always be your cool shade in summer
-Caleb Alexander
"Watering a garden beside a red wheelbarrow"
Porcelain teeth
Wonderland cats
What you focus on is different than what is important
Quirky hats with eyes and ears
Jackets with zipper faces
All ask for affection from their tattooed mothers
And the best of them willfully obliges
I like the way you twist clear strings around finger
Bones in an attempt to control
Poignant characters in bland non-fiction
Even perfect pastels are cheapened versions of the standard
I've seen you speak fantastic color wheel
Conversations at a dinner party
On a Friday night in the middle of June
I smoked a pipe for the first time once
The more I stare the more sepia you become
Then you're Ansel Adams
And so am I
And the most beautiful black and white photograph I ever saw
Was you running toward the phosphorescent prisms
Created by a front-yard sprinkler
On a Sunday morning at the end of August
-Caleb Alexander
"Gemini nebulae and blood moons"
Tracing backs of knuckles
Like rubbing thumbs in a church pew
Silly stories about stomach cave dwellers
This pillow talk is existential.
Cloud mountain ranges from plane windows
Dream images of your face while a kid kicks my chair
(And even the weather knows we are apart now).
Horoscopic
Like something aligned stars today
(We are just beings of light thrust in frail frames).
I wonder if we came from the same star explosion
Mingled together before humans had even evolved
A false sense of consciousness.
And now
Because light travels fast and hard
Like my heart rate as I come back for one more kiss
Just one more kiss
Just need one more kiss
-Caleb Alexander
social media information
Caleb: Instagram- calexander17
Tumblr- eventherain17
***You can also find him reading his work most Sunday nights at Coffee Underground in Downtown Greenville, South Carolina at 7:30 pm***
