By Daniel Paiz

All good things must come to an end, and so NaPoWriMo 2019 has come to a close with poem #30 today. There have been ten exceptional video performances over the course of April, along with a handful of some thoughtfully crafted poems, rhymes, and haikus. Writing poetry isn’t the easiest thing in the world, but it can produce a powerful message as you have witnessed all month long.

Hopefully you’ve learned a bit more about National Poetry Writing Month, and you’ve also decided to try your own hand at crafting some poetically flowery and visceral written images. If not, that’s okay too. Poetry is meant for everyone to engage with, think about, and perceive however one absorbs it.

There is just the matter now of closing NaPoWriMo 2019 with one more performance.

And now, our feature presentation…

Poetic Rebel has been writing rhymes and slam pieces for the better part of two decades. The following performance is a call to arms (of sorts) when it comes to how we all navigate life on this blue marble we inhabit. Enjoy the 11th and final video performance for NaPoWriMo 2019, and make sure to check back for new content later this week:

 

Find Yourself

There are some times

When you recite lines to the masses,

There are other lines where you just confine

The message to the reflection after,

What’s the factor, how do you decide who to tell,

What, when, where, why,

What is this,

writing 101 for nerves that were once frail,

Forget the doubt and disservice you are doing to you,

Need I remind you that you’re a 1 of 1,

No one else is like you,

Sure you have your family’s blueprint,

Your friends’ likes and tendencies,

Your partners hopes and ecstasies,

Your exes and past people’s souls bereaved,

But take a breath for a minute.

 

Look where you are.

Now, turn around.

Did you expect to get this far?

I know I sure didn’t think I would,

Thought it’d be a boring view,

A few paces left and right,

To places I already knew,

But I keep shooting shots even if I built a school,

Bricks aren’t only drugs but also

How you build a bridge to what you wanna do,

Think about what makes you happy,

Think about what makes you tick,

If you keep doing soul-crushing monotony,

Will your innards continue on or split?

Do what makes you reach your best you,

Have that conversation in the mirror,

 

Travel to the Djalia,

Or to 10 thousand lies from sneers,

Yes the system’s broken,

But that’s been known for years,

Stop being your own warden,

Ward off the chord now and then,

Since you’ve been gone,

The charts could use a new jam,

 

So write it. Cut it. Paste it. Quick rewrite it.

Find yourself in words older than typewriters.

Find yourself in words synonymous with success.

Find yourself in…well you know the rest.